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Comedy Central Presents…Jokes.com

For everyone that thrives on a daily fix of humor, there’s good news in the world of online funniness. Comedy Central has officially announced the reopening of Jokes.com, a website dedicated to all things stand-up.

The site currently offers upwards of 5,000 clips of stand-up comedians, and this archive includes many of the popular comedians that have been previously featured on Comedy Central.

Other site features will include a database of 12,000 text-based jokes as well as a search feature so that users can easily find any of the comedians within Jokes.com. The site currently has over one thousand stand-up comedians and only looks to grow in the coming months.

Coordinating with other media forms, the site will offer information about specific comedians when they appear on Comedy Central or other television venues. Increasing the ease of ticket purchases, the site will also be equipped with a way to buy tickets to live comedy shows featuring their cache of funnymen (and funny-women).

Planning to make the venue even more interactive in the future, the site will eventually allow users (for better or worse) to upload their own comedy videos.

Comedy Central has always been on the cutting edge of stand-up, but with the resurrection of this sister site, they are actually on the cutting edge of online marketing as well. To that end, there have been several notable comedians in the recent past that have exploded primarily due to their online marketing schemes.

In particular, Dane Cook found amazing exposure through smart, online marketing techniques. There’s no doubt that his very advertised, very vocal presence on social networking sites such as MySpace drastically increased his popularity. In fact, his marketing scheme might have worked a bit too well. His underground following quickly turned to Hollywood limelight, and not so shortly after, a complete over-saturation of that silly grin, those flailing arms, and yelling rants. But I digress.

In terms of Comedy Central and its newest venture, it looks to be a very successful move for the premier provider of cable comedy. Online communities are quick to rally around a cause, whether it’s political, ideological, or comical.

And Dane Cook isn’t the only example. Comedians that haven’t quite exploded as much as Cook include the clever lyricist Steven Lynch, the sadly deceased Mitch Hedberg, the delightfully downplayed Demetri Martin, and more.

If these comedians are any indication, comedy and viral marketing go very well together. And Comedy Central’s efforts look to be a great venue for some of today’s burgeoning acts.

(PS: In the time it took you to read this post, Dane Cook’s MySpace profile probably gained a few thousand new friends…)