Thank you so much Stephanie for introducing me to efforts being made by comics like Esposito. I've been trying to theorise a similar idea through my own dissertation on female comics in India. I love the idea of thinking about feminist labour in the context of comedy.

Something similar happens in the Indian context as well with comedians, particularly (cis) female  comedians producing live stand-up shows with all-female lineups including open mics. The economy of comedy here plays a huge role in the kind of comedy the women perform and whether or not they choose to produce their own shows. Most women comics have other full-time jobs through which they are able to support their comedy career which is an expensive and non-paying one especially in the first few years. Here stand-up is still confined to elite spaces: clubs, cafes, pubs that only few can afford. A lot of popular comics perform in English (while most "mass" audiences are comfortable in Hindi and other regional languages) and in places that require paid registrations which are quite expensive. So in terms of diversity and representation of marginal voices, there's still a long way to go. Within these constraints some comics are still trying to bring in diversity of narratives through individual organising, "using their clout", as you mentioned.

What I am thinking of most in my context though is the exclusivity of these comedy shows and the content of the comics' routines as well. What I'm getting at perhaps is that even though there may be comics performing comedy in keeping with their social justice ideologies, the exclusivity of the space somehow negates the reach the comedy could otherwise have had. 

I see much diversity in terms of race, gender and sexuality identities among comics in the US (I speak from the apparent perspective of an international audience that consumes comedy of the other countries primarily through OTT platforms, and I may be wrong) however that is not the case here. Most comics who are popular here are privileged, upper-caste cismen. There's hardly Muslim/Christian representation or even of Dalit-Bajujan women in India. Queer representation too is almost next to nothing (there are only two comics right now openly identifying as gay or bisexual). There is no trans* representation at all. 

To respond to your question about how to think about methods to analyse this labour, we may have to consider these efforts at inclusivity within the contradictions and constraints of living in a patriarchal world. As I mention in my own post, scheduled for Thursday, maybe we need to think in terms of kyriarchy. That it is possible for comics to speak of social justice while not completely being free of discriminatory biases themselves. 

Apologies for the long post :) thanks again for introducing this important point. 

I'd love to chat and hear more about the work you're doing as well as the grad students who are working on Indian comics. There are few I've found here who I can share academic insights about the Indian stand-up scene. 

Rebecca Krefting's All Joking Aside (2014)  which I am sure you must be familiar with, conceptualises "charged humour" (that which necessarily intends to change mindsets and call out discrimination in addition to also providing solutions to social injustice) speaks of how such humour already has very limited audiences and money for comics. Whoever has ventured into doing it, performing poltiically sensitive, charged humour, does so mindful of the limited returns they get. Most comedy producers here, as I told you, have to make sure they have other full-time jobs so that they can make their own stage time buying mics and selling tickets to audiences for even open mics. And most of the comedians who've made this effort have been people who admittedly "love" comedy for its own sake. While it's great to love your job, it shouldn't also make you jump through hoops. And it seems unfair to expect all comics to have the same level of "I'll do whatever it takes to be successful because I love my job" attitude as a requirement for success.

Most audiences only watch comedy online and don't spend too much time patronising upcoming comics. So those who do "make it big" invariably owe it to themselves to put out stand-up content online or sketch or advertisements, or collab with the "well-known" comics so that they can be taken seriously as professional comics by those who come to watch them. 

I hope things change. The Metoo movement that broke in the comedy industry in 2018 here has also now fizzled out with no one who was accused being professionally harmed at all.