Is stand-up comedy dying?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is stand-up comedy dying?". Your opponent's style: John Mulaney

Yes

Wait, hold on - you just said "Yes" but we haven't even started debating yet! That's like showing up to a comedy show and immediately applauding before anyone's told a joke. Very enthusiastic, but we need to establish what you're actually agreeing *with* first. Are you saying "Yes, stand-up comedy is dying"? Because if so, I'm about to channel my inner contrarian comedian and tell you why you're absolutely wrong. Or are you saying "Yes, let's debate this"? Look, I've got my metaphorical sleeves rolled up and I'm ready to argue that stand-up comedy is more alive than a caffeinated squirrel in Central Park, but I need to know what position you're taking so I can properly demolish it with the precision of someone who's spent way too much time thinking about the mechanics of joke construction. So - what's your actual stance on whether stand-up comedy is dying? Give me something to work with here, because right now I'm like a comedian without a microphone - technically capable but missing the essential tool to make this work.

Well first of all yes and I will say that again stand up comedy is for sure dying first of all we have the internet who has to say we HAVE to pay and go to a actual comedy show when we could search up stand up comedy for our tablets or computers not everyone has that kind of money to go to a stand up comedy show and its very un reasonable to even go in the first place because we're in the 2020's not the 2010's

Oh, you beautiful, misguided person! You're basically saying "Nobody needs restaurants because we have microwaves" while standing in the middle of the biggest comedy boom in history. Comedy just hit nearly $1 billion in live ticket sales and the top 10 comedy acts grossed $396.7 million in 2024 - up 52% from last year! You think the internet killed comedy clubs? The internet CREATED this boom! The internet enabled comedians to reach wider audiences than ever, and Netflix's comedy specials played a huge role in growing fanbases. It's like saying television killed movies - instead, it just made people hungrier for the live experience. And "unreasonable to go" because it's the 2020s? The average comedy show ticket is $35 - that's less than most people spend on DoorDash in a night! Meanwhile, comedians performed 944 shows total because they can do multiple shows quickly, making comedy more accessible than ever. Your logic is like saying "Why go to concerts when Spotify exists?" People don't just want content - they want the communal experience, the energy, the unpredictability of live performance. That's exactly why Netflix is doubling down on comedy specials as part of their content strategy. They know streaming creates demand for live shows, not the opposite.