22 mistakes event planners make when hiring a comedian, and other considerations
(To be fair, it’s mistakes that SOME event planners make- I don’t mean to malign a whole group)
Want to know what to do, and what not to do? Read on.
Ignoring or not asking about technical requirements.
There’s a story about the band Van Halen that had, in its rider, that they required M&Ms backstage, but with all the brown ones removed. The explanation was that if they found brown M&Ms, that meant that the venue didn’t read their rider carefully, so the stage might not be strong enough for their equipment (because those requirements were also in the rider). I find that insufficient, because for a band that big their rider is a lot of pages, and the hospitality person handling backstage catering is not the same person doing the stage set-up. That said, READ THE RIDER.
You do not want to discover that you served the comic food they’re allergic to because someone didn’t pay attention to the risk of cross-contamination. Of that you shouldn’t have dark red curtains because she wears a dark red dress and would fade into the background. Or worse, you get sued because you didn’t pay attention to the very specific prohibition on recording the performance, and someone in your audience put the comedian’s entire corporate set on youtube.
My tech rider’s pretty simple- I need a hand-held microphone and an adequate sound system. Hand-held means NOT one screwed into a lectern. I can work with a lavalier microphone but I prefer not to. We’ve all heard stories about people who didn’t realize their mic was on when they were in the bathroom or having a private conversation backstage. I also ask for a back-up mic. And, if it’s a wireless mic, an actual back-up mic, NOT just a spare battery. Every mic is different, and it’s not fun to have to change a battery in the middle of a joke. And like almost all corporate comedians I also strictly prohibit recording my performance.
But other comics may have more complicated riders. And maybe when I’m famous and can charge more money, my rider will get longer.
You should discuss who does a sound check and when it can be done. Generally, comedians want it loud enough that the audience doesn’t miss anything. We can talk more softly if need be, or hold the mic a little farther away. But if the volume is too low there’s not much we can do.
And if it’s a musical comedian, he or she may need, for example, a separate mic for a guitar, or a guitar amp, or a place to plug in a keyboard. Read the rider!
If you have any questions about anything in the rider, ask! And not the day of the event, but as soon as you have the questions.
Another reason to read the rider- does the comedian want to sell merchandise at your event? I think it’s a little awkward to sell merch when you’re getting paid corporate money to perform, but some comics will say that the audience likes to leave with a souvenir of the evening, and their t-shirt or shot glass or coaster has their funny slogan on it. It’s your event so it’s up to you what you allow.
Not paying attention to the fit between the audience and the comic.
Or, conversely, paying too much attention. If your audience is all thirty year old steel workers, maybe it’s great to book a thirty year old comic who used to be a steel worker. Or maybe not- because they may not give him the respect he deserves. Or because they’ve spent all week listening to thirty year old steelworkers and they could use something different. I’m not saying then go out and book a great-grandmother whose whole act is about being a great-grandmother, but maybe just not another steelworker.
But if your audience is a religious group that shuns alcohol, television and the internet, a comedian who has jokes about internet dating, drinking and TV commercials isn’t going to go over well. They may not even understand the jokes.
Not asking about content or expecting the comic to do something completely different from their usual because it’s a corporate or charity event.
There’s a story about Sarah Silverman- hilariously funny comedian- also a dirty one. She was hired for a corporate event, and did her act. It wasn’t corporate-friendly. It was dirty. They were upset- didn’t she know this was a corporate event?
Of course her answer was: you booked Sarah Silverman. You got Sarah Silverman. What did you expect? Didn’t you know who she was? She’s not an unknown. You hired a famous person; you should have known what she does on stage.
If you call a plumber, and you’re having a party, he expects to be fixing pipes, not bartending.
In the case of Sarah Silverman, I’d say there’s plenty of fault to go around. She should’ve made sure they knew what they were getting. And their first question, before hiring her, should have been: This is a corporate event, so do you have a clean act to do?
Don’t assume that just because you saw five clean minutes on TV that the comedian’s whole act is clean. They probably won’t show you their whole act, but they can answer questions. The money may be good, but nobody wants an unhappy client.
And everyone has a different definition of clean. For some, it’s just avoiding curse words. For others, it’s the topics themselves. You can get pretty graphic without using any dirty words, or you can have clean topics but use dirty words in your sentences. So, discuss this before booking.
And beyond that- if there are topics to be avoided, mention them BEFORE booking the comedian. You don’t want a comic with cancer jokes at a cancer charity. Or with drinking jokes in front of a CEO who lost a child in a drunk driving accident. Spend a few minutes on risk management- think about what shouldn’t be joked about. Even a comic who as part of a joke just mimes shooting herself will offend people at a suicide benefit.
Scheduling the comedian during dinner.
Comedy is not background music. People have to be paying complete attention. If they tune out because they’re looking for the salt, or concentrating on cutting their steak, or wondering where the heck the dessert cart is, they’re not paying attention to the comedian. If they miss a sentence, or even a few words, they may miss the entire joke. And then when everyone else is laughing they start asking what they missed, and it interrupts the flow of the show.
Also you don’t want someone laughing while swallowing, and choking on their food. I’ve seen it happen.
It’s best to have the show either before or after the meal. Which one? It depends. If it’s been a long day of listening to other people talk, and it’s getting late, and people want to go home, go to the bar or go back to their hotel room, it may be best to have the performer before dinner. That’s assuming dinner won’t get served too late.
But in general people are hungry and want to eat, so have the show after the meal. Some charity events have a meal, the performance and then dessert. That’s fine too.
Please don’t have a dessert cart during the performance. I saw that happen once. It wasn’t ideal. Because everyone sees it. They wonder what’s on it. Then they see it go to another table. Why that table? Why not us next? And of course the server has to whisper to each person in turn what everything is, and answer questions. It’s quite disruptive.
Not asking questions or being afraid to ask a lot of questions.
You’re paying for a corporate entertainer. We make decent money at this, more than we get at a comedy club. We’re happy to spend a few minutes answering your questions. We will learn about you and the event from your questions.
Expecting us to write custom material for your event without discussing it.
We can do that. But it will be more expensive, because it’s material we can’t use in our regular act, or even test out in front of audiences before we get to you. If a comic says No problem, I’ll have plenty of jokes on your industry, well, unless they’ve done a lot of corporate shows in your specific industry, or can adapt their existing material to you, you might be getting the same jokes you already read in a joke book. And that’s a big NO-NO for a comic.
Here’s another one- not having someone whose job it is to police the audience.
Comedy clubs have bouncers for a reason. You might think that people at a corporate event will be well-behaved. My experience has taught me otherwise (sometimes, but not often). Especially when alcohol is served. Or not served, but sneaked into the event and consumed. We can deal with comedy club hecklers, although we prefer not to. But at a corporate event, unless the person’s behavior is so egregious, AND heard by the whole audience, we can’t really get mean and put down the person. There are different types of hecklers and many of us are pretty good at quickly sizing them up, determining their motivation and quieting them down, but sometimes they just want to be disruptive. Or they’re so intoxicated that they don’t realize it’s not a conversation.
At a comedy club show early in my career, someone in the front was really disruptive. I thought I did a good job handling it, until after the show when someone asked why I was mean to that person. I said Because he kept interrupting me. The person said he was half-way back and hadn’t heard a thing the person said. He thought I was just being a jerk.
I’ve since learned, if there’s a heckler, one of the things you do is repeat back what they say, so the whole audience knows they’re being a jerk.
And policing the audience is especially important at a family event. If a corporate event has an issue, it’ll soon be forgotten. But if Uncle Ernie gets drunk and ruins a comedy show at your wedding, you won’t forget it. And you’ll probably blame the comic no matter how much it was drunk Ernie’s fault.
Not having a written agreement.
When I book comics for corporate events or for the shows I do at theatres or for charity events, I often just spell out the details in an email. And that’s fine. We know each other, we’ve probably worked together numerous times before at theatre or charity shows, we know what’s expected and what isn’t. But with a corporate or charity client, I have a contract. Why? To make sure nothing is misunderstood. And to address, in advance, what contingencies there could be, what could go awry and how we deal with it. Issues such as a comedian getting sick, or adverse weather, or cancellation of the event. I even address not moving a show from indoors to outdoors. We can do outdoor shows, but there are a zillion reasons why it’s tons better to have them indoors. I’m prepared and organized- if you insist on having the show outside, I have a document which details many reasons why the show should be indoors.
I would suggest that if the comedian you’re considering hiring doesn’t want a contract, or whose contract is a half-page that pretty much just says where, when, who, for how long, and how much, that isn’t an experienced comedian. As I mentioned, both parties should want a contract that covers any contingencies that they can think of. And the longer I’m in business, the more stuff happens, and the longer the contract gets. This is a good thing.
Not having seats.
Comedy, as I said, is not background music. The audience must be seated. They can’t be mingling, or chatting, or even going back and forth to a buffet. Especially if there’s a buffet at the back of the room, where they will congregate. Or worse, if it’s up-front and people getting food are a distraction to the show.
I did a show once where they insisted on having the show before dinner. They set the buffet up right next to the stage. After forty minutes the audience was hungry, and it was a distraction (I addressed it in a very funny way that’s now a joke in my act, but I’d have preferred not to have had to deal with it at the time).
And the seats should be close together and right near the stage. Not a thirty foot dance floor gap between the performer and the audience. That gap creates a barrier.
Oh, and if the comedian shows up and says no, you’ve got to move the chairs closer? Don’t move every row- that takes forever. Take the chairs from the back and move them to the front. Much faster.
Not speaking to the comedian, in advance, about how they’re to be introduced.
Most of us want a very short introduction. If your audience knows a comedian is coming, and they should (this is required in my contract), pretty much just make sure the audience is quiet, and give them the short intro they asked for.
Yes, the audience needs to be quiet. If they talk through the introduction they won’t shut up for the show. You’d be surprised how effective SHHH SHHH SHHH is. It make take 10-30 seconds but they will quiet down.
Reading our bio to the audience? That’s a waste of time. I know people do that at corporate events to establish a speaker’s credibility- I worked in finance for twenty years and I’ve been to my share of corporate events. It’s the comedian’s job to establish their own credibility. That’s what the opening joke is for. Maybe they’ll ask you to say they’ve been on some TV show, but that’s just a few words. Don’t read our bio out loud unless you’ve been asked to do so by the comedian.
You should know who will be making the introduction and introduce them to the comedian long before the comedian will be taking the stage. Otherwise sometimes it’s a mess.
Ask the comedian how much notice they need before it’s their time to take the stage. Some of us are okay with two minutes’ notice. Others need more time to get ready.
Not making sure there are no distractions.
Window curtains should be closed. Televisions and other screens should be off (unless it’s showing the comedian on stage). Nobody clearing plates during the performance. Nothing else making noise (blenders at the bar, background music, et. al.).
Expecting a clean comedian to be right for all ages.
Clean doesn’t mean right for children. They won’t understand most of the jokes. And when their parents are present they’ll want their children to be entertained, so the parents will be distracted.
Expecting or asking the comedian to make fun of people in the audience.
The CEO probably doesn’t want to be made fun of, even if he or she acts like a good sport about it. Few people actually enjoy being roasted. So unless the boss specifically asks you for this, maybe don’t suggest it to anyone. The CEO may not want to say no, but it doesn’t mean he or she really wants to be the victim of someone else’s jokes.
If you want the comedian to also emcee your event, you have to discuss this before booking. It’s more work and it’ll cost more.
Expecting the comedian to eat with or mingle with the audience.
Some of us are okay with this, but probably most are not. I’m okay talking with the audience after the event, but not before.
And, this may surprise you, but a lot of us are shy.
When choosing a comedian, letting their number of social media followers mislead you into thinking they’re funny.
What works on TikTok isn’t the same as what works on stage. And a stand-up comedian having a zillion followers shows that they’re appealing to lots of people, but maybe only to a certain group. There are comedians who’ve gotten famous quickly from a couple of brief appearances on TV or from a viral video, who get booked to headline comedy clubs and quickly discover that they can’t do a solid 45 minute set. Get someone with the experience you need them to have.
Not having a quiet place for them to sit (and maybe eat) before their performance.
Few comedians want to be in the room before the performance, watching other people eat or listening to speeches or loud music. Also, if you can save them a parking space that’s nice too.
Not asking if they have any questions.
As I said, a lot of comedians are shy. They may not think to ask you something, but if you give them the opportunity, they may have questions for you.
Not discussing how much time they’ll be performing for.
A typical comedy club headliner set is 45 minutes, sometimes a little longer. Most comics at that level can do an hour, but there’s a difference between 45 minutes and an hour and some comics comfortable at 45 balk at going much longer. A theatre solo show may run longer than 45 minutes.
But a corporate set is typically more like a half-hour, unless it’s someone famous that the audience is expecting more from. Some comics suggest a corporate set after a day of an audience just sitting there listening to speakers should be only twenty minutes.
Absolutely you need to discuss this.
Not publicizing that you’re having a comedian.
Your audience needs to know, in advance, that a comedian is coming. What they don’t need is another half-hour of Shut up and listen to yet another stranger talk. Be proud- you’ve got a comedian coming! Build anticipation!
Do you want a celebrity comedian? Sure, it’s great if you can afford someone famous that the whole audience knows. But will they actually be funnier than a comedian the audience hasn’t heard of? Maybe, if they’re Jerry Seinfeld or Jim Gaffigan. But for a small fraction of the cost of booking someone at that level of fame, you can have a great comedian and a super-fun show that the audience will be talking about for months afterwards.
Not making sure the comedian knows whom he or she answers to.
It’s you. So if someone else, maybe acting like the person in charge, says something like “You can be edgy, we’re all adults here,” make sure that the comedian knows that you are the one making the decisions, and that they shouldn’t listen to someone else who acts like they have authority.
Not discussing wardrobe.
Unless your audience will be in jeans and t-shirts, you might want to discuss what the comedian wears. A few comedians will wear a suit to a corporate event. But many comedians figure that the job title “Comedian” by its nature comes with no dress code and they’ll show up in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. (For what it’s worth I almost always wear a dress shirt and sports jacket on stage) When I started in comedy it was suggested that the comedian should dress at least as nicely as the audience. These days most events are business-casual. It shouldn’t be hard for a comedian to meet that standard, but you might want to discuss it in advance.
And lastly, not calling me, even if you just have some questions.
I’m happy to chat! I’m a working comic. I have a degree from the Wharton School, and a master’s degree in positive psychology. I’ve been a working comic for over two decades and I have a master’s degree in applied positive psychology. Give me a call at (914) 487-3866!
Related Links
Biography of clean comedian Shaun Eli
Stand-up comedy and stand-up comedians for charity fundraising events
Stand-up comedians and stand-up comedy shows for churches and other houses of worship
Stand-up comedians for senior citizens and 55+ communities