Get ready to laugh and explore the future of comedy! In this episode, we're joined by Leanne Linsky, founder and CEO of Plauzzable.
We delve into how the online comedy experience differs from the traditional in-person model, uncover new possibilities in the virtual comedy world, and discuss AI's impact on the industry. Plus, Leanne shares invaluable advice for budding comedians.
Get ready to laugh and explore the future of comedy! In this episode, we're joined by Leanne Linsky, founder and CEO of Plauzzable.
We delve into how the online comedy experience differs from the traditional in-person model, uncover new possibilities in the virtual comedy world, and discuss AI's impact on the industry. Plus, Leanne shares invaluable advice for budding comedians.
Matt 0:10
Welcome to Making change the CPA podcast that has nothing to do with accounting and everything to do with innovation. I'm your host, Matt Satorious. And today we're speaking with Leann lynskey of plausible on the future of comedy.
So Leanne, to start, tell us a little bit about your journey. From what you've done it with open mics online to founding your company plausible? What inspired you to take this path and comedy? And what have you learned from it? What's it been like for you?
Leanne 0:45
Well, first of all, thanks for having me on. I Yeah. How did I get here? I decided, You know what, life's not challenging enough. Let's start a business. Excellent. Right. I'm like, Yeah, let's do it. I had been doing comedy for over 20 years. Hard to believe I know, since you know, I'm only 19. Not true at all, audio only podcast,
Matt 1:09
but Leon does look about 19. Okay.
Leanne 1:13
highly filtered. To me first. And you'll be like, who are you know, I had been doing comedy for over 20 years. And I had also worked in business, I worked for a fortune 500. I worked for other businesses, I've managed theatres, I've done all these different jobs. But during this time, I've always been on this comedy journey. And what happened was, as I moved from New York City to LA, and suddenly found myself spending way more time on the freeway than I did on any stage, and I was like, this is kind of bananas, like, what am I doing, I need some time to work out new material. I'd like to think that, you know, I could get on stage and tell a new joke. And it's immediately brilliant. But that's just not how comedy works. We have to work out new jokes. And going to open mics and getting stage time in is a really a huge part of being a comic. And I thought, how can I do this? Because driving for an hour for five minutes is not the most efficient thing. And I thought, well, I can take things online. Now mind you, this is August 2019, BC, before COVID. And so so I thought finally, I had this idea for years, because I moved to California, at like the end of 2014, beginning of 2015. And I was like I'm gonna do Skype, open mics for people who remember Skype? Oh, yeah. And then I was like, Skype. But I started using Zoom. And I was like, oh, I should do it on Zoom. So eventually, I started doing some zoom open mics, and comedians from the East Coast, most of my old friends. And then some comedians I'd met in LA and kind of in between, start showing up. And they're like, Wow, this is really great. I've been saving a lot of time. And when I work jokes out here, I go do my in person gigs. And they work. You know, it's great. And it's really efficient. And they're like, Hey, you should charge me and I'm like, Whoa, I'm on to something. I'm like, How do I do this on a bigger, bigger level? And then, of course, COVID happened? And what did everybody do? Everybody started doing things online and using the existing technologies, like zoom and Google meats and things of that sort. But during COVID, I went back to school and got my master's in innovation and entrepreneurship. So I could figure out really how to put my idea into something that's even more specific to entertainment. And an expand upon that, and plausible was born.
Matt 3:43
Right? Either serendipitous timing, really, that you were thinking about it six months before the entire world was gonna spend all of their time on Zoom, and teams and these internet products. Did that before the pandemic? I mean, did the pandemic really drive it forward for you? To the point where you thought, well, now I kind of have to do this.
Leanne 4:05
Yeah, exactly. And I was like, Oh, I wish I had it all set up, you know, right before COVID hit, because that would have been ideal. But it was actually I think, I think it worked out better. Because during that time, I could really examine what was working and what was it. So although a lot of the existing technologies really carried us through the pandemic in so many ways, and were so vital to us keeping our connections, you know, not just in entertainment, but work and school and all these other things. But it was also a great use cases for me to see, you know, although they solved one problem for comedians, they created other problems. And one of the things that really helped push this forward for me and getting plausible going, was that it got people who weren't usually online, online, and it was people became used to it and a little bit more savvy with how to do that and what to expect and you You know, now it's pretty normal, you hear about people doing these kinds of things, quite often. Whereas, you know, before COVID, they may never have even bothered. So it was definitely very, very helpful and very, very key
Matt 5:14
is the way you approach a live open mic or comedy session versus doing something virtual. Is it different to different jokes work or not work in person versus online? Or is it pretty much the same experience replicated on the internet?
Leanne 5:29
Okay, so I'll handle that in two parts. I don't think it's the same experience. And I, I don't believe that we can replicate and in person experience. And so my intention with plausible was not to do that. It was to bridge a gap, to provide opportunity to perform and be entertained as an additional way, an additional opportunity versus to replace something, because I do think there's a magic of in person. That's kind of its own thing, right? Yeah. But I do think that people, comedians can be just as effective performing on mine as they can in person. And I equate this to you, we watch comedians on late night, TV shows, right? And that's like a thing. And they're hilarious. So it's just learning to work on a different medium. But I think if jokes are well written, and timing cadence, all of that, is that works the same.
Matt 6:27
If you're an up and coming comedian, is this a skill that you're gonna have to have?
Leanne 6:32
I think so, since the pandemic, there are more people doing more things online, because they discovered there's benefits to it, there's a couple of things. So when I looked and researched open mics in the US, 40% of them are in New York and California 40%, while the mics and that's just in the US, right? And then all the rest are scattered throughout, you know, the flyover states, as we call them. So you kind of have to be located in a large metropolitan area in order to really get a lot of stage time. So someone may be really talented and hilarious in the Midwest, but maybe they don't have as many opportunities because there's not as many venues or there's such a long commute to get there. And then not necessarily an environment that supports you know, a local artist full time, not everybody's able to pick up two suitcases and move to New York like I did, right? You feel I don't have kids and husband and things like that I was able to make this move. I don't have things you know, holding me back. And so doing things online gives a lot of people opportunity they may not otherwise have access to the other thing is having the ability to grow a fan base outside of your geographic area. Even if you're in the larger cities now all sudden you have people anywhere in the world tapping in to watch you.
Matt 7:54
What do you what about things like tick tock Instagram reels, you know, we're there's a lot of comedians there. They're not necessarily doing stand up comedy, but they're recording little bits that are funny. How much is that impacting how comedians work today?
Leanne 8:09
Well, I think it impacts on a couple of ways. One is sometimes Booker's look at how many followers a person has. And if you're, you know, and I hear a lot of comedians, more traditional comedians going, how come these influencers are getting stage time, because maybe these people became popular during the pandemic or became popular online, but they don't have any stage presence or state or experience on the stage. But they have a lot of followers. So Booker may book them, and then they show up and they just bomb because they don't have the experience under their belt to maintain to hold a crowd in that way. So doing something on Tik Tok doing something on Instagram or Facebook Lives and stuff, again, you're not getting immediate response from people, you're not holding a crowd you're recording into, you know, who knows what you don't know what's happening on the other side. And maybe your family says You're hilarious and they love you, or maybe you have a lot of followers. But you're not getting that immediate response. I don't know how to use that energy for stage in person. So it doesn't, I think it's easier to translate from stage to on camera, maybe slightly easier than it is the other way. But the other part of your question was, the impact on that also is I feel like comedians now have this job of creating a lot of content and getting a lot of followers to get more bookings. But my question is, then, what results are you really getting from creating all this content unless you becoming an influencer getting paid for it, which is a result just become an influencer? Well, really, like, how many? How many people can be a influencers? And how many people have that many flowers to get those kinds of sponsorships? Not everybody.
Matt 9:58
Well, it feels like there'd be a difference but We and I, you get some luck with a viral video on one of these apps, versus being a stand up comedian or putting out comedy consistently. That's funny and people engaged with and growing your fan base. Those are different things. So if you're if you're just shooting for me mobile video that goes viral, you're probably not going to end up as a long term comedians,
Leanne 10:23
right. I agree. I think a lot of people get caught up in creating a lot of content. Yeah, but I'm not sure that it's necessarily translating into revenue in their pocket. Because comedians are basically independent freelancers, they're not typically in a W two employee of anybody. So that's a lot of marketing onto themselves. And are they? Are those same followers actually translating into paid customers anywhere? And even if those followers are translating the paid customer somewhere? Is the comedian receiving any of that money?
Matt 11:03
Ah, right. Right, some of these models, they're probably not,
Leanne 11:07
right. Because if you're a headliner or feature, you'll probably get some form of payment from a club. But that's probably not what most people think it is. And everybody else is probably not getting paid, or getting a free beer or burger, right. So the business model is really interesting. And, and comedians do a lot of work for tips and exposure, but that doesn't pay the bills. And so with plausible, what we're doing is we're flipping that business model on its head. And we're giving comedians, all the tools they need, basically, here's your free venue, here's all your scheduling tools, here's all your payment press, here's everything, go ahead and put up your shows, instead of creating content every day and waiting for someone to pay you for like a five or $10 subscription for the month. But every day, you have to create something new, why don't you create a really good show, we'll pay you five or $10 a ticket, and you take away the majority of that ticket revenue, right? Because at a client, you don't necessarily get a split of the door, you just got a flat rate.
Matt 12:08
It makes a lot of sense, because my guess is that there aren't a ton of comedians who have a lot of general business knowledge or acumen, but just because of the nature of people who are willing to stand up in front of people and tell jokes, they're probably not generally Certified Public Accountants, for example, like like I am. So outsourcing that to you know, someone else will take care of sort of the business side and the platform and you focus on creating content and very coming up with jokes that are funny, and engaging your audience. I think that's a great model.
Do you think there's a role for like virtual reality in comedy? I mean, that's been promised since I was a kid. Yeah, it was in Back to the Future like 30 years ago, and we don't have that yet. But well, that's sort of full immersion. make this an even more natural fit in the comedy realm.
Leanne 13:13
Yeah. So there's actually some some comedians in the metaverse, right. And they're doing that. And it's funny because when I when I go into the metaverse, I've put my headset on. It's I mean, it's fascinating, the whole the whole concept of it, and then the experience of doing it. And then I have this thing. Where have you gone? Have you gone into the metaverse? Oh, yeah, he's looking down at their wrist, because nobody knows how to do their controllers yet. That hilarious, everybody's got this, like their head is limped to the side. And anyway, um, there is a group of comedians, not like a formal formal group, but there's a couple groups here or there that that do comedy in the metaverse. And I think that's great. I think any way you can kind of expand and build upon the creativity of an art form is awesome. But what I find interesting about it is I think the the metaverse is there's parts of it in the future, but because you have to buy hardware, it it's not as accessible for everybody. Right? And hardware. It's not necessarily affordable for everybody at this time. So I think there's there's a gap in getting there. And then just in working with Commedia and since our launch scene, although people aren't used to getting online now. People are not as tech savvy, as we assume. I think you have to make something simple. So there's a gap like this is where we're comfortable for getting by on line. But the metaverse is a little ways off for some people in tech savviness
Matt 14:51
Yeah, I could see that me even today when my parents or in laws come over to my house. They always have to ask how do I work your television And again, I log into this streaming service and then go here. And inevitably they end up buying something accidentally. So the metaverse would be a whole nother step beyond that. That's a barrier to entry.
Leanne 15:14
Yes, there is there's definitely a barrier. And I think it needs to be pretty frictionless. And I think even having things online, there's still improvements to be made with the way things are set up in the various forms that people are doing things online.
Matt 15:30
I don't think I've had a conversation this year that hasn't involved AI in some way. What's the I impact on Comedy gonna be I have yet to engage with any chatbot that is funny intentionally. So I don't know that that's a thing. But what's gonna happen there,
Leanne 15:47
and the chat bot, I am not real this is that
Matt 15:50
that's the twist of this podcast. Leah is not even a real person.
Leanne 15:54
I'm in a Scooby Doo you right now. This is an interesting question. And I think that there's the part of me that's like, as an artist, I don't think there's a way that AI can replace the person. But then there's a reality of Yes, I think that AI could replace the person. I think, like we see deep fakes we see. You know how they created? I don't know, if you listen to the podcast during the writer strike of all the late night hosts? Yeah. And I think they took and they used AI and created a commercial using their fake voices. And they were all like, Oh, my God, like, how did this happen? So I think those things are possible. I know people are like, I use chat GTP to write a joke. And it wasn't very funny. Yet, right? Because these models learn, they get better and better and better as they go. So is it possible? Probably, that makes me sad as an artist, right. The other interesting thing, as much as I'm a fan of technology, I mean, my goodness, I have a tech company. I think there's ways it can help us. But this goes back to like doing math, when we're when we're in grade school, we have to learn to do math manually before we're allowed to use the calculator. And I feel like in comedy, even even years and years ago, when I was taking comedy classes and improv, we'd have to learn all the rules before we were allowed to break them. Right? It's kind of like an entrepreneurship, you have to understand your user and their problem before you can build the proper solution. And I think the same goes for AI is it has to have a better understanding of what it's doing before it can properly solve it. But even the artists who may be trying to write jokes with it, or do things like that, that the same thing applies. In order to write a good joke, you have to know what a good joke is. And I think AI is a tool.
Matt 17:58
Yeah, it'll be It'll be weird to see what happens here. Because I know part of the actors strike was about this very idea that, you know, I'm, I'm 65 year old George Clooney. And now they can put 40 year old George Clooney in a show. And it sounds like me, and it looks like me. And that's weird. And how will I be paid for that? And what will my descendants think about it? It doesn't seem totally implausible that at some point in the future, they'll be a 15 Minute Comedy Show. And afterwards, someone will Scooby Doo and say, That was Microsoft's whatever AI that just did that. And everybody thought it was funny. I faced that with some anxiety, wondering when that will happen. Any advice for you know, if you're a up and coming comedian today? What should you be doing that maybe your peers weren't doing 20 years ago?
Leanne 18:49
First of all, you should totally be getting on plausible. Because we do give you all the tools, but also it's a great networking opportunity to meet people, comedians all around the world. And also fans from anywhere. You have instant access to all these these things that 20 years ago, we didn't have access to, you know, a lot of connections, a lot of helpful people and a lot of opportunity to make money. It's kind of democratizing it. And I think outside of plausible I'd say give it a try. Take it take a comedy class, do an open mic. Take an improv class. I think even if you're not pursuing it, as you know, like I'm going all in and doing it. Do it as a I'm going to do it for a season you know, for six week class or maybe just something I'm going to challenge myself to on a free workshop weekend or something. I think something honestly that has changed all aspects of my life. Building confidence, doing a streamable thing saying yes to things that scare me. Teamwork. It's a really big thing in teamwork and ensemble work when it comes to like improv or improv groups. And also learning the difference of what's funny and what's not. And I think it can be really helpful in the workplace, learning to punch up where everybody's laughing with you. I think it's just really good life lessons all the way around, and oh, my God, who wouldn't want to spend an afternoon laughing?
Matt 20:27
Well, Leah, it's been a pleasure having you on the podcast. Thanks again for joining us.
Leanne 20:31
Well, thanks so much for having me. This has been really fun.
Matt 20:35
And that's our show. Thanks, again to Leanne, for speaking with us and to you for listening in!