I made this comment in response to someone at Chainsawsuit, and I wanted to keep it here for posterity. I think it sums up how I feel about memes, when I think too often I come across as having a scorched-earth policy for anyone who would dare to be creative in a manner I don’t find compelling. That’s incorrect but I think that’s how I sound. See if this fits better:

let me clarify a thought on memes — memes are not immediately poison. to suggest this is to say “no emoticons either, and no lowercase letters, and only correct punctuation.” ridiculous. we can’t do that.we need memes. we need these ideas to exist. we need methods of self-expression for people of every creative stripe.

my assertion is that after the first 5 or 10 iterations of a meme, the meme has to become meta to survive. then the meme is just an inside joke. inside jokes depreciate rapidly. the return on investment is pretty goddamn low. unfortunately this is where the meme really takes root and shines.

someone on twitter said that they had considered memes “the democratization of humor,” which i think is fascinating. because there’s an effort to make you think that by proliferating someone else’s joke, you yourself become as funny or clever as its originator. there is money to be made from this. empires are built on that idea! but it doesn’t hold water. the word BACON or the word SCIENCE is not humor, it does not indicate the presence of humor; but it’s been positioned as a punchline for so long, we react to it as if it’s a fully-formed joke.

put it this way: we used to all own headphones of various qualities. then apple bundled those trashy white earbuds with all music players, and audiophiles everywhere said “man, they are really horrible for music — they have terrible bass response and kids are growing up thinking that all music is supposed to be tinny and shrill.” i’m not an audiophile, but i’ll take those guys’ word for it.

memes are those white earbuds, but for comedy.

I mean, I don’t know how 4chan feels about it either; like, while they champion and deliver the most current, richest meme ores, I don’t imagine they get too excited when the meme they got sick of six months ago has finally trickled down to Snorg Tees. When the meme is new and fresh and hasn’t been run into the ground, it has currency; it has value and real comedy.

I don’t think most of us get to see the memes in that nascent, budding phase. I think we internet peons only see them when they’ve already got Doctor Who and bacon and Portal crammed into every hole.

This is also the subject of tomorrow’s Chainsawsuit, but I thought I’d talk about it more in-depth and more seriously here.

I think it’s safe to say you really only get one chance to succeed with a project on Kickstarter. If a project doesn’t make it, you blow all the enthusiasm on it, and once you’ve regrouped, the excitement and impulse to fund it will have largely died down. Where Kickstarter succeeds is in creating the potential to have a groundswell, grassroots-style movement for your project. You have to make the most of that excitement during the month-long push and see if you can make as much as possible.

A while ago I had the idea that I would just re-factor what I do in a year into a Kickstarter campaign.

Let’s say that I release 4 books and 4 shirts in a year typically, and attend 6 cons, and I make $60,000 doing so. Rather than just chug along for a full year and do that as I normally would, I’d reformat my fiscal year into a Kickstarter with accompanying goals:

• At $10,000 I can fund 1 high-quality book.
• At $25,000 I can fund 2 books and the quality will be better. I can also make a shirt to give to the mid-to-high tier backers.
• At $40,000 I can fund 4 very nice books and 3 shirts. I will also attend 3 cons. Depending on your tier level you will receive most/all of these things, videos, etc etc.
• At $60,000 I can fund 4 books, 4 shirts and I can attend 6 cons. More videos, more blogs, and upper-level enticements for high-tier backers (naturally).

The cons thing is kinda specious (because what’s the incentive for a Chicagoan to back me at a certain level if I don’t do one of those six cons in Chicago?) but you get the idea: re-factor your merchandise year into a month-long rally that has the potential to gain some press and some momentum.

The effect would be the same as whatever you’d make in a year — you’re of course still beholden to manufacture and ship those goods, make those videos and meet those promises — but this time, your audience and you have made each other a firm promise, and your work will hopefully surge off that excitement and supportive movement.

The more I think about this, the more I think if I create an enticing year or so of work, I could have a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. I want to have that bond, that pact with my audience. I want to be secure in the knowledge that I’m delivering the most-desired, most-asked-for things.

The senses-shattering season finale! Click to watch it.

I will be busier than a busy animal in the next two weeks, and here’s why:

• Emerald City Comicon: Seattle, WA. Booth 102. Starts today, ends Sunday. I’ll have a new Chainsawsuit poster! In addition to my books. And myself. I’ll be there. I will have showered.
• I will be performing improv with Unexpected Productions Saturday night at 10:30 PM
• I will be moderating the Axe Cop panel with Ethan and Malachai Nicolle on Sunday at 1:00 PM.
• Tuesday is the season finale of Kris and Scott’s Scott and Kris Show.
• I will be on a plane to Australia on Tuesday.
• The following week, on Thursday, I will host the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with Scott Kurtz and Wil Wheaton.
• That weekend, I’ll be at Supanova in Melbourne.
• I arrive back home the Monday after.
• The next Blam goes up on Tuesday. (Not the season finale)