Comedy in Quarantine: How BLAZO!! And NJ Comedy Syndicate Are Using Technology and Creativity to Thrive During COVID-19

Eating Funny - A food review parody show

When the pandemic prevented NJ Comedy group BLAZO!! and their NJ Comedy Syndicate comedians from shooting their fast food review parody show Eating Funny on location, they challenged themselves to overcome the limitations. They turned to imagination and innovation, leveraging technology, and their effort is paying off. The show is tackling quarantine issues directly, and the approach is resonating: views and engagement are higher than ever before.

"I'm really excited at just how much encouragement, and engagement, we are getting from integrating quarantine issues into our comedy," says BLAZO!! founder Bo Blaze. "Really, any YouTube creator can turn a challenging situation into something positive by taking advantage of simple, free technology and using their imagination to slant things in a "quarantine funny" way. The most important thing is not to give up and wait for things to change. They may not change for a long time, so adapt."

Eating Funny is a show is about a delusional, spoiled Millennial who is abusive to his butler and thinks everyone is interested in his fast food reviews. When the NJ Comedy Syndicate comedians realized they could not shoot together, let alone on location, they imagined how the actual characters on the show would handle it – bringing a very real, very funny angle to the episodes.

Comedy in Quarantine: How BLAZO!! And NJ Comedy Syndicate Are Using Technology and Creativity to Thrive During COVID-19

Eating Funny - A food review parody show (screengrab)

The "quarantine comedy" includes passing food and even a punch in the mouth through the television, mailing food via the nonexistent FedEX Uber Eats Instant delivery service, and the butler wearing PPE in the restaurant – where nobody can understand his through-the-mask requests.

"We were really excited to see that SNL and American Idol did such an amazing job of continuing their programming during the quarantine. We really admire what they're doing and hope it inspires creators of every size to do the same," says Blaze. "We love what we do, and we intend to keep making content regardless of pandemic limitations."