045: Dave Ross on “What is the Future of Comedy?”

In this episode we talk with comedian Dave Ross about the ways the technology is impacting the world of stand-up comedy. We discuss how cellphone cameras are disrupting the age-old process of working out jokes in small rooms and about how, soon, virtual reality might be displacing or devaluing live performances. We discuss the problem of writing jokes via computer and a theory of humor called "Benign Violation Theory" that might animate the efforts of future AI comedians. Finally we discuss how technology provides new avenues to test jokes and be discovered, but simultaneously the massive amount of access and competition makes it harder than ever to rise to the top.