Australian made comedy online – laughs, shock, surprise and anger

Abstract

This paper argues that the internet is changing development, commissioning and production practices of Australian screen comedy. Due to ease of shareability, online comedy is traditionally of shorter length and cheaper than television to produce and is therefore attracting increased funding opportunities. The online environment offers new opportunities for emerging Australian comedy performers, creators and developers to produce screen comedy that resonates with audiences. A high online viewership may result in a greater share of subsequent funding and future commissioning into longer alternate formats, such as television. The desire for producing online comedy that is more likely to be shared is therefore impacting comedy production practice in Australia. By investigating several successful Australian online comedies, in terms of funding, content and viewership, the essay argues that the online platform allows the audience to influence the types of screen comedy being produced in Australia. The study examines how the Australian made online projects that are the most successful, in terms of funding and views, tend to be those that elicit laughter, shock, surprise and anger as these are the online projects most likely to be shared. This paper draws upon a larger study that relates to Australian narrative television comedy development.