We’re all nervous, constantly. I am and you are. Follow me on this. We’re comedy nerds, right? That means we like comedy (duh) and it also probably means that we’re fascinated by comedians’ ability to make others laugh and in harnessing their powers so we can hone our own chops as jokesters. Why’s that? Because laughing’s fun, yes, AND because, in many cases, laughter begets approval — the elusive prize all human kind seeks in one way or another. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. The entertainment industry’s built on, by, and for insecure people like us. The trouble can start when we make the jump from comedy students to practitioners, from quiet appreciators to content creators. Then, the question becomes: “Am I as funny as I thought and is what I’m doing worthwhile?” In the Wild West of web videos, the self-aware creator must ask himself (or herself) this question all the time. “Am I making an impact? Are people watching? Is the web a viable Hollywood domain or is it TV’s ugly stepchild — a middling venue that I’ve cooked up to be more influential than it really is?” Etc., etc., etc. To that concern and all like it, I say: worry not, Rob Riggle and JB Smoove are here to dispel your fears.
If someone told me two weeks ago that I’d be kicking off 2013’s first installment of This Week In Web Videos by profiling a series about John Ortiz’s 
It seems like just a year ago that I was writing to all of you recapping 
Do you know people? Do you like them? Do you share a similar comedic sensibility? If you answered "yes" to all of these questions (sorry, it's an all or nothing kind of deal), then it's probably worth inviting your special little creative collective over to talk web series ideas. Just because you have friends who say they're creative doesn't mean they are or that you'll make something great, BUT there's a strong possibility that you will. If you and your troupe are motivated and inspired and, most importantly, talented, you can capitalize on a shorthand that could allow you to pull a little move I like to call the Palardy/Lower/Foster. Admittedly not too catchy, but it doesn't need to be once you consider what its namesakes were able to pull off for a mere $4,000.
Raw, unbridled creativity may be the stuff of pure genius, but it's rarely what we see on screen. Somewhere in between a creator's hatching a wild idea and wide dissemination of that nugget of would-be beautiful, groundbreaking insanity, brilliance becomes watered down vanilla fare. Flickers of original concepts are barely visible, trapped beneath think packaging slapped on to make the whole shebang more marketable or salable or more like Bridesmaids (love Bridesmaids, of course). This is almost always the case in TV and film. In web media, it varies. There are ample opportunities to be left-of-center, but tiny (if existent) production budgets and fear of losing clicks usually steers content creators toward some incarnation of the insipid security favored by larger outlets. In Broadway Video and Holiday Road's new series Sugarboy, there's no trace of convention. Thank God, and Dan Opsal for that.
“Just let it happen. The best things come when you just let it happen.”
Before this week, I thought writer’s block was a myth, a story device perpetuated by B-movie writers looking for a way to get their screenwriter protagonists off the couch and into wacky, winding adventures solely justified by the character's "search for inspiration." It seemed like a gimmick, a dull, broad tool for hacks. Well, while in the thick of a recent creative impasse, I considered writing that exact script. (My main character was Mel and he worked at a Zoo…that's as far as I got.) I’m out of my funk now and Dan St. Germain helped. In between deep, self-loathing, comforter-wrapped-around-my-head-as-I-peered-through-a-hole-at-my-blank-Word-doc wallows, I spoke with Dan about his new MyDamnChannel series Kicking Dan Out and he told me how he came upon the idea for his show, one I consider to be pretty damn good and would be glad to call my own: "…look around and create a character and then put that character in different environments. This isn’t Synecdoche, New York by Charlie Kaufman. There isn’t anything groundbreaking about this, it’s just basic funny." My reset button was pushed. Dan freed me from myself and I learned something. Maybe you will too. 
Someone who I really admire in the world of comedy (you'd probably know his name if I said it, but I don't know if he'd want me saying it and I'm generally a nervous kind of person about those sorts of things) told me during a brief meet and greet about two years ago that he was glad I was interested in comedy and not drama. His exact words were something like: "If you told me you wanted to be a dramatic screenwriter, I'd tell you go find a real job because, unless JJ Abrams is your uncle or something, you're not getting in the door. But with comedy, you've got a shot. Anyone does, and you can get your break at any time. You just have to be funny." These were, and still are, the most hopeful words anyone's ever uttered in my direction and they heartened me to embark on a career in this industry. More, my unnamed laugh oracle was totally right. In the world of comedy, talent and perseverance can make you, no matter what your resume or family tree looks like.
Plot’s easy. Specificity’s hard. What the hell am I talking about, right? Okay, easy does it. Let me explain.
“Screw what’s popular. Do what you love!”
Just shoot it. That’s what I’ve learned from Matt Levy, creator of this week’s featured series, Lady and the Damp. As “creatives” (writers, producers, actors, symbol smashers, etc. etc. etc.), we spend so much time agonizing over perfection. We batter our brains to mush with our ceaseless internal monologues, our harsh self-interrogations. “Is this funny? Why is this funny? Will other people think it’s funny? Is it edgy? Is it relatable?” and so on. Though no one wants to release unpolished content, there’s something indisputably limiting about professionalism. Especially for products we’re hoping lots of people will watch and love and share. The fear of failure, of not becoming an instant viral sensation, can sometimes halt us from doing anything. I’m not putting out a call for rushed, sub-par work here, but there’s A LOT to be said for releasing videos because you think they’re good and you want to. Lady and the Damp is a perfect example of how going that route can yield A really SPECIAL END RESULT.
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Why NBC Will Regret Not Picking Up 'Mulaney'
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