The Underworld of Standup Comedy Pt. 2
The saga continues
The lives of most comedians you see at big comedy clubs is not what you might think.
Most comics will perform for free and when they’re paid it’s enough for taco bell and a pack of Zyns.
Especially in LA: Talented Comics >>> Comedy shows
So how do new comics get to the big clubs then?
The one word that every comic hates.
Bringers.
In Today’s Email 👀 (Read Time: 6 mins woah!) 😮😮😮
[Video] Brown Mom is back: I need your help
Bringers: The inevitable hell for every new comic
Comic of the week: My guy rocked America’s Got Talent
Video of the week
BUT FIRST - The next couple weeks I’ll be experimenting with a new video formula.
Take a universally accepted truth + create a situation + exaggerate it 3 to 4 times + Climax (but the climax could be a misdirection followed by exaggeration)
This is the basis of a lot of improv and sketch comedy. Take a situation and keep exaggerating it until you can exhaust it. Notice it the next time you watch Key & Peele.
I wrote this formula and brainstormed video ideas to fit in, here’s the result
Would love to know your thoughts!
The fuck is a Bringer? 🤔🤔🤔🤔
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could perform at the comedy club of your dreams?
The place you thought would take several years to get to perform at, what if you could get a spot now?
What a feeling to have all your friends and family see you making it…
So how do I get on?
“Sell 10 tickets with a 2 drink minimum and if you can’t, you’re off the lineup”
That’s all.
“The ugly underbelly of the comedy world is filled with dirty flyers of bringer shows”
On the surface they don’t seem harmful, but zoom out a bit and this shit gets sketch.
But before we go on, some comedy lingo for you -
Producer: This is the creator of a comedy show. The person who comes up with the idea, name, books other comics, marketing, sells tickets. You get the idea.
A producer is usually also a comic doing this to get stage time.
Booker: Person working at a comedy club that books comics to perform at their club and other producers to produce shows for their club.
A club will have produce it’s own shows AND have independent producers run their own shows at the clubs.
If you’ve ever heard of a show like “<Enter Comic Name> and Friends” at a comedy club. The show is being produced by that comic! That means they are paying the club a rental fee or they’ve got a shitty door deal with them, where the club keeps 70% from tickets and 100% of F&B
Every producer needs to remember the golden rule
YOU BETTER pack the show OR no more shows at the big club.
SO NOW you’re a producer who’s booked a show at the comedy store and you need to sell a 100 tickets to sellout and be able to do this again next month. You invite 30 of your friends, 20 buy a ticket. You sell 20 via ads, 60 more to go! What to do?
Answer: Book a few new comics and make sure they can sell 10+ tickets to their friends and family.
Cha Ching!
The club will love me and keep giving me the show, maybe I’ll become friends with the booker and they’ll put me on their weekend shows. I get stage time every month, with a real audience and at a named club. THIS IS HUGE.
This seems like a Win - Win. Booker books show, producer sells out, comic gets a spot.
It’s a slippery slope my friend…
Now this producer is stuck in a viscous loop, because a show at the big club means you can provide more people with stage time who’ll in turn do the same for you. Barter system with shows works immensely well amongst producers.
You’ve got 8 comics to book, 2 will be other producers you can exchange stage time with and 6 will be Bringer Spots!
6 New Comics, 10 people each, 5 minutes spots for FREE - WOW!
That’s all. The producers pocket the whole thing because "UM, I gave you an opportunity no one else would, you owe me.“
The comics think it’s amazing and actually are in-debt to this person, because they’ve been stuck doing small rooms and they’ve finally got the chance to stand on the same stage Dave Chapelle has stood on and for a moment felt like a peer.
In a sense that is priceless.
Bringer shows have immense values, I’ve done a ton and still have to. They only end once you can sell tickets on your own, i.e. you famous.
BUT the problem is - they masquerade around as big platforms for young comics to get discovered on. When in reality no booker ever sees those shows and all they are is 10 comics performing to a sold out crowd of each others friends and family. While the producer gets stage time and money.
I understand why the producers do what they do, it’s the easiest way to run a show without going through the hardship of building your own brand. And most lesser known comics would do this if they had a chance.
BUT WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND
Comedy is one of the only art forms where the artist is almost never paid
And then the other day I was having this conversation with another comic friend who’s a regular at big clubs and he stopped me midway through my rant about bringers and said something that shut me up.
“Every show is a bringer dude. Don’t ever forget that for a second.”
Fuck. He’s right.
Bill Burr wouldn’t be headlining clubs if he wasn’t selling out shows, Hasan Minhaj wouldn’t be touring if he couldn’t sell tickets in every city.
I wouldn’t have been at The Comedy Store if I couldn’t sell 10 tickets.
So really, every show from now until selling out theaters is a bringer.
You better pray your circle of fans keeps growing…
Comic of the Week 🫡
I’ve seen this dude perform several times at the Laugh Factory and he’s one of the only comics I know that does physical comedy like he does.
One of the things you notice while doing comedy is that there’s no limit to what’s funny. It’s not just jokes, it can be your presence, it can be gimmicks, it can be personality traits, ticks that you might have, a weird laugh. All of these can be used to compound the audience’s laughter and physical comedy is my favorite.
Think Jim Carrey in the mask. If you read the script out loud it wouldn’t be funny. But it’s the physicality of the character that creates the comedy.
That’s what Preacher does so well. One of the things I remember from our conversation was him telling me, in comedy you’re as old as the number of years you’ve been doing it. I’ve been doing it for 14 years, which makes me 14. Someone like Louis CK has been doing it for 35 years, so that’s his age in comedy and the wisdom. So when you start comparing yourself to another comic, think about that.
Take a look for yourself, introducing Preacher Lawson!
- Talk soon killers! ❤️