Interview: Jason Cook

AT THIS year's Edinburgh Fringe I helped Jason Cook write his 2011 show. Or rather, I was in the crowd as the Geordie performed The End (Part 1). Revealing how a brush with death inspired him to try new experiences, he asked his audience to tell him "the best thing they've ever done". A lad ventured "drink tea through a Kit-Kat!" 

Voted one of the best suggestions of the night by those assembled, the notion is still amusing Cook on tour, as he compiles further experiences for The End (Part 2). Cook it transpires, is crowdsourcing his laughs. And like many crowdsourcers, he stumbled on the business model accidentally.

"Apparently I'm quite approachable," he says. "People come up and tell me things, so I've always fitted them around my own experiences. When I did my show Joy, it grew by 30 minutes from people telling me stories."
The term "Crowdsourcing" was coined in 2006 by journalist Jeff Howe to describe the emerging, invariably internet-enabled "act of taking a job traditionally performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call".

By delegating aspects of his creativity, hosting what Howe calls an "ideas jam" every night, Jason Cook is harnessing others' wit, producing funnier and better targeted routines for his audience. Anyone who has seen Part 1 and contributes a suggestion, votes or even laughs is invested at some level in Part 2. In market terms, we pay to co-create and focus group his routines before paying to hear them told back to us. 


Read More at - http://news.scotsman.com/comedy/Interview-Jason-Cook-comedian-.6613606.jp