The downsides of 140-character comedy

Tweeting a perfect joke comes with potential downsides. Here are a few of the hazards of making people laugh on Twitter: Tweet theft

All of Twitter’s prominent joke artisans have at some point been victimized by plagiarism. Jason Richards’ @Seinfeld2000 account has been pickpocketed by infamous tweet thief @FatJew, among others, though he says it’s happening less often recently. “Maybe because I’m popular enough that people know the original source,” Richards mused.

“And a lot of people call them out, fortunately.” Viral mirage

Many comedians concede they have no idea which of their posts will catch on and a tweet can go viral — especially with a couple of prominent retweets — without necessarily attracting new followers. Comics warn not to focus too much on building a following as a sole goal. “I don’t really use Twitter to get retweets or likes or favourites,” said Jermaine Fowler. “I genuinely love talking to people.” Comedic competition Standing out from the funny fray is increasingly difficult, with legions of established comedians, prolific Twitter-only joke writers and, well, regular folks flooding the web with solid material. “Some of the funniest people I follow aren’t even writers or comedians,” said Toronto actor Michael Lake. Save it for the stage

It’s challenge enough to stock a full arsenal of road-ready material when you’re also expected to conjure funny quips for Twitter, so some comics are careful not to give something away free that could be expanded for a set. “When I’m going to tweet out a joke . . . I’ll tweet something that I’ve already done on television,” said Jeremy Hotz. “Then if there’s something I have absolutely no intention of ever doing onstage, I’ll tweet that.” Nick Patch