I was reading this article what do you think?
http://www.tombeasley.co.uk/blog/2011/11/29/the-trouble-with-arena-stand-up-comedy/
Do you have to interact with the audience?
i remember as a kid listening to The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Victor Lewis Smith on Radio 1 where there was absolutely no audience interaction. This didn't make them any less funny. I remember almost wetting myself with laughter.
I'm not bothered whether a comedian interacts with the audience or not, as with everything it depends if it's done well. Re the arena issue though, I just like the atmosphere of a smaller venue, even theatre sized, so much more than an arena. I've never seen comedy in an arena, just music, but even then I felt like I might as well be watching a DVD, and I expect that feeling to be greater with comedy.
I think almost all talented comedians love to interact with the audience but, let's be honest, the financial attractiveness of a 10,000-seater gig cannot be ignored.
And when you get to the stage where you can fill those 10,000 seats, you're probably more than a little tired of work and comedy and you're really just going through the motions while doing a brilliant job of pretending that you still give a damn.
Good comedians work WITH their audience.
Bad comedians work AT their audience.