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Avoiding the "Second Comedy Bust" Pt. 2
Which group is capable of doing the most damage to the business of live standup comedy?
The comedians?
The club owners?
We’d have to say the owners. For it is they who determine whether or not the comedian ever gets onto the comedy club’s stage. (Hold any emails that argue that it is the club’s booker or manager that determines such things– the booker or manager serves at the pleasure of the owner, so it all goes back to him/her.)
Please note that we say, “doing the most damage”– for even though a club owner has the ultimate say in who gets on his stage, the comedian can and does share some of the responsibility.
There is a general feeling in the land that this nation is facing hard economic times (although, judging from the dense traffic around the Deptford Mall this past Saturday, the misery has yet to hit Southern New Jersey!), and that comedy club proprietors will soon be forced to take stern measures to ensure their club’s viability.
What’s the first way to save big bucks? Cut back on the budget for talent!
(We’ve seen this tactic employed in prosperous times… what makes anyone think that some owners won’t try it now?!)
Where’s the most likely place to start saving money when it comes to talent?
If you answered “the emcee spot!” you are correct. (And you are probably an emcee!)
Where’s the worst place to start saving money when it comes to talent?
If you answered “the emcee spot!” you are also correct. (And you are probably a headliner who has just suffered through a weekend of shows with a horrendous emcee… or you are an audience member who endured a show hosted by someone who should not even be allowed to park cars, let alone hop onto a weekend stage to host a professional show.)
How many times have we heard (before the show even starts), “The opening act always sucks!”? This has become a truism among many a comedy fan. Of course, it’s not true. But the public has “caught on” to the set of ideas that the emcee is paid poorly, is the least experienced act on the bill and, therefore, is most often the person on the bill who is least likely to actually make people laugh, keep the show moving and avoid embarrassing moments.
The folks who book the emcees bear some of the responsibility for the popularity of this concept. For although the emcee spot is one of the most important on the bill, it is quite often one of the most neglected.
So, when people start cutting corners, they follow this disastrous formula: Take an open-miker (who only has five minutes) and make him an emcee (which requires him to do fifteen minutes). Then take a comic who was formerly an emcee (and might have twenty minutes if he’s lucky) and bump him up to feature act and have him do thirty.
The result of such cost-cutting is that a paying, weekend crowd will suffer through not one, but two acts who are in over their heads. By the time the headliner has hit the stage, they’ve sat through an excruciating 45 minutes.
And all because, in an effort to keep expenses down, you’ve figured out a way to pay the emcees nothing and a way to pay the features what you formerly paid to the emcees.
Congratulations! You’ve hit upon a formula that will result in complaints, cancellations, terrible word-of-mouth and, inevitably, empty seats.
At the same time, comics bear some of the responsibility for this train wreck. Early on we all need to take certain risks and “move up to the next level.” But, we all need to be acutely aware of exactly what we’re capable of doing. We must be aware of, but certainly not slaves to, our limitations. If you’ve only ever done seven minutes, don’t agree to do 15. (How many times have we had an open-miker look us straight in the eyes and say, “I have two hours of material in my notebook.”? No. You. Don’t. You know who has two hours of material in his notebook? Brian Regan. The list pretty much ends there.)
Is there a solution to this standoff? There are a few. Not the least of which is a more hands-on approach to the open mike night. (If the club even has one.)
If a club’s manager or booker or owner even has to ask a local comic “How much time do you have?” then he is probably not paying sufficient attention to his local talent. (And he probably deserves to be lied to!)
The open mike, staged and used properly, is the lifeblood of any comedy club when it comes to a constant supply of competent comics who can host a show, get the intros right and not offend anyone. Clubs that don’t even have an open mike night are going to have a rough time finding talent for that important opening slot. And are probably going to end up paying more for that position.
The person responsible for talent should pay close attention to the weekend shows as well. Too many club managers or owners don’t even watch the shows. If you’ve got an emcee who is agitating for a feature spot, watching him over the course of two shows can pretty much tell you all you need to know. If you really want to be certain of his skills, have the emcee do two different shows one night. If he melts down and reverts back to safe mode, he’s probably not ready.
It’s quite the feat to book those first two spots on a show. If a club owner thinks he can solve his problems by bumping an emcee up to the feature spot and grab a random open miker to host the weekend, he’s got big problems.
(And if you think that paying your headliner $10,000 will make the audience forget those excruciating first 45 minutes, you are mistaken.)
6 Responses
Reply to: Avoiding the "Second Comedy Bust" Pt. 2
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A certain Happy Hour comic turned chain club owner in the Boston area has been following this formula for many many years. He’s even floated the concept of “guest middles” on occasion; comics who do 20-30 minutes for little or no pay at all. His clubs will often have little more than four or five open micers and a headliner, and sometimes not even a real headliner. And he books rooms all over the area.
Whether it be Week long clubs or One-Nighters, my pay has remained about the same for the past 15 years and I think that’s pretty much comic wide…pay has not gone down, but it seems club owners have kept the pay constant, the failure of clubs cannot really be the responsibility of comedians. I’m not afraid to admit I have never asked for more money…why…because I want to come back and owners hate shelling out more, even if you do a better job than the 10,000 guy. The lower paid HL who destroys a room is better for the club in the long run than the 10,000 sitcom star who hasn’t been on a comedy stage for some time and leaves the audience short changed. Special events are great, but they are only 15-20 percent of the clubs entertainment. They pay us what they do because they can and asking for more money is a DEATH SENTENCE in this business. Comedy is one of the only businesses where being good at what you do does not translate to raises. I hope this wasn’t too much off topic, just wanted to get it out there.
I don’t think I ever compared myself to anyone. I was only pointing out a common occurrence in comedy. I’ve had direct experience with this with split weeks where as the special act coming in to do Friday & Saturday has difficulty keeping up with my HL performance level earlier in the week or following my Feature set. I’m not bragging I’m just mentioning something I’ve witnessed in this business from time to time these past 17 years. I was merely stating the lower paid HL is the majority of entertainment for the club. The sitcom star may sell out a room and bring press, but it’s the lower paid club comics that sustain it and yes, sometimes the lesser paid/known comic does a better job. The club stands a greater chance of being hurt by crowds paying 40-50 dollars and walking out disappointed. That’s the risk with special acts. Somebody may have done well on Last Comic Standing, and they may put butts in the seats, but if that person went into LCS an opener or feature, they’re still an opener or feature coming out when booked as a special act Headliner being paid 10,000. Credits may sell tickets, but they do not make you funnier and I’m not saying there aren’t 10,000 comics who are worth every penny either.
Christopher followed up with another comment.We don’t disagree with most of what he said.But he compared himself to the high-priced headliner. (And in the follow-up comment, he did it yet again.)No good can come of this.When we responded to his comments, we took his sentiments and extrapolated it over the entire business. (In other words, we are not responding to “Christopher” in particular. And, as he is anonymous, we actually have no idea who he is!)When we say, “Stop comparing yourself to the high-profile headliner,” we suggest that he do so not so much to preserve dignity or to salvage self-esteem, but to examine the situation dispassionately… to analyze the business aspects of the situations and to leave aside for a moment the aesthetic and artistic aspects.
Christopher comments:
“I have never asked for more money…why…because I want to come back and owners hate shelling out more, even if you do a better job than the $10,000 guy.”
Firstly, it doesn’t matter what you do in relation to the $10,000 guy. Stop comparing yourself to him. He has done something– starred in a sitcom, appeared on television 125 times, sold a million CD’s, appeared in a blockbuster movie– to merit the $10,000 paycheck. (Or his management has convinced everyone that he merits the payday.)
There are plenty of acts who out-perform the $10,000 man. But until they garner the credits that he has, they will not receive the compensation he does.
Also: Both the $10,000 man and the headliner who outperforms him are excellent for the club in the “long run.” The expensive “stunt booking” does something that the other may not– he gets ink. He attracts the attention of the local press. Is this a better long run advantage than a comic who “merely” kicks ass? It’s a good question. But a good club needs and uses both.
Secondly, you can ask for more money. You may not get it, but you certainly can ask for it. Asking for more money is not necessarily a death sentence.
If you would like to ask for more, however, you need to have something to bargain with.
We will address all of these, at further length, in a future posting, so stay tuned!
And thanks for the comments!
I agree with most of what you said. Although, not ALL clubs are doing it the wrong way. Some that I work for seem to be doing it right.
Recently, a club I emcee at gave me a raise out of the blue. They told me I should be featuring (which I do almost everywhere else), but they think I do such a good job hosting they rather pay me more money and keep me in that spot.
This is the THIRD booker I’ve gotten a raise from to STAY in the emcee spot. Personally I don’t like it, but in terms of the club it makes sense. Like most comics I like performing more as a feature than emcee. It seems unfair that just because I’ve taken the time to work on my act AND skills to become a quality host that I must stay there. Meanwhile some other comics with a Steven Wright/Mitch Hedberg style are promoted to feature much quicker than they should because they are funny but suck as a host.
Do I agree with the business move? Yes. It makes for a better show. I also don’t have a lot of room to complain because sometimes I make more money hosting and am asked to do more time then the feature.
…but I rather the sweet middle 🙂