I Will Never Be Famous Unless I am Evil
- Leah Renee
- Feb 22
- 6 min read
As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to keep scrolling Facebook."
Before you get mad at me, let me clarify a few things.
I know this isn’t true, but sometimes it feels true.
Anyone can be famous with no effort at all (ask the Cold Play Kiss Cam Couple).
When I say famous, I mean my creative work being known by enough people to sell tickets to live events, which is super hard to do unless you have “fans”/fame.
I don’t really mean “unless I am evil”, but rather, unless I live in cognitive dissonance and rationalize using certain platforms. You have to tell yourself it’s not that bad when deep down you know some really filthy b*stards are running it. (that’s even a little bit evil to pretend you don’t know you’re helping the baddies)
I know the language may seem strong coming from me, but Trump would 100% not be in office if it weren’t for the ways platforms like Facebook and Twitter radicalized (and continues to) millions of people.
“Oh Leah! You’re being so hyperbolic!” you say.
Unfortunately not.
I personally know (more than one) very kind, lovely people who attended January 6th largely because of the rage bait and inflated Christian victimhood narratives peddled on targeted Facebook groups.
Thankfully, these whole-hearted people left early and did not try to zip tie Nancy Pelosi to a radiator. They quickly realized it wasn’t a kumbaya-lets-all-be-more-like-Jesus event, but rather a riotous crowd of salivating disenfranchised violent white supremacists who’d finally found someone who’d unapologetically dismantle our government on their behalf. They sadly still engage in the moral panic fed by their continued facebook and Fox News consumption. They voted for our Fascist Dictator in Chief, thrice.
Have I lost you yet?
Where is this coming from?
Substack is becoming evil.
I noticed it when they introduced a feed that felt oh so much like all the other attention harvesting sinkholes at our fingertips. I was starting to see stuff from people I don’t follow, clearly reaching my eyeballs merely because it was “engaging”.BOOOOO.
I’m sad. I was really excited about Substack being a safe haven for creative people to make and share work with people looking for something other than rage bait and bikini pics. I recently learned they allow the same hateful garbage other platforms do, proving that Substack is openly favoring anything that gets people to stay on it longer.BOOOOO.
If we’ve learned anything, it’s only a matter of time before it’s filled with ads, misinformation, and thirst traps.
What does this have to do with my comedy career?
I’m already (kind of forced) to have Instagram because there are a significant number of bookers that use it as their sole messaging platform to book shows. Comedy clubs and promoters actively discriminate against comedians with low follower numbers, assuming they’ll have low ticket sales. If you have less than 10K followers you have a hard time getting booked on even some of the sh*ttiest basement bar shows.
“Well then Leah, if you feel so strongly, then don’t do their shows. Just book your own venues and your own shows!”
Answer: I have and I do.The problem is that this industry is so heavily relationship-based that if you go solo and just book your own rooms, you miss out on valuable opportunities to meet other comedians, form friendships, and work together. This is what kills many a cruise ship and corporate comedian’s chances at having an independent comedy career. They simply aren’t in the scene, they are literally “out at sea”.
“Every Member a Missionary” Every Comedian a Marketer
Mormons have a saying “Every member a missionary” which is shorthand for: don’t just rely on the boys with the ties and name tags to spread the word! Open your mouth! Share the gospel! [That’s why Mormons are so chatty and open about their beliefs and why it’s not enough to just be a good Mormon, you have to talk up the church.]
Comedians in a similar vein, can’t merely be a good comedian these day: they must be marketers. Unless you’ve advanced enough in your career to hire someone to edit your videos, run your social media accounts, and book your gigs, you’ve got to DIY all that shite yourself.
I have a background in marketing and was well equipped to take the task of shameless self promotion head on. I even spent five figures on a six month class (which I’ve mentioned before) to learn the most ethical and reliable ways to grow on Instagram.
After half a year of posting every day, I depressingly learned the only content that did virally well were videos that pissed people off. ;{ Hundreds of hours spent editing videos, thousands of dollars (which I no longer feel sore about because there’s a chance I’d still be trying to grow in IG without having gone into the belly of the beast).
I felt icky. I deleted over a hundred reels and the app from my phone in disgust. I caved and bought some followers so that I’d not be penalized by promoters. Although I’ve never shared that fact publicly, I’m at peace with it because it goes with one of the common questions I ask myself, “Would it be fair if everyone did it?” YES! It’s small act of resistance that begins to erode user trust in vanity metrics. Let’s all buy bots and bring down the trustworthiness of these nefarious attention harvesters.
I have since blocked IG on my browser, opting only to post relevant show information using Meta Business Suite rather than wade through the sea content algorithmically curated to waste my life reel by reel.
What to do now?
Last year I deactivated my personal Facebook account and deleted Instagram from my phone.
I canceled Spotify when I learned they were running ICE ads.
I’m not on TikTok, Snapchat, BeReal etc.
I left Twitter years ago.
I deleted ChatGPT when I learned founder Greg Brockman gave $25M to Trump and currently holds a $500B partnership with the Trump regime.
I stopped using Riverside for podcasts, run by Zionist IDF veterans who are Palestinian Holocaust deniers.
I just found out this week Claude/Anthropic was used to kidnap Maduro.
I don’t dare look up Descript. (Oh please oh please don’t be evil!)
All I seem to have left in terms of platforms I’m willing to engage with is:YouTube. It’s the only social media that’s had a demonstrably positive impact, due to the amount of educational content. (whom among us hasn’t been thankful for the helpful Indian guy who made a video about about to recover a deleted file or an old grandpa with advice about the easiest way to change a tire?).
Interestingly, this video is inching towards 10K views on YouTube, got 2 million views on facebook. Instagram rewarded my controversial midwife video with half a million views in a week, but still hasn’t broken the 10K YouTube view prison for two and a half years. YouTube is simply a less volatile and thirsty place. YouTube also doesn’t count something as a “view” unless you’ve watched it for at least 30 seconds (or the whole video if it’s less than 30). Meta counts a view if you’ve watched it for between 2 and 3 seconds, as soon as it begins playing.
I’ve not mentioned Reddit yet.
I’ve struggled to understand it’s complex hierarchy. It feels easier to learn the tax code or pass the bar than understand how Reddit works. I have had really popular posts (like 50K reads in under a week) deleted because they didn’t fit the very narrow confines of the specific “flair” I’d categorized my post under. 🥴
(Law of Attraction success stories DO NOT BELONG in success stories, but only under r/Law of Attraction 🫠)
Unless you only go there only to read, it feels like being forced to play a complex RPG game or Magic the Gathering.
Other than building my own email list show by show, person by person, I’m really at a loss how to grow audiences in far off places.
The plan.
I win several million dollars.
I find venue space close to my house and run my own little comedy shows just for fun. I do weekly shows advertised through local news outlets and posters on bulletin boards at bars and coffee shops.
I use my disposable income to continue to travel and do spots in well known and obscure places just to meet people and enjoy sampling the delights of being in new places, connecting with humor, and trying food that may or may not give me diarrhea.
Oh wait! I’m still not famous in this plan! 🤔
But I am not evil.
I am happy.
xx
Leah
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