Back in March 2020, stand-up comedian, Vix Leyton performed her 100th gig. A huge accomplishment! But, in the era of the Coronavirus, the "up" part of stand-up soon became "Sit-down" comedy. And as Lyton described it, a shift from "A more formal performance style to a conversational intimacy" began.
With comics craving a communal space to try out their new lines on others, Vix explained, "Virtual open mics started popping up...I signed up to as many as I could." But, with the internet connections lagging and unmuted viewers of the gigs, it soon became hard to figure out who was laughing at what.
However, this way of sharing comedy also had a big silver lining that many could enjoy. As with Zoom, Skype, and the rest, people from anywhere could hop onto the comedy call to enjoy some "sit-down" shows. So, the question became, how much did technological glitching actually affect the quality of the screen-sized shows?
Sponsored
Well, comedians who added "virtual" to the beginning of their job descriptions throughout the past year, such as Leyton, could now reach more diverse audiences. And, with more than a year of being out of comedy clubs, this was widely seen as a huge plus for both comedians and those who enjoy a good giggle!
And it led to the expansion of comedians' resumes. For example, Vix joined a Twitch panel show, which "Involved inviting comedians to compete to tell their best story on a topic randomly chosen from a bingo ball, with the aim of creating conversations that would never naturally occur."
This idea soon sprouted into Leyton's passion project. And in a matter of weeks, The Comedy Arcade, a podcast-gameshow, was born. Per the show's website, Vix has a list of 30 possible subjects of which she talks about. On the show, she invites 3 comics to compete with their own stories, anecdotes, jokes, or even songs...
Comics to appear on the show so far include Sara Barron, Sikisa, Thom Tuck, Esther Manito, John Robertson, and many more. With 31 episodes in her first season and 6 already in her second, Vix Leyton seems hilariously unstoppable!
