Comedian cut out the middle man – and now other comedians are following suit. Could the future of comedy skip TV entirely?

Amid the glamorous sea-foam dresses and contentious network rivalries of the Primetime Emmy awards, a case for independent distribution was made when Louis CK accepted an award for his standup special that earned $1m before it aired on primetime.

The comedian won outstanding writing for a variety special for his standup comedy special Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater. In addition to being a testament to the comedian's talent, the Emmy served as a mainstream vindication for a model that skirts Hollywood distribution.

Without middle-man fees or corporate backers, the comedian released a $5 digital download of his 62-minute comedy special through his site in December 2011.

Twelve days later, the show had made $1m dollars in sales.

The quick success of this distribution model inspired comedians Aziz Ansari and Jim Gaffigan to independently release digital downloads of their own stand up specials at the same $5 price.

Ansari said he decided to use the Louis CK model for his Dangerously Delicious special because it allowed him to sell his performance as it would be performed live, without bleeps and commercial breaks.

A month after Ansari, Gaffigan released his Mr Universe special on the web. Gaffigan told the Hollywood Reporter that censorship attracted him to the distribution model as well. Gaffigan calls himself a "clean comedian" but said he was censored on jokes about subjects as mundane as bran because they could upset television advertisers.

Louis CK's special was eligible for the Emmy because FX – the network that broadcasts his Emmy award-winning show Louie (complete with spelling anomaly) – aired it six months after the online release. The comedian called the televised airing of his special "a commercial, sort of, for the site."

The comedian has made his other specials available under the same $5 distribution model and is experimenting with a new sales model for live performances.

For his current tour, he is selling tickets to his live performances "in every seat, in every city" for a flat rate of $45, including fees and taxes. In a letter on his site, he notes that this price is less than anyone has paid to see him in about two years and that this model has forced him to play at smaller venues because of the tight grip ticket distributors have on performance spaces.

He wrote: