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Unfortunately, this kind of thing has happenedmanytimes before at similar outlets.
But getting fired from a well-known comedy entity justfeelsdifferent.
Heres this humor brand someone has loved for years.
Then they get to work there, and then, all of a sudden, they dont anymore.
I know this feeling quite well, having landed and then lost a dream of a gig at RiffTrax.
It was nothing personal budget cuts, I was told but how could Inottake it personally?
But what of theoldshow?
They avoided watching it for months, because it kept running material this writer had created during their tenure.
It was a relief to finally get to a place where theyd physically run out of stuff.
As he finished his dissertation in 2013, he heard the paper was looking to hire some interns.
A few weeks later, The Oniondropped him due to that low hit rate.
I was massively disappointed, but I knew that my writing wasnt good enough, he says.
I kept reading the publication nevertheless, thinking to myself,Thats okay, but not great.
I clearly was trying to delude myself that they made a mistake by letting me go.
A big part of my identity came through writing for The Onion.
Poof, that was all gone via one email.
But their bitterness has since given way to gratitude.
What helped the healing process?
When a bunch of other people eventually got fired, too.
It certainly softens the blow when it feels like its nothing personal.
Today, the writer says that theyve made peace with it.
Despite a friendly, tight-knit group of writers, working there could feel tenuous.
There was certainly always a feeling that the wheels could come off at any moment.
It was also challenging to adapt to the companys constantly evolving strategy.
I think the company was pretty much always losing money.
Indicative of that problem: widespread layoffs, which this person kind of saw coming.
The following Monday, creatives were told to just keep writing whatever we wanted and to work from home.
However, those feelings didnt last long, and those people were soon laid off, too.
It employed a lot of comedy writers and performers, but its been forced to evolve to stay alive.
It didnt really feel like a comedy website, which it did when I got hired.
Luckily, theyre on Twitter.
I had done work for other satire sites, but this one seemed to be speaking to me specifically.
The site makeup was almost all men.
But the writers endured a steep and time-consuming learning curve figuring out what they wanted the show to be.
It was higher stress than it needed to be, this writer says.
Its also foreshadows that before long, someone from above is gonna shake shit up.
I guess its like watching your exs wedding, weekly.
Why did it end?
In other words, his stuff just didnt mesh with the show anymore.
To me, it feels like sports, though Im terrible at sports.
you might be convinced of your own abilities, but if your coaches arent convinced, you wont play.
Despite getting fired, the writer still watches the show.
It was like any workplace environment in that there were some good people, some not so good people.
But the good people were definitely recognized, they say.
There is definitely a lot of solidarity.
Will they ever again check out CollegeHumor?
Ive nostalgically watched a few videos, this employee admits.
I still love it.
Maybe its some sort of Stockholm syndrome of working there so long.
But still its complicated.
I put together a great staff and we did some very successful stuff around the election, he says.
But then, in early 2017, the department was shuttered.
Losing the gig and the chance to make comedy was frustrating, to say the least.
So for all that to very swiftly not materialize was really heartbreaking to me.
I loved The Onion its legacy, process, and ethic.
It was all just very sad and tragic.
Sometimes I look at my old work, he says.
But failure, rejection, and endings are as much a part of being a writer as words.
Failure is part of this sport, and if you arent failing, you arent playing hard enough.
But should a comedy writer even take a job on a show they adore?
It might not be worth it, just to save yourself from getting favorites forever ruined.
Now if Ireallyenjoy a show, I wouldnt pursue a writing job on it.
I couldnt bear the thought of walking away fromOutlanderorBroad City.
Or maybe comedy is like pretty much any other industry: Its fickle and constantly evolving.
Tastes change, the economy changes, and workers get shuffled.
