{"id":37097,"date":"2023-05-08T23:20:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T04:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=37097"},"modified":"2023-05-15T23:27:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T04:27:27","slug":"you-have-to-do-your-own-thing-even-when-crowds-dont-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=37097","title":{"rendered":"You have to do your own thing, even when crowds don\u2019t \u2018get it\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I was in college, a morning television show debuted on NBC with a comedian I\u2019d never heard of. His name was David Letterman.<\/p>\n

I was soon skipping class to watch this show. It was unlike anything I\u2019d ever seen. The comedy was original and irreverent. I kept trying to get other people to watch it, but nobody I knew was impressed. Pretty soon, it became clear that very few people anywhere were impressed. NBC quickly canceled a brilliantly funny show.<\/p>\n

After Letterman eventually became a big star on late-night television, I read about why the morning show failed. Those inside the business said the comedy was simply too new and different for the audience that was watching morning television. Viewers who had grown accustomed to tuning in for game shows and soap operas weren\u2019t ready for David Letterman\u2019s wacky comedy.<\/p>\n

Maybe you eventually liked Letterman. Maybe you didn\u2019t. That\u2019s not my point. It\u2019s just that by the standards of the market he entered, his work was too different. It wasn\u2019t what the audience wanted. And he failed.<\/p>\n

But Letterman didn\u2019t change his work after that to make the audience happy. He kept doing his wacky and irreverent brand of comedy. He worked hard and eventually earned a late-night spot on NBC. By then, a younger crowd had found him \u2014 and he became a wildly successful entertainer.<\/p>\n

As I get ready for the debut of my own show on YouTube \u2014 The David McElroy Show<\/a> \u2014 I keep thinking about Letterman. It\u2019s not that I have his talent or that I\u2019m even trying to be a comedian. It\u2019s simply that I\u2019m making something that\u2019s different from the rest of what I see on YouTube \u2014 and I strongly suspect that a lot of people are not going to \u201cget it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, I\u2019ve been wanting to do something on YouTube and I\u2019ve been watching how others do things \u2014 trying to figure out how to be like them.<\/p>\n

I’ve watched instruction from highly qualified people who talk about how to create a successful YouTube channel. Some people have highly structured formulas and their students are frequently successful in earning a nice living by working those formulas.<\/p>\n

But I still didn\u2019t know how<\/em> to be like them. Everything about it felt wrong to me. What was more, I didn\u2019t want<\/em> to be like them. They were doing things that didn’t interest me.<\/p>\n

So now, I\u2019m doing something that seems completely different. I’ve approached this as a complete beginner. I ignored how other YouTube channels do things. I\u2019m following my instincts. I\u2019m doing it my way.<\/p>\n

I want you to love what I do. I want you to “get it.” I want you to laugh at the right parts and feel — at least sometimes — as though I’m saying things that ought to be said. I want you to feel as though I’m poking fun at modern culture in ways that deserve to be lampooned.<\/p>\n

But I can’t change what feels right to me if you don’t get it.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t care if what I’m doing is right or wrong for the majority of the audience. I just need<\/em> to make what I need to make.<\/p>\n

The worst part is that I don’t fully understand what I’m doing, either. I’m following my instincts, just as I used to do as a child and as a teen when I pursued projects that were too big for me and that I had no business attempting.<\/p>\n

Some of what I do will fail, even by my standards. I’m going to feel humiliated at how poorly I pull some things off. And if I can be honest with you, the weakness parts of what I’m making will be when I’m on camera. The strongest elements will show up in parts of the show that reflect my production ideas and writing. It might take me awhile to get comfortable enough on camera to be worth watching. I’m not being modest. I’m just telling you the truth.<\/p>\n

But I’m going to follow my instincts. That’s why I’m making ridiculous jokes about an official seal. That’s why there might be a time when I suggest people change the channel. And it’s why I’m going to joke about not wanting to hear your criticism. It’s a joke, but it’s the truth, too.<\/p>\n

I’m making something for myself. There will be some number of people who will get what I’m doing and will love it the way I do. And I’m counting on them finding me — over time — and making it worth my while to continue doing this while I get better at it. Maybe it will work and maybe it won’t. But I have to try — and I have to do things my way.<\/p>\n

I understand that this is going to limit my audience. A lot of people will not like what I’m making. A lot of people will not get what I\u2019m trying to do. And that\u2019s OK with me, because if you don’t get it, it’s not made for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was in college, a morning television show debuted on NBC with a comedian I\u2019d never heard of. His name was David Letterman. I was soon skipping class to watch this show. It was unlike anything I\u2019d ever seen. The comedy was original and irreverent. I kept trying to get other people to watch Keep Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1x9iR-9El","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37097"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37130,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37097\/revisions\/37130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}