The internet has brought us a lot of things: Happiness, sadness, anger, knowledge, new friends, and a whole lot of laughter. When it comes to comedy, Twitter (or X, as it's now called) is undoubtedly the star of the show. The platform never fails to deliver some of the wittiest one-liners that might make even the highest-paid comedians chuckle.
"But what’s really funny and unique to Twitter isn’t so much the content as it is the interaction between the participants," writes Alex Danco in his newsletter. And he couldn't have said it better.
Twitter (X) is one massive chatroom with a big, mixed bag of people from all walks of life. Regular folk, politicians, celebrities, journalists, business leaders and brands are all there to have a fat chat, exchange blows, laugh, or be laughed at.
Danco admits that it can be quite bizarre to scroll through your timeline and see very serious news next to abject toilet humor. But perhaps that unexpected injection of hilarity between the bouts of negativity is one reason Twitter can be so much fun.
While the platform showcases the funny side of some of our favorite Hollywood celebs, it's also turned ordinary people into online celebrities overnight, purely because of their sharp sense of humor... Like one Twitter user, who went by the handle @KeetPotato on Weird Twitter, the platform's unofficial corner where surreal jokes, surreal art, and chaotic personalities collide.
"To be considered a Twitter celeb, on first thought, at least, doesn’t strike me as being a good thing. But I guess it does open some unexpected doors," the viral tweeter told Vice.
He revealed that he even (quite bizarrely) received a two-month supply of Toilet Duck, thanks to his witty and weird tweets. "I can only assume it was because my avatar is a duck, and my writing belongs in a toilet," quipped the comic.
Some regular but very funny Twitter users have even gone on to land careers in the world of comedy because of their tweets. Bryan Donaldson (@TheNardvark) is one of them. He started using the platform in 2010 as an outlet for comedic relief.
"He was a regular guy living in Illinois as an IT professional when Alex Baze discovered his talents and got him an interview to write for Late Night With Seth Meyers with producer Mike Shoemaker and Meyers himself," reports Metter Media. "After only 15 minutes with them, Donaldson was hired!"
He also worked on the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2014 and the 4th Annual NFL Honors in 2015.
Megan Amram (@meganamram) also went on to achieve fame thanks to Twitter. She's a Harvard graduate, known for her hilarious one-liners on the platform. Her viral tweets caught the attention of comedian Rob Delaney, who regularly retweeted her, and shared her humor with his hoards of followers.
Amram eventually scored a gig as a writer for NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and later released a parody textbook, titled Science… For Her! She was also a writer and producer for the NBC series The Good Place.
Amram has previously compared comedy to poetry, in that the structure is similar.
"Comedy is about breaking expectations of day-to-day life; so is poetry, on a more miniature level. I know a lot of comedians who gravitate toward a lot of different literary forms–secret bookworms who like word puzzles–and I find it really cool to see literary smart people who end up being the funniest," she told Fast Company.
