How to produce a good comedy show

[MattRuby]

Thought it might be a good idea to have a thread on how to put on a good comedy show. Y'know, something that new show producers can read before beginning a room.

A starting point: I posted "Comedy Feng Shui: 10 things that ruin comedy shows"
http://www.sandpapersuit.com/2008/01...that-ruin.html

An excerpt:

1) Distractions in the room
#1 culprit: The bar's in the same room as the show. People ordering drinks can be loud and distract from the stage. A venue where the bar is in a separate room is ideal. Also, any other distractions or things moving in the room can take a toll. If you have waitstaff, make sure they take orders quickly and quietly. Unplug any video games that flash or make sounds. Same goes for disco balls or flashing lights. If there are loud audience members, go over and politely ask 'em to keep it down. Etc.

2) The PA sucks
Get a decent sound system. Karaoke machines or boomboxes or tiny guitar amps rarely amplify a comic's voice enough. Comics need to be louder than the crowd. Otherwise, it can turn into a free for all. Volume is one of the powerful advantages a comic has over a heckler (or other crowd disturbance).

3) Shitty host
Nothing's worse than a mediocre MC who keeps coming back onstage and killing the momentum by doing too much time between acts. Good hosts aren't selfish. The make everyone feel comfortable, warm up the room, keep the energy positive, bring the crowd back if someone bombs, prevent distractions, etc. Save the indulgent sets for when you're just doing a regular spot. When you're hosting, your job is to make the other comics look good.

Ya can read the rest of the list here...
http://www.sandpapersuit.com/2008/01...that-ruin.html

So what do you think are the keys to running a good comedy room?

[punkdc]

Thanks for this thread! I just started a show, and we've had a good turn out but I was looking at how to run the show a little better. I have a question about lighting though. My show is at a small art space with no way to dim the lights. Whats a good way to make the lighting good? I have a string of white Christmas lights but I feel that would make the show more tacky.

[Alex Mac]

Glad to see a shout out to the Studio in your post.

[DiscoInferiorityComplex]

The "Noise spilling in" entry reminded me of a show I once saw. The comics were performing on a stage in the lounge area of the Santa Barbara Doubletree Inn. The stage was right in front of a full-length window with a view of the hotel's open atrium. In the atrium? A full blown Diesel fashion show complete with topless models performing Cirque du Soleil-esque stunts, fireworks, and techno music. The audience was slightly distracted.

[sharilyn]

This may fall under "producer doesn't care", but the WORST is when a show drags on forever. This can be due to:
1) Too many acts booked
2) Comics going over their time
3) The producers performing and going over their time

I've seen about 100 booked amateur or pro-am shows, and have suffered through a few brutal 3.5-hour marathons. But one example of #3 really stands out in my mind. I'll be a jerk and name names: Variety SHAC at UCB (NY) last November. The show is already running long when one of the producers (1/4 of SHAC) decides that the flashing red light doesn't apply to her, and goes a good 10 minutes beyond her allotted time. Remaining 3/4 of SHAC does nothing to try to get her off the stage. I'm sitting 2nd row, in view of the light, and I try to make eye contact with her and then quickly shift my gaze to the light so perhaps she'll get the hint. This does not work. She's clearly trying to end on a laugh, which doesn't come until around bonus minute 7. She tries to ride that wave further, and fails. By the end of her set, the audience has mentally bailed, and we can tell even the tech in the booth is pissed.

I hereby propose #11 on your list of don'ts should be "Leaving The Audience Wanting Less".

[Adult Ed]

No spot trading. Everyone needs stage time but if the only way you can get on someone else's show is if you put them on yours, decline the spot. I've been on a lot of shows that were ruined because a mediocre performer got his/her payback spot on a night that I was due to go up.

Keep your show pure by booking people that you think will be funny, not who you think will return the favor. Your audience doesn't give a shit where you get to go up next week.

[Brian J.]

All of this is nail on the head.
As discussed in number one, It is important to make sure it is a crowd that knows there is a comedy show going on. Performing at venues such as a crowded bar where the patrons will drown out the comedians doesn't do anybody any favors. It annoys the patrons and the comics. Or Laundrymats, that shit's not good for your self esteem.

[scamboogah]

3) Shitty host
Nothing's worse than a mediocre MC who keeps coming back onstage and killing the momentum by doing too much time between acts. Good hosts aren't selfish. The make everyone feel comfortable, warm up the room, keep the energy positive, bring the crowd back if someone bombs, prevent distractions, etc. Save the indulgent sets for when you're just doing a regular spot. When you're hosting, your job is to make the other comics look good.

This should be #1 and in 24 point font. I've seen more good shows submarined by a host with 'something to prove' than I care to remember.

No matter how funny the host actually is or how funny he/she thinks they are, there is an inherent uncomfortableness whenever the host is on stage because there is an act 'waiting' to come out. Even if the act is still backstage doing blow, the audience doesn't know this, and it gets geometrically more tense the more time the host wastes.

Bottom line, hosts, shut it.

[nathansmart]

We just started a show last week and I think it was a big hit with both the crowd and the comics. It was a short set - about 45 minutes - and we had 2 videos (from us, the hosts) and 2 comics at about 15 minutes each. It was almost this perfect chunk of comedy.

Then, afterwards, we had open Rock Band on the big screen all night. The atmosphere that was created by that was one of an afterparty where some people played Rock Band and some people just hung out in the back of the room. It was great.

We had the show in an artspace which has its own lighting. We turned off the lights and turned up the spotlights. It was perfect for after the show because it wasn't a dark room and everyone could see each other very well in the open space.

Lastly, it was BYOB. That way we didn't have to worry about any waitstaff or anything like that. There's a convenience store across the street and people just brought some beers over. That created a great atmosphere of sharing as well.

All in all, I'm so excited about this show - it worked so well and I think it's going to be a great place for Columbus audiences and the comics alike.

[ericluxury]

This may fall under "producer doesn't care", but the WORST is when a show drags on forever. This can be due to:
1) Too many acts booked
2) Comics going over their time
3) The producers performing and going over their time

I've seen about 100 booked amateur or pro-am shows, and have suffered through a few brutal 3.5-hour marathons. But one example of #3 really stands out in my mind. I'll be a jerk and name names: Variety SHAC at UCB (NY) last November. The show is already running long when one of the producers (1/4 of SHAC) decides that the flashing red light doesn't apply to her, and goes a good 10 minutes beyond her allotted time. Remaining 3/4 of SHAC does nothing to try to get her off the stage. I'm sitting 2nd row, in view of the light, and I try to make eye contact with her and then quickly shift my gaze to the light so perhaps she'll get the hint. This does not work. She's clearly trying to end on a laugh, which doesn't come until around bonus minute 7. She tries to ride that wave further, and fails. By the end of her set, the audience has mentally bailed, and we can tell even the tech in the booth is pissed.

I hereby propose #11 on your list of don'ts should be "Leaving The Audience Wanting Less".

Amen. I wish that the people who ran shows in NYC would abide by this (or at least advertise the show as a marathon if it will be one).

My biggest pet peeve within this is big comedian who does a drop-in and then completely doesn't bring it, sometimes even getting mad at the audience, and then still goes long. I've gotten a bad impression of so many comedians from this kind of thing.

[scamboogah]

My biggest pet peeve within this is big comedian who does a drop-in and then completely doesn't bring it, sometimes even getting mad at the audience, and then still goes long.

This is also known as 'Greg Proops-ing' it...

[Alex Mac]

I think some of this begs the question: which is worse? The comic who pays no heed to light and stays too long on the stage, or the host/hosts who still let that comic go long?

[punkdc]

I go light. Comics need to respect the rest of the comics on the show. I'll defend the host because I've been interrupted by a host while I was in my time limit and it made me disrespected.

[soce]

My favorite comedy shows to attend have fun party vibes after the show ends.. People stick around, get more drinks, shmooze, hang out and have a good time. I'm not sure how that ends up happening but I think it helps to have games and drink specials, like how nathansmart was describing his show.

[ErikNielsen]

You see, I'd say the opposite. Shows that are "about" something else -- a thing going on after the show, for example -- tend not to be about the show itself. If the show is in a bar or something, it's nice if that bar is a pleasant place to be, but if you go too heavy on emphasizing that kind of thing, you're stealing focus from the performances on the stage.

(And you'll usually end up with an audience full of comics and hangers-on, who are viewing the night as an opportunity to socialize -- one which happens to have a show tacked onto it. Which can be fun, sure, and that kind of thing has its place. But there are a half-dozen reasons why it's not conducive to the comedy show as a comedy show.)

And yeah (he says, eight months later) -- if a comic runs the light, that's all on the comic. There's no way for the host/the booth to intervene that doesn't crash the show. The best you can do is keep track of the guy and not book him in the future.

[megalope]

And yeah (he says, eight months later) -- if a comic runs the light, that's all on the comic. There's no way for the host/the booth to intervene that doesn't crash the show. The best you can do is keep track of the guy and not book him in the future.

OR HER! let's be fair and equal here

[ErikNielsen]

Fair enough -- women sometimes run the light.

[nathansmart]

You see, I'd say the opposite. Shows that are "about" something else -- a thing going on after the show, for example -- tend not to be about the show itself. If the show is in a bar or something, it's nice if that bar is a pleasant place to be, but if you go too heavy on emphasizing that kind of thing, you're stealing focus from the performances on the stage.

(And you'll usually end up with an audience full of comics and hangers-on, who are viewing the night as an opportunity to socialize -- one which happens to have a show tacked onto it. Which can be fun, sure, and that kind of thing has its place. But there are a half-dozen reasons why it's not conducive to the comedy show as a comedy show.)

I think you're misunderstanding what he's saying. He doesn't mean that there is something promoted after the show. He's just talking about what ends up happening after the show. He likes it when after a show people stick around and socialize. He's not talking about something promoted as a hangout night with a comedy show beforehand.

[James Smann]

It couldn't possibly to hurt to have people sticking around once the show is finished to hang out and socialize, right? Wouldn't that mean that people loved the show and didn't immediately think "Well, I have somewhere better to be now!"?

[TomHicks]

Back when I was still running shows, the late Jarrett Grode once told me that he felt one of the factors of a successful comedy show is that the venue should have a place where comedians, ones that are performing that night and ones that are just hanging out, can sit and shmooze while the show is going on.