From cat videos to Louis C.K.'s success selling his show directly to fans, the Internet has spawned countless new kinds of comedy and helped them flourish. PBS Off Book's latest episode looks at how platforms like iTunes and Twitter let aspiring comedians reach new audiences directly, regardless of how niche their sensibility might be. College Humor's Sam Reich, interviewed in the episode below, explains that humor can venture into edgier territory the web. We laugh at one kind of joke in a crowded room, he says, and another "alone in the dark" in front of a computer screen. Jon Friedman, who tweets funny observations to an audience of more than 70,000 followers, and Mike Lawrence, host of the Nerd of Mouth comedy podcast, also weigh in. Off Book is produced by Kornhaber Brown for PBS. 

For more videos from PBS Off Book, visit http://video.pbs.org/program/off-book/.