What’s it like performing in a metaverse comedy club? Comic Adam Ruben described his experience to The Washington Post:
“I took the stage, looking out on the crowd of about 50 avatars. I started one of my standard introductory bits about being raised in Delaware. The joke usually includes crowd work, a variation on “Where’s everyone from?” But in VR, if the audience was yelling in response, I couldn’t hear it. It was hard to hear laughter from the stage.” (In this virtual club, sound is based on proximity, so you can only hear people if their avatars are lingering close to the “stage.”)
Failed to Render
The audience, said Ruben, “hovered in the club” and seemed more or less respectful, actually there to enjoy some comedy. The nature of allowing avatars in from all over the world makes rushing the virtual stage a possibility, although Failed to Render’s club does have digital bouncers.
But did performing in the metaverse have the same rush as actually working a live crowd? Ruben admits, “I simply couldn’t trick my brain into thinking I was anywhere other than a basement.”
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But Ruben might be missing the point, says comic “Big Al” Gonzales. Just like performing stand-up on TV or over Zoom requires different dynamics, virtual comedy requires a new mindset. After some practice, Gonzales adjusted his set, tightening up his routines while making his voice more, well, animated. “You adjust for the medium.”