If you want to understand how comedy content can stand out online, David Zucker is a good place to start. A former revenue strategist at TikTok, Zucker left corporate tech to build a consultancy that helps comedians and comedy companies hone online attention and translate it into real careers. 

I recently spoke with him about the modern comedy economy and how to build a successful content strategy.

On his Substack, Zucker writes regularly about stand-up, digital platforms, and the economics of attention. In our conversation, we spoke about how to build a successful content strategy as a comedian. Here are 5 things I learned:

Zucker is clear that social media correlates with general success as a performer. It drives awareness, which drives ticket sales, which drives monetization. If you’re ignoring it, you’re opting out of a major growth engine. 

While live performance is of primary importance, a consistent social media strategy is also up there. Yes, it’s hard to post consistently. There’s often no camera at a typical comedy show. But maybe someone has one they can set up. Then, you can post that clip online, or submit it to a comedy festival.  

“Social media has never been more correlated to a comedian’s revenue, and it actively drives follower growth, which drives getting booked and cast in things, which drives more people coming to your live shows, which drives revenue for merch and a Patreon, and it’s all this self-propelling flywheel.” — David Zucker

But don’t just put slop out there. Zucker sees some comics scaling before they’re ready. While posting is important, posting multiple times a day when you don’t yet have a fully formed product is likely a mistake. Early-stage comics may benefit more from honing their craft and developing a repeatable comedic structure before scaling. Social growth should amplify something solid rather than something unfinished.

“If you are somebody who’s just starting out and you only have a really funny 20 minutes, I’m a bit like, what’s the rush? Why are you in such a rush to get these followers to come see something that isn’t quite fully fleshed out or you don’t really have anything for them?”

If you only have an hour or less total of you being funny, you’ll struggle. The comics who succeed in this era have a lot of material usable for clips and a repeatable format that generates ongoing funny moments. 

Social media rewards people who can consistently produce unique “video evidence” that they’re funny. If you don’t yet have that depth, the solution isn't a better posting strategy. It’s more stage time.

“I think the output on social media is directly tied to how much unique video evidence you have of you being funny...If you’re somebody who only has an hour total of you being funny at all at your disposal, you’re just not going to succeed no matter what.” — David Zucker

Comedy is not a Phish show where everyone’s waiting to hear Bouncing Around the Room. If fans already know the punchlines, they won’t laugh at the show, or be interested to see what they’ve already seen online. Instead of posting the same content, create something adjacent to your stand-up. 

“Comedy’s tricky because unlike music, if we know all the words to your song, we don’t mind that at a concert. But if we come to your show and already know all your jokes, we’re not going to laugh. And that’s a problem…The thing that differentiates a lot of the comedians who are blowing up online is they post something that isn’t necessarily at all what you would see in their live act, but it's some modern-day MTV bite-sized TV show, or it's some podcast or some video format that is tangential to their live experience.” — David Zucker

Zucker recommends posting everywhere and not overthinking format differences, as social media apps all increasingly look the same. Attention mechanics matter, but obsessing over social media posts is the wrong strategy. Online metrics can inform you, but should not define you.

“You should be focused way more on, did the people in the room laugh at your joke?” — David Zucker

Andrea Pugliese is a Rome-based stand-up comedian performing at the forefront of Italy’s growing standup scene. While Italian comedy clubs are still rare and the scene is barely a decade old, Pugliese has become a regular presence in Rome’s pubs, bookshops, and small theaters.

He has performed across Italy and abroad in Europe, and occasionally in English for international crowds. Andrea is part of the wave of comedians shaping what Italian standup looks like as it evolves from early American and UK influences into something its own.

March Comedy Madness is back in Harvard Square for its 20th year, bringing 64+ comedians into a bracket-style stand-up tournament at The Comedy Studio, where they go head-to-head until one champion is crowned. Saturdays in March in Cambridge, MA.

Golden Comfort & Comedy Festival · Feb 23–Mar 8 · Golden, Colorado
Black Women in Comedy Laff Fest · Feb 25–Mar 1 · Manhattan & Brooklyn
SLO Comedy Festival · Feb 26–Mar 1 · San Luis Obispo, California
The Knockouts Women’s Comedy Festival 2026 · March 2–8, 2026 · Manhattan & Brooklyn
Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival · March 4–15, 2026 · Toronto, Canada
Tree Town Comedy Festival · March 4–7 · Ann Arbor, Michigan
West End Comedy Festival · March 6–8 · Atlanta, Georgia
Gilda’s LaughFest · March 11–15 · Grand Rapids & West Michigan
Canberra Comedy Festival · March 11–22 · Canberra, Australia
Glasgow International Comedy Festival · March 11–29, 2026 · Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
SXSW Comedy Festival · March 13–16 · Austin, Texas
Cannon Beach Comedy Festival · March 13–14 · Cannon Beach, Oregon

Starting today, The Jokebook’s Joke of the Month competition begins. Each month, we’ll announce a new prompt to get you writing. Sometimes it’ll be a topic. Sometimes a constraint. The goal is simple: sit down and write a joke.

This month’s topic: water.

To enter, just upload a video under two minutes making a joke about the topic. That’s it. It can be from an open mic, your bedroom, a character bit, a puppet, clown sketch—whatever format. We’re generous about how it connects to the topic. Just make it funny.

One winner each month gets $50 and a feature on The Jokebook Instagram. Submissions open March 1 and close March 31 at 11:59pm.

That’s The Jokebook — your Sunday comedy update. Have something to share? Message us at [email protected].