The Good-Hang Economy: How Podcasts Rewired American Comedy
A notebook from New Yorker critics suggests that comedy podcasts have surpassed film and television as the leading form of American humor, highlighting their unique tone and appeal. The decline of the 1990s sketch comedy era, marked by shows such as Saturday Night Live and Mr. Show, followed the release of 2004's Anchorman, paving the way for an improv-driven phase influenced by Judd Apatow. As mid-budget films dwindled, feature comedy transitioned to creators and streaming platforms like A24 and Netflix, while podcasts offered extensive weekly content with direct financial support for artists. The piece outlines five types of humor and features podcasts like How Long Gone and Caleb Hearon's HBO special. With traditional comedy struggling, emerging comedians are now prioritizing audio editing over classic improv training.
Key facts
- The essay argues that podcasting has replaced film and TV as the primary American comedic form, rewarding tone and charm over wit.
- Anchorman (2004) grossed about $90 million in theaters and became insanely profitable on DVD, shifting comedy's center of gravity to improvisation.
- Judd Apatow's improvisation-driven approach produced Curb Your Enthusiasm and Superbad, plus Role Models and Step Brothers.
- Feature comedy now survives mainly via independent studios and streamers: A24's Friendship and The Invite, Netflix's Jay Kelly and Madea's Destination Wedding.
- The author's five categories of funniness are wit, quickness, charm, physicality, and tone.
- How Long Gone, launched by Chris Black and Jason Stewart in March 2020, exemplifies the tone-and-charm podcast model.
- Caleb Hearon, a standup and actor, released the HBO special Model Comedian last year but earns most from podcasting.
- Stavros Halkias told GQ that 'the entire industry has become a bringer,' and UCB has closed multiple spaces since 2019 while Second City was sold to private equity in 2021.
Entities
Artists
- Mitch Hedberg
- Aaron
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Chevy Chase
- Don Rickles
- David Letterman
- Steve Martin
- Chris Farley
- Edgar Wright
- Rowan Atkinson
- Mark Twain
- Bill Cosby
- Theo Von
- Norm Macdonald
- Chris Black
- Jason Stewart
- Caleb Hearon
- Stavros Halkias
- Judd Apatow
- Mike Myers
- Paul Rudd
- Bob Odenkirk
- David Cross
- Rodney Dangerfield
Institutions
- Saturday Night Live
- The Kids in the Hall
- In Living Color
- The State
- Mr. Show with Bob and David
- Upright Citizens Brigade
- Anchorman
- Wayne's World
- Happy Gilmore
- The Big Lebowski
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Superbad
- Role Models
- Step Brothers
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Scary Movie
- A24
- Friendship
- The Invite
- Jay Kelly
- Madea's Destination Wedding
- Netflix
- Seinfeld
- The Chevy Chase Show
- Shaun of the Dead
- Hot Fuzz
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
- Mr. Bean
- How Long Gone
- Delta Air Lines
- Model Comedian
- HBO
- GQ
- Second City
- TikTok
- The New Yorker
Locations
- United States
- Germany
- Chicago
- Manhattan
- New York