Are Bringers killing comedy?

[MattLewis]

This is something that messes me up to no end. I hope that this is only a thing that happens in bigger cities but I believe it is bad for the business.

I'll never underestimate the number of dumb and naive aspiring comedians ( i was one once) that fall into that bringer deathtrap.

I'm a comedian, former business owner, moderately funny, somewhat succesful show producer, and worked at (helped open) a club in Los Angeles.

It amazes me how some clubs are so passe about what horrible shows that producers put on. I know most clubs have been in business longer than I have been doing comedy, but it just doesn't seem like the bringer business model is sustainable.

For the most part, it just seems to canibalize any new comedians circle of friends and fans, before they are ready for real stage time. As an advocate for audiences and comedians it saddens me. As a fellow producer, it disgusts me.

If you aren't familliar with bringer shows, consider yourself lucky. I am sure other people on this board can describe them much more eloquently than I can.

[Travesty.]

The first 2-3 times I went on stage, I purposefully went out of my way(100-150 miles) to perform at a club farther from me, because I didn't want my friends to see me bomb....are you fuckin kidding me?

I still haven't done one, though. I've been temped a few times, but even when I tried, I couldn't get the number of people to show, and if you don't fill your quota, then you can't perform. Which kinda pisses the 3/4 of your friends you begged to show up, just to find out that you're not going to perform, because one person out of the group didn't come. It just infuriates both sides of the spectrum, except for the club owner. But IMO, it would hurt business more than help. Why would my friends, who I promised I'd perform, come back, knowing how flaky the club is run? Why would I try to get my friends to show up again, when both mine and their experience was bad? It's a huge waist of time on both ends, and an even worse experience.

Much like Communism, it sounds good on paper, but is HORRIBLE in practice.

[scamboogah]

Wait, bringer shows are bad? This is the 99th I'm hearing of this.

[ErikNielsen]

Um, bringer shows aren't "killing comedy" because real comedians don't do bringer shows. Bringer shows are defrauding delusional people who think they're comics. That whole elaborate scam is happening separate from actual comedy.

[Shauno]

If anything it's a way to filter out the terrible comedians in the system.

[Osquip]

They do sour general audiences though. If a random person goes to a terrible bringer show because they want to see what a comedy show is like, then they will never want to go see live comedy ever again. And for good reason.

[ErikNielsen]

That's true. But that's true of terrible shows in general. You know how many shows, especially in places like LA, are put up with no rationale, no plan to actually attract an audience, and nowhere near the talent attached to make sure that audience has a good time. Just a bunch of open micers booking their open micer friends. And those are comics from the "real" world -- they should know better.

[scamboogah]

Um, bringer shows aren't "killing comedy" because real comedians don't do bringer shows. Bringer shows are defrauding delusional people who think they're comics. That whole elaborate scam is happening separate from actual comedy.

You can also substitute 'bringer shows' with 'Kyle Cease bootcamp' and that paragraph still works.

[pg13]

I challenge the premise of the question.

Is comedy dying?

Not if you're judging by the number of people trying to do comedy, certainly. Because there is far more supply than there is demand, there is the opportunity for exploitation...and that's what bringers are... Rather than comedians being a valuable source of entertainment, and a potential draw for your venue if you properly curate and promote the event...bringers flip the equation and turn the comedians INTO the market from which to earn income directly from...

Bringers cheapen the value of "comedy" in the minds of the general public AND the minds of venue owners...and that's not good, certainly.

But, there couldn't be bringers if there weren't hungry masses yearning for stage time and willing to bring (or bark or pay) to get that stage time.

pg--One of the best things about stand-up comedy, the fact that there are few barriers towards entry, is also one of the worst. Comedy, as an amorphous blob, has never been bigger...and yet comedy, as a highly specialized skill mastered by only a few, has never been more devalued. Welcome to a brave new world, friends!--eeyore'sgloomyplace

[dan telfer]

Chicago is the 3rd biggest city in the country, and while we might have some bringer shows I don't know of any. I'm pretty sure this is a problem in LA not because the global concept of comedy is dying, but because LA is full of desperate sociopaths.

[NoahOdabashian]

New York has tons on 'em. I signed up for an open mic via email (at a comedy club) and it went to yahoo group list. A few days later, I get a facebook message from someone I never heard of inviting me to a bringer show at that same club, I hadn't even seen that person watch me perform.

Bringers are how yuppies get stage time, they take their friends and use the place as a bar, spending as much as they would at a bar AND helping their friend out.

I know for a fact that that comedy club passes comics based on how they've done at a Bringer Show, so... thats sorta weird... I was thinking, to scam that system, just bring a bunch of other comics, each one registering the others as their guests for stage time, and then do you thing. It'd be like paying for an audition (which also happens).

But that begs the question, why work at a club that so blatantly exploits new talent like that???

I've never done a bringer, I hope to never have to.

[dan telfer]

I know Chicago used to have some bringer shows, but everyone I know boycotted them and at least the ones I knew about went away.

I hear about the ones in NYC and LA all the time, they usually sound terrible and avoidable.

[funkyrhino]

bringers suck if you want to get stage time outside of your city ie you're visiting your brother in Green Bay Wisconsin and it's Wednesday night and you decide to hit a comedy clubs open mic but they won't you stage time without 8 guest and you try to explain you're from Columbus, OH and you rarely even make it up to Green Bay and then they grab you and throw you outside and stomp you in front of innocent bystanders and the bystanders don't see a thing but you tell them to help you get in.....

....you all get where this is going.

[scamboogah]

In Green Bay's defense, people from Columbus are probably always coming into their town, swinging their dicks around, and demanding stage time because, you know, they don't come all the way up to the STICKS every day and they should get special treatment.

But I agree with Dan, in that this thread should be about how great Chicago is.

[JustinTee]

I am trying to get my start into comedy in South Carolina and it is pretty tough. The only comedy club in my city only allows about 9 open mic performers per month and they have to pay $10 to do it! There are a few other decent small clubs in this state but they don't pull very big names in the biz. So I started my own comedy open mic at a bar and it's been great. Comedians are coming out from all over just for the chance to perform.

Edit: I'm about to start driving 3 hours to do open mics in Atlanta, but I think it'll be worth it.

[suavepebble]

I'd like to see one of these bringer people you speak of make it all the way to the top by dragging the same audience around with them.

[drieux]

The only time bringer shows depress me is when I hear a story about some poor new comic getting hooked up with somebody who calls themselves a "producer" and agrees to bring some ridiculous number of their friends and family to a show - like 10 to 15 - and then, when they miss that number by one or two, are told by the same "producer" that they won't be allowed to perform because they didn't bring the agreed-upon number and then they're told they "don't have enough hustle" or something equally meaningless and condescending.

The reason this depresses me is that I can see just about anybody new to doing comedy just get all GollyGoshGee, I'd love to perform on your show, mister! and then have a remarkably negative experience just because some a-hole is cherry-picking the people they see at area open mics who actually have friends, family and coworkers who are supportive.

Here's another way to look at it: if the first five or six performers on a show have all been required to bring a large number of people, and the performers at the end of the show don't bring anybody - and usually include the "producer" of the show - then why do the newbies even need the "producer" or their show?

If not for that, I'd say let them run their course.

[Vercetti]

One of my favorite local rooms modified their comedy show. It went from a really great weekly show (with open mic after) to a monthly bringer/contest show. It's a double negative: a contest AND a bringer. Two things I hate. And it's judged by applause. So it's not even a talent contest so much as it's a "who has more friends" contest.

If they're losing money I can understand the need to make changes but it just sucks to see a room I love run by people I love go entirely the wrong way. Why not just keep a free open mic going? Comics will always buy drinks so you can only MAKE money that way.

[scamboogah]

If you can only MAKE money doing that, then someone will do it, unless you live in a town where people hate money.

[nixonjames]

i think it's a good thing. the one bringer open mic here in boston is run by someone notoriously difficult to work for and notorious for blackballing from his little empire those who he feels wronged by. I did one open mic there. And haven't been back. I don't want to be noticed by them. I don't want to be paid by them. If I'm good enough one day to be asked to do the room craigslist style... NSA. Then I'll do it. Short of that I see this guy scooping the consistently mediocre comics and stunting their growth by giving them work before they're ready.

but theoretically it's a good idea. like i was visiting nyc. two of my friends wanted to come. we went to a smaller open mic in a book store. maybe they would've had more fun if we had gone to a bringer where it had more of a 'comedy show' feel with a larger audience. But then again, I don't trust locals who do bringers so I wouldn't risk it.