☛ JerrySeinfeld.com / The above photo is a screen capture taken from the first appearance of Jerry Seinfeld on The Tonight Show on May 1981.

On May 6th, 2011 Jerry Seinfeld launch a personal online archives website where visitors can watch short clips of previous stand-up show. The very simple presentation of the new website goes like this:

When I was ten years old, I started watching stand up comedians on TV. I fell in love with them and I’m just as fascinated with stand up comedy today. When I started doing TV, I saved every appearance on every show I did. I thought it might be fun to go through all of it and pick out three bits each day that still amuse me for some reason or another. I’ve also included stuff I’m doing now, and I’ll be adding new stuff as I go. Somewhere out there are ten year olds like I was just waiting to get hooked on this strange pursuit. This is for them. I’m just hoping somehow it will keep this silliness going.

For the moment, the website basically offers two things. First, Jerry Seinfeld’s tour dates. Second, each day the site will feature three short clips from Jerry’s earlier carrier (meaning before Seinfeld). Those clips will be made available for 24 hours and then get replaced by three new clips.

No Flash is required to watch the video and they launch pretty quickly once one hits the play button. The website use VideoJS to play the video in HTML5. It automatically fallback to a Flash video player if your browser doesn’t support HTML5. The site is also compatible with mobile devices.

Some of those clips might be available on YouTube. Video from Jerry’s website cannot be embedded.

More reaction online about Jerry Seinfeld new website:

• The Guardian.co.uk: “Should Jerry Seinfeld curb his enthusiasm for his own standup?” by Brian Logan, May 10th, 2011.
• CBSNews: “Why Jerry Seinfeld and other comedians are spreading laughter online” by Melissa Jun Rowley, May 6th, 2011