Short-form content is still the fastest-growing mediums that video creators can harness to go viral. Actor and creator Laura Clery has built a large social media following on the power of short skits and comedy sketches.
Her audience grew rapidly across the major platforms, from Facebook (14 million) to TikTok (7.5 million). Plus, she has launched a viral podcast and written two best-selling books.
Here’s her journey.
Quick Facts
- Laura Clery is an actor and content creator who has gone viral with short comedy skits across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
- She also runs a podcast, Idiot, and wrote two best-selling books.
- Clery’s content often features humorous takes on co-parenting, raising her two kids, and life with ADHD.
Keep reading for the full story!
For this series of blog posts, we sat down with some of the most successful creators at Tasty Edits. Here, they share their experience and expertise with you.
Contents
From Casting Rooms to Content Creation
Clery didn’t set out to become a content creator on social media – her original goal was to be a full-time actor.
“I came out to Los Angeles at 17,” she recalls. “After I graduated high school. I was a terrible student, but I was really funny and a good writer. I knew I could do something in comedy. And so the dream initially was SNL, or getting a sitcom.”
However, Clery found the life of an aspiring actor to be frustrating – stuck in an endless circle of auditioning, doing commercials or indie films, and filing for unemployment in-between.
It was in her early 20s that she realized she wanted to take the initiative and build something herself, rather than audition for other people’s projects. Inspired by friends who’d started posting on Vine and YouTube, she began creating her own content.
“I decided to write a web series with one of my friends,” she explains. “Once I started writing and producing my own content and putting it online, I just realized that I have global distribution at my fingertips. I didn’t have to sit in a casting room with ten other lanky blondes, waiting for a random director to say I was hired. It was so liberating!”
“I decided I was never going to be on the other side of the casting room ever again. I was going to be a producer.”
Laura’s hilarious, unvarnished energy has earned her millions of followers.
Clery tackled her new career with characteristic energy and passion: “I fired my agent. I was done auditioning – I was a creator now. For a year, I shot a video every single day. They were terrible, but I still did it.”
The determination paid off: “After six months, I had my first viral video. And from that point on, I started growing.”
Branching Out Across Platforms and Media
Over time, Clery leveled up her content production, honing her production skills and building a loyal audience.
“I started learning the language of the Internet and how to make videos – listening to what people wanted and doing more of that,” she says. “And then within a few years, I was growing and growing and growing.”
Clery started leveraging different platforms, from Facebook over Instagram to YouTube and TikTok, gradually expanding her reach. “Now, after doing this for 9, almost 10 years, I have a following of over 25 million across all platforms.”
A dry #tradwife sendup.
In addition to branching out across social media platforms, Clery also started engaging with different media. She has written two best-selling books: Idiot (2020) and the follow-up Idiots: Marriage, Motherhood, Milk & Mistakes (2022). Plus, she hosts the Idiot podcast, in which she reflects on relationships, parenting, mental health, sex and sobriety.
The Challenges of Monetizing Short-Form Content
In the course of her career as a content creator, Clery also had to overcome a number of challenges – in particular, the difficulty of monetizing short-form content and the vagaries of ever-evolving algorithms. Throughout all the ups and downs, though, she’s stayed agile and at the forefront of new trends.
“When Facebook came out with videos, I was one of the first Facebook content creators,” she recalls. “Nobody was posting on Facebook because you couldn’t monetize it and my manager was like: ‘Laura, what the f*** are you doing? Go on YouTube – you can’t monetize this.’ ”
Again, her sharp instincts weren’t misleading her. “I knew that the platform wasn’t saturated and would monetize eventually – and I would be laughing all the way to the bank. That’s what happened – it’s how I bought my house.”
“I’ve learned as a content creator, there are ups and downs. One second you think it’s going to be like this forever, and then the algorithm changes,” Clery reflects. “You just have to ride the waves.”
Clery’s chaotic good impishness often carries a sharp satiric edge.
Ultimately, this mindset has helped Clery prosper on what she likes doing best – entertaining people: “I live in my dream house. I have my dream life, really doing what I love every day. Making people laugh and inspiring and entertaining millions of people around the world.”
FAQs
Laura Marie Clery is an American author, actor and comedy content creator. She has over 25 million followers across platforms and runs a successful podcast.
Laura Clery is most famous for her short comedy sketches on social media. She also hosts a successful podcast, Idiot, and has written two best-selling books.
Originally from a suburb of Chicago, Clery now lives in California.
Born on July 22, 1986, Laura Marie Clery is currently 40 years old.
Laura Clery is most famous for her short comedy sketches on social media. Furthermore, she has written two best-selling books and hosts a successful podcast.
