Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse.

The comedy club (and we use that term advisedly) that opened up in the former Rascals spot in Cherry Hill, NJ (just seven minutes from where we live), has sunk to a heretofore unimaginable depth. They’re advertising “The Best Bringer Show” on their website.

That’s right– it’s not just a shitty bringer show, no, no, no! It’s the best bringer show.

This would be an abuse of the English language, because using the word “best” implies “good” to begin with. And there ain’t nothing good about a bringer show. Especially a bringer show on a weekend!

We ask the question: Is there a better way to thoroughly bone your customers– and thoroughly taint comedy in South Jersey, quite possibly forever– by charging customers top dollar to see a weekend show that is populated mainly with amateurs whose only qualification for being onstage is that they were able to intimidate, harass and harangue their “friends” into paying to see them embarrass themselves on a comedy club stage.)

The answer, sadly, is “YES!” (If you are Sarcasm proprietor Steve Trevelise.) Turn the whole thing into an audition. The website promotes their Friday, March 5, show by throwing in the tagline, “Get noticed by a talent scout!”

When you click for details, you’re treated to the following:

Sarcasm believes “Bringer Shows” should be a win-win situation. so on Friday March 5th

Sarcasm presents a special “Bringer” show for experienced comics only. Suzy Yengo owner of the Catch A Rising Star National Chain and Prime Time Comedy Club in Sayreville will be in attendance and scouting new talent.

In order to get on stage you must be at least an emcee and must bring at least 8 people… no exceptions.

You will receive 5-7 minutes stagetime, make it count.

Sign ups through “Contact Us” will be fist (sic) come first serve.

Everyone who performs will receive 20 dollars.

get NoTiceD get PAID
ONLY AT SARCASM

We’re reminded of the scene from Fox’s (sadly) short-lived television series Action where, during a pitch session, Jay Mohr‘s Peter Dragon character presents the Beverly Hills Gun Club prayer shawl to the rabbi. The rabbi says, with a mixture of anger, confusion, weariness and pragmatism, “This is wrong on so many levels.”

It’s not bad enough he’s torturing paying, weekend customers with an open-mike night (customers who also have a two-item minimum, with some of the highest prices we’ve ever seen at a comedy club, including those in NYC), but it’s a bringer show.

On top of that, he’s incentivized the poor amateur bastards in the region by dangling a “talent scout” in front of them. Of course, this is something that any decent comedy club does for its local talent… but it doesn’t charge them for the privelege! (Oh, sure, technically, the comedians aren’t “charged,” and they’re given $20, but they’re called upon to spend their time and energy and their social capital to rope five or eight or a dozen audience members into paying admission to what is basically an open-mike night.)

This whole thing makes Trevelise quite possibly the sleaziest (or, perhaps the dumbest) comedy club owner to ever walk the earth. Suzy Yengo should be embarrassed to be part of this trainwreck. As the owner of a “national chain” of comedy clubs, she surely has other ways of finding talent. That she would consent to be part of this abomination speaks volumes.

The typo in the bringer show copy– “Signups will be fist come first serve.”– is unintentionally illuminating. Trevelise has nothing but contempt for comedians. Schemes like this prove it.

Charging your local talent (when you’re not located in New York or Los Angeles) quite clearly demonstrates that you are not only oblivious to business realities, but that you are woefully out of touch when it comes to the very real and very necessary role that your club plays in nurturing new talent among the local and regional comedians.

We’ve always said that a comedy club should not only serve up top-notch comedy talent to its customers (within its budget, of course), but that its stage should be the entry point for aspiring comedians and comedians who are in need of a stage for the purpose of honing material, practicing TV spots, auditioning for gigs, etc. It takes time, energy and care to cultivate this kind of situation. But the payoff for the club and the benefit to the comedians is immeasurable. There is a symbiotic relationship between a club and the local comedians that benefits both. Severing this relationship (or perverting it) hurts both. If your business model doesn’t allow a straight-up open mike, that’s unfortunate. If your business model demands that you exploit the local comics like “The Best Bringer Show” does, then either your business model (or your ethics) is/are hopelessly flawed.

The best comedy clubs recognize this relationship. The worst ones ignore it and concoct hideous scenarios like the one detailed above.

Everyone we’ve spoken to about this (and similar) shows is justifiably horrified by the implications, not just for the immediate market but for the rest of the comedy business as a whole. If this kind of underhanded garbage were to gain any ground, the comedy business would be kneecapped.

The only thing that might stop it from spreading might be that it’s so obviously backward and damaging (to the local talent pool and to the unsuspecting customers and to the business at large) that it will probably be briefly considered and quickly discarded as the trashy scheme that it is.