It has begun quite a while ago with podcasts. Adam Carolla runs a whole podcast production shop in addition to his own hugely popular show and even some spin-offs, then there's the Nerdist (same thing), Joe Rogan has a popular show, Doug Benson, Bill Burr and many others.
Comedians just seem more... entrepreneurial. It would be interesting whether it's because there's less structure (existing or required) in the comedy world, or because comedy attracts more independent performers.
Dana Gould's doing his own, and it has production values and editing. By comparison, Adam doesn't really do a whole lot of quality control on his show. Shitty shows still get released. It irritates me.
There's probably a lot to be said for comedians generally acting alone or in pairs. Even when you get a group of four together you're considerably less flexible.
I did stand-up comedy for a while. Allow me to offer my own experience about the entrepreneurial streak you're seeing from the comedy sector:
1. As a comedian, you have no choice BUT to get creative. Nobody is going to give you stage time as a no-name comic so your choices are either (booked) open mics or starting your own show.
2. There isn't an "agent" culture for comics like there is for bands or actors. You write your own material. You're alone on stage. You're alone every step of the way.
3. The money stinks as a comic. I can remember being paid for a show in food. FOOD. And there were limits on what I could order. At a mexican restaurant. Since there isn't a lot of money in comedy shows, every dollar you spend on getting to/from a show or paid to someone to help you book a show is almost a eat-or-pay-rent type of decision. If you go to a comedy show, buy a CD from the comic after the show. It's likely that 5 CD's sold puts more money in the pocket of the comic than whatever they earned from the club.
4. Finding another comic to share expenses is almost a losing proposition from the start. Unless you're on stage together as part of an act, it's impossible. Only headline acts can bring their own opener/feature and you aren't a headline act.
SO, to sum up, the money stinks in comedy, you can't easily achieve scale, and you need to be your own writer/agent/booker/show-runner to make a living.
"The money stinks as a comic"
A classic case of oversupply perhaps. Far too people quitting their day jobs to do stand-up full-time because someone in the office laughed at their jokes.
Everyone learns to perfect their craft through constant failure. Musicians/artists have the luxury of failing over and over while in the isolation of their bedroom. Comics have no choice but to fail repeatedly in front of a live audience, and nobody wants to pay you while you're learning to fail.
The common wisdom for comics learning is that your first 100 sets don't count. You basically count as a win any time you are able to stay onstage for the required amount of time.
To paraphrase: your first 100 jumps off the board count if you hit water.
Disagree completely -- the world has plenty of office workers scared to try something so bold, we need better filtering tools and more people trying rather than believing that the current system works to capture, foster, and utilize talent properly.
I think we do way too much stifling as a society as it is, and a lot of that has to do with people who gave up on their dreams for a safe existence justifying their decision by ridiculing others who dare to take risks.
I don't think its a question of oversupply. Getting up on stage is a terrifying experience for most people.
I think the biggest factor is the mechanics of the showbusiness industry. The top people earn most (90%) of the potential revenue. The rest get the remainder.
Comedians just seem more... entrepreneurial. It would be interesting whether it's because there's less structure (existing or required) in the comedy world, or because comedy attracts more independent performers.