Ask Wayne Brady what makes good improv and he’ll probably tell you his audience. I’m in Las Vegas this week with my husband who is attending the National Association of Black Journalists Conference. Last night we went to see Wayne Brady’s live improvisational performance “Making %#it Up!” at the Venetian.  In a rather quaint auditorium, Brady and his assistants removed the invisible barrier between artist and audience and encouraged full participation by audience members. To create laugh out loud comedy, audience members were asked to come on stage to role-play, suggest scenes for Brady to reenact, and provide the punch line for the joke. The end result: a damn funny show.

According to Wikinomics authors Tapscott and Williams, everyday people are the new media. Because of advances in consumer technology, we are controlling the Internet, television, news, and even movies. We now have the opportunity to dictate what information gets placed on the agenda for traditional media and consumers’ discussion.

Two things came to mind as I watched Brady’s performance. First, the leader (or in this case the star) does not hold all the power. Oftentimes, leaders simply have the most credibility and best means for spreading an innovation to the masses. The best solution may come from an audience member who is not bogged down with the pressures of thinking up the most novel idea. Secondly, people love being a part of the action and are eager to contribute if they know their idea will go towards creating something significant.

But last night’s performance also brought another thought to mind: I paid for Wayne Brady and not the comedic talents of Joe Schmoe. While mass collaboration is beneficial, we have to place limits on how much control consumers have in developing products and services. Why? Because too much collaboration may blur the line between professional and amateur. Tapscott and Williams write,

“In a world where all one needs is a camera phone to report on one’s surroundings, it is no longer as straightforward to pigeonhole a person’s role. In the emerging prosumption paradigm, a person can seamlessly shift from consumer to contributor and creator” (p. 143).

I disagree with this statement. The shift from consumer to contributor is not always seamless, particularly when the consumer has little or no professional training in what he is contributing to. It’s wrong to create the notion that any person with a blog or Podcast is a journalist. We need to continue showing the distinction between consumer-generated and professional content to uphold professional standards and limit career “remixing.”

It seems that Wayne Brady (the genius he is) recognizes this point too. He never gave his audience total control over dictating his moves. He shot down suggestions he didn’t like and admitted when concepts were too racy. Audience participation only made up the first half of his performance. During the second half of the show, Brady built the invisible barrier between artist and audience and performed self selected songs and dances, sending the message that ‘not everyone can do what I do.’