Modified On April 7, 2008
Comedian Dobie Maxwell blogs for OnMilwaukee.com on his life as a comic and various side projects.
In a recent post, “Red Flag Lunch,” Maxwell recounts a meeting with midwest comedy booking agent John Yoder. In among some pronouncements and theories about the current state of the industry, is this:
I stopped for lunch with John Yoder today. John is a booker out of Grand Rapids and he is one of the first people I ever worked for back when I started out on the road in the ’80s. He was a staple for almost every year I’ve been a comedian as he has been for a lot of acts but now he’s really having a hard time staying afloat. He’s losing a lot of his power base.
Maxwell theorizes on the impact such a development has on him personally and to speculate on the implications for the business at large.
While we have no quarrel with this:
There are several reasons for it but the fact remains the comedy business is shifting and if I don’t shift with it I’ll be stuck in the position a lot of guys are that depended on Yoder for much of their work.
We take issue with his general pronouncements that comedy clubs are “having a harder time making it these days” or that there is some sort of significant, industry-wide demographic shift.
We’ve worked in all 50 states. In the past six months, we’ve worked in NC, MN, PA, WV, FL, TN, GA, MI, VA, OH, NY and NJ. If we go back 18 months, we can add NV, AZ, WA, CA, KY, RI, SC and MD. And among those dates, we’ve worked in many different kinds of venues– comedy clubs (of course), country clubs, private parties, casinos and colleges. It may well appear to some comics (and some unfortunate bookers) that “the comedy business is shifting,” or that crowds are skewing this way or that with regard to age, income, education or hip factor. But we can say that it has been our experience that the crowds we’ve been seeing are diverse in terms of age, income, education (we assume) and (in some parts of the country) ethnicity.
As for the raw numbers, we would say that the crowds are (with some not surprising exceptions) robust, the clubs are satisfied with their turnouts and, in cases where turnout is unacceptable, an attempt is made to determine the cause and plans are mapped out to take appropriate measures.
And, while we can’t speak for any other comics, the customer satisfaction rating (based on our unscientific and largely anecodotal evidence) has been high. It seems to us that standup comedy patrons (regardless of venue) are very satisfied with their experience.
So why would a booking agent who was once so powerful and influential be panicked (“shell-shocked” to use Maxwell’s description) and seemingly powerless to halt his decline? And what are the true implications of such a decline– for the acts whose fortunes depend upon his and for the business at large?
First the “why.” Part of it may be regional/geographical economics. Yoder’s clients may well be feeling the effects of a precursory economic downturn. But we note that clubs in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit and other midwest cities are doing quite well.
But we suspect that one of the reasons might be that the business model that worked so well in the 80s and 90s has run up against what so many other business models have run up against– The Internet. Can we add comedy bookers and talent agents to the list of occupations whose contribution to the equation has become so minimal (and whose previous monopoly on pertinent information has been obliterated) that their clients are inclined to D.I.Y.? (Think travel agent, stock broker, real estate agent, etc.)
To be sure, many agents (some who have seen the highs and the lows over the past 20 years and some who have not) are adapting, changing, offering more of this or less of that. Some have shifted focus away from one type of venue and toward another. And, in much the same way, many comics (us included) have vowed to never again be caught with all our comedy eggs in one basket. But, we are of the opinion that the overall prospects for those who adapt– agent and comic alike– are bright.
It may well be that Mr. Yoder is hurting (and, along with him, the comics who fortunes are inextricably linked to his), but, from our perch, this catastrophe can not logically be extrapolated over the industry as a whole.
Editors note: That link above may not work the first four times you click on it. Not sure why. But, if you’re persistent, it’ll load.