Comedy Archives - Page 11 of 292 - Ben Rosenfeld

November 4, 2013June 18, 2014

Free Comedy Content Economics

I recently read JL Cauvin’s post about why his album didn’t sell more and Connected Comedy’s thoughts on it too. (Full disclosure: I’ve performed with JL and was in his Tim & Aaron Video.)

I thought I’d share a recent example of internet content I gave away, that might help all of us comedians who aren’t world famous understand how internet free works / how to monetize it better.

Reddit is a popular internet website with lots of subsections. I recently posted the below image on /r/standupshots which is dedicated to short stand up jokes with your photo.

In the 22 hours since I posted it, I’ve gotten 34,375 views. It was in the number one spot for 6-10 hours. Which is great. That’s over 34,000 people that would’ve never seen or heard of me otherwise. But let’s dig deeper. (And let’s ignore whether you like the joke or not, objectively, by reddit standards, it did well.)
Out of all those views, 1,619 clicked that they like the joke (up vote), and 673 clicked that they didn’t like it (down vote). So that’s 2,292 people that can be bothered to click. Less than 7% click rate. And that’s just a quick button click on a page that already loaded. It doesn’t require typing in a URL, spending money or any extra steps or page loads. There were 29 comments on the post, not counting my responses (.08% of views).
As you may have noticed from the photo, I have a link for people to download my album for free, if they want. They just have to fill out a quick form so I get an email address and zip code.
24 people filled out the form for a free comedy album (out of 34,375). Even if you only count the people that clicked that they liked that joke, that’s a 1.5% conversion rate. On something that’s free. And out of the 24 email addresses I got, 6 of them were fake. So out of 34,000 views, I got 18 people to care enough to give me their email address and listen to my album. (Of course, this isn’t my first joke here, so some people have previously downloaded my album. I’m just giving one specific example.)
I also have a podcast link in the image. A new episode comes out every Monday night, and I posted this joke Sunday afternoon. So Sunday is the slowest download day as it’s a week old episode at that point. So assuming all Sunday podcast downloads were from the Reddit traffic, I had 15 people download the free podcast. A slightly less than 1% conversion rate of people who click the like button. (Or .04% of overall views.)
Even if you assume the people who got the podcast were all different from the people who got the album, the total people willing to just type in a URL was 39. Or .1% of all views (1 out of 1,000). With no money being spent.
And my Twitter link in the image got 0 new followers, favorites and retweets. (Although other jokes have done better for this.)

Let me state clearly, I’m not complaining. I’ve had a some cool things happen from posting on Reddit. A few of my jokes have been picked up for “Best Jokes” websites were I’ve been listed alongside very famous comedians. I’ve gotten more followers. A couple of user comments have been incorporated into my jokes. My album got put on a streaming internet station. And I’ve even gotten recognized around NYC a few times from it.

But if we focus on JL’s discussion of economics, it seems most of free internet content will lead to actual money way less than 1% of the time. It seems it’ll be somewhere around .01% and .05%. (JL’s 100 album downloads out of 300k YouTube views is a .03% conversion. Similar to my numbers above.) So for those whose eyes are already rolling because of all the math in this post, as a rough estimate, for every 10,000 internet views a free piece of content gets, 1 person will pay money for additional content.

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October 23, 2013November 28, 2023

The 8 Different Types of Comedy Audiences

Most comedians and comedy fans agree that “you wanna do well with the audience.” However, in some places, especially New York City where I perform most often, you’re performing for multiple audience types, usually at the same time. And what one audience type responds to, another may not go for as much.

Below is a list of audience types and what their main concern usually is. And of course, there are exceptions to each of these guidelines.

Choose who you play to at your own peril.

1) The Actual Audience

These are the people who have paid money and are buying drinks to watch the show. In NYC, there are a few standard types of actual audience:

Times Square Tourists – usually from the Midwest or a foreign country and bought comedy tickets on the street as a spur of the moment activity. They tend to like safer jokes (family, relationships, etc.) with bigger act outs and minimal word play and thinking
Greater NYC locals (NJ, CT, etc) – are okay with edgier material and some local references.
“In The Know Tourists” – did some online research and decided on a club or specific comedian to see, closer to a NYC local than a real tourist
College Crowd – doesn’t want to hear about your wife and kids
High School Kids / Prom Shows – responds to politics and family topics, but can get tight about sexual material or if they’re the “cool kids” in school, it’s the opposite
Hip Locals – aka “below 14^th st” – aka “alt scene audience” – are down for dark humor and obscure pop culture references, more accepting of rambling, long setups and less punchy material
Urban Room – a predominantly non-white audience watching a show in their neighborhood. Similar to hip locals but some material may work better/worse depending on what you look like.
Friends of newer comedians – sometimes hate comedy, or are skeptical about the show, but were dragged out by their friend who’s attempting comedy, tend to think they paid too much for cover and drinks and sometimes are under the mistaken impression they should only laugh at their friend’s jokes to make that friend look better

2) Club Bookers

Want you to get big, consistent laughs. Also they want to make sure audience members don’t complain about your act / decide to boycott the club because of you.

3) Club Managers

Primary concern is if you’re already approved to be working there / able to do the job / nobody will ask why they put you on the show if you weren’t already schedule to be on it.

4) Club Owners

Does your name help get people in the door and sell drinks? Are you doing something unique that may pay off for them later down the line? Do you seem loyal – aka will them giving you stage time before you’re famous ensure you keep dropping by their club later in your career.

5) TV Industry / Networks / Producers

Audience response matters less than whether you have a castable look and whether they find your material funny.

6) Talent Agents and Talent Managers

Do you have talent? Do we see you being worth ten million dollars? What’s your look? Can you write?

7) Wait Staff

Are you funny and different? Do we want to watch your jokes night after night? Are you pleasant and not annoying off stage?

8) Other Comedians

This is usually the toughest audience of all, but also the audience who will get you most of your work

Headliners – Are you funny enough and easy to hang out with for five hour car rides?
Next level comics – Do you run a show?
Same level comics – Are you funny and do you run a show?
Independent producers that are comedians – Do you run your own show and are you funny?
Newer comics – Are you funny and approachable?

Did I miss anything? Post in the comments and I’ll respond.

Wanna try stand-up comedy yourself? Consider taking my NYC Comedy Class or booking a private one-on-one comedy coaching session (in person or via Zoom)

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October 22, 2013November 29, 2023

Five Tips For Your Comedy Event To Run Smoothly

So you’ve decided to organize a comedy show as your next event, followed my 3 Tips To Planning a Successful Show and now it’s the day of the show.

Here’s five tips to follow before and during the show to ensure everything runs smoothly.

1) Make sure the sound, lights and stage are setup and working before the audience is admitted into the venue.

Comedy doesn’t require much equipment, make sure you have a working microphone with speakers, a stage area and lighting that draws the audience towards where the performer is. This doesn’t cost much, but not doing this, or doing it poorly, really hurts the show.

2) Arrange seating properly.

Stand-up comedy is an intimate experience. You can turn any venue into a comedy show, but making sure the audience is properly positioned makes a show much better. You want the audience to morph into one organism to have a communal experience and more energy. So the closer the audience is to each other, and to the performer, the better. If you have to have tables, the smaller they are the better. And if it’s not a sold out show, have a seater make sure the front of the room is filled first. Most comedians will not make fun of people in the front rows.

3) At minimum, have some water bottles for the comedian.

Snacks are nice too. If the show is at a restaurant, it’s polite to let the comedians order food and a drink or two from the menu without charging them / in addition to their performance fee. Of course, comedians should know to tip the wait staff anyway.

4) Pay the Performers Before The Show Starts

You’re going to be busy talking to people after the show, so if you’ve already agreed upon a fee, pay the performers before the show starts. Or at least tell them, “I will Venmo you later tonight” or whatever it is you actually plan to do. They will relax and have one less thing to worry about. They can also leave after their set if they have other shows or a long trip home and not have to wait around to get paid. Of course, if you’ve booked them as a door deal, where their payment depends on how much audience shows up, don’t pay them until after you have the final numbers.

5) Keep track of introductions and how much time you want everyone doing.

Ask the comedian if he needs a “light” as a reminder when his time is almost up. Comedians can get lost in the moment and lose track of time. A simple cell phone light from the back of the room will let them know when it’s time to wrap things up so the rest of the event proceeds in a timely manner.

If it’s an event that has multiple performers in different genres (musicians, poets, rabbis, priests, etc.), make sure the comedian is introduced as a comedian, otherwise the audience’s expectations may be confused.

Wanna try stand-up comedy yourself? I teach a Comedy Class in NYC. I also do private one-on-one comedy coaching (in-person or via Zoom).

More Stand-Up Comedy Tips:

October 21, 2013November 29, 2023

3 Tips To Planning A Successful Comedy Show

Thinking of planning a comedy show as your next event? Here’s some tips to ensure it’s a success.

1) Decide what’s most important: the location, the date or the featured comedian.

Unless you’re extremely lucky, the chances are you won’t get your first choice for all three of these. Of course, the further in advance you plan, the better your chances for getting all three. If you plan 6-12 months in advance, your odds of getting exactly what you want are much better than if you plan 6-12 weeks in advance.

If there’s a specific comedian you want, contact them or their representation and arrange a date that they’re free.
If your event has to be on a specific night, start with that, and then contact comedians, but create a list of the five comedians that would fit your event, so that you’re not stuck if your first choice is not available that night.
If you have to have the event in a specific location, see if there’s a few dates they’ll put on hold for you for a week while you contact your favorite comedian to see if they’re available on any of those dates.

2) When choosing the entertainment, decide whether to go through a booking agency or deal directly with a comedian.

Booking Agency Pros:

If one comedian can’t make it, they can find a replacement more seamlessly.
They may have a marketing person that can help with flyers for your event.
“One stop shopping” for when you’re not sure what comedian you want. An agency can make recommendations after listening to your requirements and help you narrow the choices.
There’s almost always a contract, and the agency knows how to write them.

Booking Agency Cons:

Depending on the agency, they can charge inflated prices and only give a small fraction of that to the performer.
An agency may send a different comedian at the last minute, sometimes without even warning you.
You may not have a chance to talk to the comedian ahead of time. Or some pertinent information (it’s a clean show, specific dress code, etc.) may never get communicated to the comedian before they show up.

Comedian Direct Pros:

You get the exact performer you want.
You can talk to the comedian in advance and tell them your specific requirements.
You can get a better deal, and all the money goes directly to the performer.

Comedian Direct Cons:

Your event may require a complicated contract, that the performer doesn’t understand as well as a booking agent.
If the comedian gets sick or cancels at the last minute, you may have to rebook the event yourself. (Although most comedians will offer you suggestions for suitable replacements.)

Compromise Scenario:

Living Room Laughs is a company that produces private comedy show. It’s run by comedian Michelle Slonim. She MCs and brings two to four other professional comedians with her to every show. This makes it feel like a comedy club vibe in your environment. And the variety is much more exciting than just one comedian – no matter how funny they are. Michelle asks you a dozen plus questions about your party and guests and then customizes the comedians based on who it sounds like your audience will enjoy most. However, she doesn’t tell you who exactly it will be, so you don’t have to stress out with watching dozens of videos and deciding what comedian to use. And if someone cancels last minute, she gets another one and avoids you the stress of rebooking it.

3) Specify Rules and Agreements Well In Advance

Specify whether there are any content or language restrictions when setting up the booking, not when the comedian shows up the night of the show.
Specify how long of a show you want. Comedy shows can range from thirty minutes to two hours. I find that audience attention spans tend to fade after an hour and a half. It’s usually best to leave them wanting more. When in doubt, make it a shorter show.
Decide on how many acts you’ll have. Most comedians like to bring someone along to warm up the room. So ask if they have an opener in mind. Or if you like a few comedians, see if your budget can afford more than one act.
Negotiate a payment and stick to it. Flat fees are common for most performers. Depending on the show size, the travel required and the comedian’s level of fame, flat fees can run anywhere from $500 to over $10,000 for a forty-five-minute performance. Less common but still used, is the door deal. Where the comedian gets the cut of the door (cover charge) for each audience member that shows up.

Wanna try stand-up comedy yourself? I teach a Comedy Class in NYC. I also do private one-on-one comedy coaching (in-person or via Zoom).

More Stand-Up Comedy Tips:

September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

Ben To Headline Caroline’s Oct 1

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be headlining at Caroline’s on Broadway on October 1 at 7:30PM.

It’s gonna be an amazing show, with some of my favorite comedians opening for me.

You can get $5 tickets by going here and using the promo code BREAKOUT

About The Breakout Artist Series:

This is a new weekly series that puts the spotlight on the very best and brightest emerging stand-up comedians in their very own headlining show. These are the comedians that are currently plying their trade and honing their craft on their way to becoming the stars of tomorrow. You may not know them now, but these are the comedians who have risen through the Carolines ranks and are poised to become comedy’s next big stars.