A look at the health of the live comedy circuit
The inaugural WeGotTickets Independent Comedy Festival is currently underway. Billed as a "nationwide coalition of comedy", this fortnight-long collection of gigs involves comedy promoters from around the country showcasing some of the very best comics currently working.
WeGotTickets are subsidising tickets to the gigs, meaning you can see great acts at bargain prices. For example, you can book for a line-up that includes Jessica Fostekew, Catherine Bohart, Lou Sanders and Tatty Macleod at The 100 Club in London this Saturday (22nd) for under £20.
The ticketing company explains: "We hope that by bringing these comedy clubs together under one banner and shining a light on them, and offering discounted tickets to shows with top line-ups, we'll help put some extra bums on seats and smiles on faces at a time when many in the sector are still recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic."
Mentioning coronavirus made us think back to a Live Comedy Association survey in 2020 that revealed an "an industry in crisis". 77% of the venues asked at that time said they'd be forced to permanently close within 12 months.
The good news is most clubs survived thanks to grants. But, three years on and with those lockdowns starting to fade into memory, how are things looking now on the circuit? Have venues bounced back to where they were in 2019? Or maybe a post-pandemic freedom frenzy means people are seeing more live comedy than ever before? How are their finances? What new challenges are ahead? We had lots of questions, so thought we'd reach out to some of the independent promoters involved in the WeGotTickets festival to get their take on the health of live comedy.
Spiky Mike, who runs Funhouse Comedy Clubs - a collection of 50 venues across the East Midlands - reports: "Things have steadily built back up since covid restrictions were lifted, but we have noticed a significant upturn since Christmas with a record number of sell-outs at both our established venues and new ones. We think this is due to a combination of factors; people wanting cheering up in harsh economic conditions, stand-up being a relatively cheap night out, especially as a lot of our shows are in local areas, so no need to travel into cities, and think that with many people not putting on their heating, staying in and watching Netflix is maybe a less appealing option."
Outside The Box Comedy Club promoter Maff Brown - who has booked Hal Cruttenden for his Monday 24th April gig in New Malden - observes social media advertising is helping his shows: "It is starting to look a lot better than it has for a long, long time. I would say it's become slightly easier to sell tickets as we are a very cheap night out when everyone in the world is raising their prices. I bought two tickets to see Tom Jones and that was £228. You could go to about 30 stand-up nights for that! People are starting to find us more than before. We have had to do a lot more ads on social media, but it's led to us being able to put more nights on."
Susan Murray, who leads the Red Imp Comedy Club in Walthamstow, notes: "My club isn't a regular comedy club, it specialises in profile acts such as Stewart Lee and Jo Caulfield doing tour warm-ups, and the fact that 99.9% of acts have re-started their tours has made it very tricky for us in the first half of this year but, after this festival show [on 20th April], we are taking a break until our utterly ROCKING preview season in July. I've made a rod for my own back by doing this but hey-ho, we have Stewart Lee on sometimes!"
Rob Riley, who runs Comedy In a Van - which has two shows planned at Lancaster Comedy Club as part of the festival on Saturday 29th April - says they've noticed audiences are in a pattern of booking things very last minute nowadays, and this has resulted in organisational changes: "We have taken time to rethink some of our shows, and the Lancaster Comedy Club is a great example of this. We abandoned our weekly Sunday shows and moved to the last Saturday of each month with an early and late show. Each show consists of two acts and compere and runs straight through for an hour with no intervals. This has improved the quality of the shows, dry and wet spend are significantly up and our first six shows all sold out in advance."
Katka Bird, who is behind the Lone Wolf club, which is putting on a show on Sunday 30th April as part of the festival, says: "We are excited to say that our main monthly Bicester show is certainly booming. We don't get the chance to promote it and people will just buy tickets not knowing who is on. Since covid we have expanded to different venues in different towns/villages."
Rob Coleman, who runs around 50 shows a year in various venues, "mostly in villages where they'll have shows every three to six months", says his Custard Comedy outfit is going well, but it is hard work. "Most nights sell out, but you suffer very quickly if you don't put in the marketing hours."
Paul Revill, who has Terry Alderton on his line-up in Leighton Buzzard on Wednesday 26th April, also says it is hard work to get audiences in. He told us: "Things are good. Castle Comedy is running more shows and seeing more people coming to shows than before the pandemic. There are ups and downs though, with some shows with brilliant line-ups not selling the numbers they deserve. There is a need to work consistently hard to get people through the door and people are purchasing tickets later. It does seem like people are looking for a good laugh at a fair price in these tough times. Put on a great show and they'll come back!"
Finances often came up in our conversations with promoters. Toby Hadoke, who founded Manchester's award-winning XS Malarkey 26 years ago and still hosts their weekly shows, says the job of running the club is "never easy". He explains: "We keep our door price so low that breaking even is never a guarantee - and all the door and tech guys are essentially volunteers. I suppose I am too, as I don't usually get a wage for my MCing. It's more important to pay the acts a decent wage. But it means we can't really ever drop the ball: we have to keep the numbers up. We're fortunate that we have a fantastic new venue [Canvas Club on Oxford Road] who are very behind the night. There's loads of enthusiasm for what we do, which is encouraging, but we need to keep bringing the punters in and they need to keep buying beer. No-one's a charity (well, except the XS team, but that's our fault!). What's good though is that we have a loyal audience who treat the acts well, and so great acts like coming to play for us. That's always been our strength."
Ben Heathcote, who has a show planned at The Surrey Cricketers in Windlesham on Wednesday 26th April, says things are going well at Heathcote's Comedy Club. "Having tried a few venues, The Surrey Cricketers love the comedy nights and we get some great crowds there every month and, of course, that's because we get great acts!"
Despite the challenges and hard work, many of the promoters we spoke to foresee a bright future and have expansion plans. Katka Bird reports the aim for Lone Wolf is to run at least four regular gigs a month, and they're looking to encourage young audience members to turn up too. "We feel that young people need to be introduced to live comedy shows, as there is so much comedy on TV, to show that a live performance can be priceless for both the audience and the acts. You can't get the same atmosphere in the living room."
Aside from maintaining momentum at the Surrey Cricketers, Ben Heathcote says he has an eye to "opening more clubs in the future" too.
By September, Maff Brown is aiming to get to the point of running four nights a week across his venues. He is also looking to grow their social media reach. "We have bought a fancy new neon sign that looks great on camera!"
Paul Revill says Castle Comedy is looking towards technology to help. "That includes the website, using QR codes and having a card machine available at the shows. I'm also being dragged kicking and screaming into the world of social media. The plan is to produce more content across Facebook and Instagram about the shows."
Meanwhile Toby Hadoke says XS Malarkey is staying put in its new home and will continue to strive for interesting line-ups: "We're always looking to widen the pool of our acts. It's always great to see acts coming through, and we have a policy of diversity with our line-up which means we're always hoping to see new or under-represented voices. We are putting on extra touring shows too, so that we don't just have Tuesday night comedy, but Edinburgh shows as well. We hope the area we have relocated to becomes a real hub: foot outlets are popping up and our venue has other kinds of nights on too, so it'd be great to have a really buzzing nightlife area at the top of Oxford Road, with Canvas at the centre of it."
So, whilst it is hard work to get audiences in, it seems independent clubs are doing well, with strong sales to report and expansion actively considered by many.
Steven Endersby from WeGotTickets concurs. Their data shows that sales for small, independent comedy clubs have been on the rise across the board this year. "We've been pleased to see sales growing throughout the comedy sector in 2023, especially after a tough couple of years during the pandemic. These clubs offer great value for money to customers, and with more popping up, existing ones planning on expanding, and audience members returning for repeat visits after positive experiences, we don't think we've hit the peak of the sales graph yet either."
Heathcote says: "I think the circuit, and the acts on it, seem to be back as busy as ever and it's great to see. Lots of new faces, lots of tours and some of the great clubs, like Outside The Box, Kingston, are still going despite the struggle through covid... long may it continue."
Rob Coleman observes: "I'm frankly amazed at how resilient the comedy circuit is proving to be. Like many people I assumed we would suffer as the cost-of-living crisis took hold, but we're more than holding our own at present. People are being more selective and the market is price sensitive, but they are still going out. Comedy is cheap when compared with going out for a meal and it's more convivial than the cinema."
However, Katka Bird injects an important sobering note: "The positive is there are more independent comedy clubs with more comedians running their own gigs, but most of the fees are still the same as 20 years ago and that is embarrassing and sad."
Maff Brown points out that social media is continuing to change the live comedy ecosystem: "This is both a positive and negative really, but the amount of followers you have on social media had become the new 'TV credits'. It's positive because it means there are not any TV producer gate keepers. But also a negative as there are some brilliant comedians out there with over 20 years of experience on the circuit but have missed out on the social media generation."
He adds: "I love seeing new faces on the circuit and social media is bringing talent to the comedy clubs. Jack Skipper for example. Over 500K followers, but is a resident MC for us in Kingston every Monday in order to earn his chops. He's excellent at it as well."
Toby Hadoke concurs: "The live stand-up circuit in this country is buzzing with talent but it'll have to adapt to survive. Competition from the internet and changes in audiences means we have to be on our toes. We've never let in stag dos, hen dos or office parties anyway - I don't want the acts we bring in to spend the whole night managing the audience. Sod that! But that means we have to recruit our punters from elsewhere - but that takes a lot of effort.
"The circuit is definitely in flux as audience habits change but, on the plus side, more diverse and interesting voices are emerging and the circuit is giving them space. The internet isn't to be underestimated - we consort with our audience online and solicit feedback on our social media... and ever more acts are experimenting with putting footage online to increase their profile.
"In many ways, whoever uses online resources best is going to prosper more in this ever-changing environment. But I believe in the circuit - there are a hell of a lot of bloody funny people grafting away and it's always a pleasure to turn up to work and see who is on and what they are doing. The comedy we see on UK TV only scratches the surface - the live circuit has an embarrassment of riches that more people should know about."
Paul Revill concludes: "I love the circuit and, like a beautiful coral reef, it needs looking after."