Remember the old slogan “home taping is killing music”? Well, those slogan-makers should knuckle down on a new variant. “The internet is shaking up television comedy.” Comedy clubs may not want to hear this, but in future the best television comedy may come via broadband rather than via the live stage.

It has just been announced that cult comedians Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler’s loopy web adventure, Penelope: Princess Of Pets is to be developed by Channel 4. This goofball magic realism mix of real-life acting plus bike-riding turtles and assassin sheep was originally screened on comedy website Super Deluxe. Its transfer could be the tipping point where talent comes from the web rather than traditional comedy casting couches such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Edinburgh’s Fringe may eventually be reclaimed by comedy fans as the TV talent spotters become glued to their laptops: "Media people are inherently lazy," says Sarah Farrell, director of content at Paramount Comedy. "They don’t want to go to 27 shows a day, so the internet is a good way of viewing new talent. It also lends itself to making you feel like you ‘found’ that talent – even if there are 1,085,432 other hits."

This sentiment is echoed by other industry figures. Everyone wants to uncover the internet unknown, the comedy equivalent of Lily Allen. One insider who wanted to remain anonymous goes as far as to say that when acts are discovered via demo DVDs they are advised to put them up on youtube so that TV can claim to have spotted the talent in cyberspace.

There have already been internet successes. Indian-Canadian stand-up Russell Peters has a phenomenal Asian fanbase due to his viral clips, Scottish cult Brian "Limmy" Limond has a fanatical following, while teenager Bo Burnham started off by putting his comic songs, such as My Whole Family Thinks I’m Gay on youtube to amuse his brother. They topped the iTunes chart and Burnham is due to collaborate with film-maker du jour Judd ‘Knocked Up’ Apatow. "Even well known names are using the web. Established comedian Peter Serafinowicz attracted the attention of commissioning editors by putting short sketches on youtube and landed a BBC2 series last year."

But the net – despite the appeal of no stagefright or crippling debt – is not always the answer. Ben Caudell, co-director of production company Zeppotron, who make panel game 8 Out Of 10 Cats, says that you cannot spot potential panellists online. "Performance is important too, so I think Edinburgh will be around for a while. The internet taking over sounds good in theory but I don't think it'll happen in practice." Yet even Caudell goes web trawling. “It’s so much easier to look at clips rather than read scripts.”

One has to have the talent to back up bedroom performances. Bo Burnham has it, judging by his endearing London debut last autumn, but do Ashton and George have it? These two Watford teenagers recently beat professional comedians to win the inaugural Trident Myspace Comedy Award. Their deadpan D-I-Y routines scooped them a deal with MySpace and Warner Music Entertainment potentially worth £250,000, though at the moment they've got the more pressing matter of their GCSEs.

Maybe the future is integration. Caudell cites an interesting example of the way that television and the net can co-exist. "We had sketch group Idiots Of Ants on our show The Wall. They then put sketches onto youtube and got over a million hits. But it was their live performance that got them signed first, the web came after." The internet is clearly important for television. Teaser clips of duo Flight of the Conchords' forthcoming sitcom were on the net when the lens caps had barely been put back on the cameras.

So will surfing for laughs eventually replace Edinburgh talent-spotting? Sarah Farrell still goes to Scotland every summer, but is developing a lot of web talent, so what is her secret? "I tend to find a lot of stuff by the ‘Amazon’ style of searching; if I liked that short with that person what else has the director/production company/act done? Who else watches this – what have they made? You can find all sorts if you’re a bit Miss Marple about it." She also points out that there is something appealingly democratising about the web: "Internet isn’t always four middle class white boys either, which a lot of Edinburgh stuff seems to be."

Ultimately both Edinburgh and the internet have much in common. You can kiss a lot of frogs to find one prince in both places. Sarah Farrell agrees: "The internet is the home of sex, cheap laughs and offers a great way to waste your day. So is the Fringe, but at least the internet doesn't involve a five-hour journey from London." Maybe the train companies and airlines should be nervous. Their London to Edinburgh summer bookings could soon be dropping.

Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler, Soho Theatre from 20 Jan to 1 Feb, 020 7478 0100 www.sohotheatre.com

Where To Find The Funnies

www.funnyordie.co.uk
Backed by Will Ferrell in America and Little Britain in the UK, this combines archive with sneak previews and new comedy.

www.comedybox.tv
Established by Blackadder/QI honcho John Lloyd, its link with MySpace makes it a major player.

www.youtube.com
Don't underestimate the comedy content of this veteran. It isn't just fat dads falling off trampolines.

www.adultswim.com
Sounds kinky but simply features high quality animated laughs like a grown-up Cartoon Network.

www.comedydemon.com
Mainly comedy classics, from Fawlty Towers to Peep Show and beyond.

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