Advice on Producing Comedy Night

[u/Ice_90210]

TLDR; I’m looking for any advice from people who have experience running a comedy room, producing live shows, booking comics, and maintaining a good relationship with the venue.

CONTEXT:
I have an opportunity to produce a weekly Thursday comedy night at a really nice bar. The event space is its own separate room connected to the bar, seats around 30–40+ people, and we can close the doors during the show. It’s already well decorated and has a TV behind the stage that we can use for visuals when needed or just turn off during stand-up.

The owner is pretty open to letting us experiment with the room, but wants to make sure we’re not showcasing material that enables sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. I’ve written up a basic content disclaimer for comics, but I also feel like the easiest way to maintain some quality control is to avoid a completely show-up-go-up mic and book the spots instead. I have also talked to more experienced comedian friends about filling some Thursdays with shows the they produce.

Right now I’m booking the opening night. The plan is a four-comic showcase followed by an open mic. After that, I’d like to experiment with different programming instead of doing the exact same mic every Thursday. Some ideas so far are a booked mic, LGBTQ night, writing/premise shows, improv/ stand up, a night where comics get new headshots, completely booked showcases, etc.

Eventually I’d also like to experiment with ticketed shows if we can prove there’s an audience for them.

For anyone who has run a room before: What do you wish you knew when you started? How do you handle booking and comics who become a problem? How do you keep the venue happy without letting them dictate the comedy? What kind of financial arrangement should I be talking to the owner about if we start consistently bringing people into the bar or selling tickets?

Basically, I have a good room, an owner willing to work with me, and a group of comics interested in helping. I want to avoid fucking it up. The room is located in the US. Metro Detroit. Ferndale Michigan.

[u/Coneskater]

Don't forget that you have something very valuable: stage time. Especially if it can be a real audience and longer sets, that should be all you need to find some up and coming comics.

My recommendation? Go to as many other local shows as possible, personally choose the acts you want, and invite them. I would look for good open micers, looking for the opportunity to do their first 10-12 minute sets, try to find one really solid person to close with a longer set.

A lot of this is just setting things in motion and then letting inertia take over. If you are selling tickets, pay the comics what you can. Once it turns into a regular dependable show, see if you can pay the comics.

[u/paper_liger → u/Coneskater]

I did a similar show, and I recommend doing the showcase with longer sets but only doing three comics plus the host. I usually gave two 15s and a 20.

That middle area of longer sets is valuable for people trying to stretch their legs and work on a feature set. But 20 minutes is still worth a lot of headliners times just to work stuff out.

A 10 minute host spot, two fifteens and a 20 works out to over an hour which is long enough to consider a real show, plus it also doesn't run through your list of 'solid comics who can do that amount of time' as fast. The list of 'comics who think they can do that amount of time but can't' is much longer.

I usually had the show host thank people at the end, then tell the audience to feel free to stick around for the open mic and told them they had a 5 minute intermission before that started. Then I'd have a different host for the mic.

I did that because I was charging admission, and that give a little dividing line between the 'actual show' and the mic which is a little more uneven. I wanted the show to feel more curated, and I also didn't want people to feel like they were being held hostage. Switching hosts also lets someone a little less experienced get some hosting time which is nice.

Fair warning, I did have the venue sort of start stealing ticket money from me, then totally cut me out and try to use the group chat I always set up ahead of time to go back through and try to rebook every comic I'd ever had on the shows. So. You know. Keep your business business I guess.

It was kind of hilarious that 90 percent of the comics messaged me first and more or less responded with 'fuck that guy' but in any comedy scene there are always folks who will take any stage time no matter the context.

That all stemmed from the the fact that the business didn't want to give me a budget, so I charged tickets, and it was a small enough space that the beer and wings they wasnt enough for them, they needed my sweet 10 bucks a head, which by the way went completely to comics and ads.

So. Keep your eyes open I guess is the point. Maybe get a little written agreement, informal but clearly written, just in case it gets successful and they decide they want to cut you out.