Category Archives: Comedy FAQs And Answers

When a Headliner Recommends You

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Hey Dave – After a recent showcase, the headliner came up to me and asked if I’d be willing to open for him on his upcoming shows. What’s the best way to approach being a featured comic or host at this major club? I have the manager’s email and a video of my showcase set as a sample of what I can do. I also have a website with my headshot and resume, and I can post the video on YouTube. Sincerely – L.S.

Handing out Golden Tickets!

Hey L.S. – That’s great news! As I’ve said in way too many articles, that’s your Golden Ticket.

A personal recommendation from a headlining comic is always better than trying to do everything yourself through cold calls, blind emails, or simply hanging around the club hoping someone notices you. Those methods can work, but when a comedian who already works at the club is willing to put in a good word for you, you have something much more valuable: an established comic opening the door for you.

That doesn’t mean you should stop promoting yourself. Quite the opposite. Every comedian should have the basic promotional tools in place—a professional website, current headshots, a resume or list of credits, and a good performance video. Those things make it easier for a talent booker to check you out when someone recommends you.

And if you already have a track record—with solid performing credits—you might not have to settle for a showcase. You could end up with a paid booking.

Your next booking?

I’ve seen this happen many times. A headliner will have his or her own opening and feature acts on the road, and the clubs will book the entire “package.” It makes life easier for everyone, including the talent booker.

Stay in Touch With the Headliner

My first piece of advice is simple: stay in touch with the headliner and find out exactly what he has in mind.

Ask questions. Is he talking about having you open his upcoming shows at this particular club? Does he want you to feature for him on a series of dates? Is he considering taking you on the road to open for him at several clubs over the next few weeks or months?

Don’t assume you know what he meant. Get the details.

You can also do a little homework yourself. Check the headliner’s website and social-media pages to see where he’s scheduled to perform. Many working comedians keep their online calendars updated for both fans and talent bookers.

And pay attention to how they promote themselves.

Some smart comics advertise on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn in the cities and areas where they’re scheduled to perform. They may start promoting a show a week or two in advance, while also directing potential fans to their websites, videos, and other material.

Clubs love it when comedians help promote their shows. And from your perspective, those promotions can also help you build an audience and establish yourself as a working professional.

There’s more about that strategy in the updated version of How To Be A Working Comic—and, yes, that was a blatant book plug.

Let the Headliner Make the Call

Preferably, the headliner should personally contact the club booker or manager and recommend you for the shows.

He can tell the booker, “I’d like L.S. to open for me,” and then tell you to expect a call or email. Or he can simply make the arrangements and get back to you with the details.

Either way, the important thing is that the headliner—or his agent—personally communicates the recommendation to the club.

That one phone call or email can cut through a lot of red tape.

Why?

Because otherwise, the booker may not know whether the headliner actually recommended you or whether you’re simply using his name to get through the door.

And I’m not singling you out. This happens with every comedian a booker doesn’t know.

You’d be surprised how many comics “drop names” without actually having that comic’s recommendation. I’ve had it happen to me, and it never works in the name-dropper’s favor.

There are plenty of club bookers who can relate to that experience. And I’ve seen comedians post online about situations where they assumed a headliner had recommended them—only to discover that the headliner had never actually contacted the club.

Don’t be that comedian.

If the Headliner Says, “You Contact Them”

What if the headliner doesn’t follow through—or simply says, “Just contact the booker and tell him I recommended you?”

That’s Plan B.

Send the club booker a brief, professional email explaining that you recently spoke with the headliner about opening for him at the upcoming shows.

Then ask for the correct procedure for submitting your promotional material.

Don’t immediately send a huge attachment package with your life story, 14-minute video, six headshots, and a resume that dates back to high school.

Keep it simple.

If the booker asks for your website and video, send the links. If they want a specific performance clip, send that. Give the booker exactly what was requested and make it easy to watch your material.

Your showcase video may be perfect because it demonstrates what you can do in front of an audience. Your website can then provide additional information, including your headshot, credits, upcoming appearances, and other performance material.

And if you don’t hear back?

Wait about a week to ten days and follow up.

The goal is to stay on the booker’s radar without becoming a pain in the you-know-what.

Know what I mean?

Starts Monday, Sept 14 and Wednesday, Sept 16 – visit above LINK for details!

Use Your Golden Ticket

I’ve written plenty about promoting and marketing your comedy career through emails, postcards, phone calls, websites, social media, and other methods, so I won’t repeat all of that here. There are also plenty of marketing suggestions in Comedy FAQs And Answers and How To Be A Working Comic.

Did I mention I’m into marketing and promotion?

Ha!

But the bigger lesson here is that self-promotion works best when it’s supported by a personal recommendation.

You can have a great video, a terrific website, an impressive resume, and a professional headshot. Those tools are important. But when a headliner who already works at the club says, “I want this comic to open for me,” you suddenly have something you can’t create with a Facebook ad or cold email.

You have credibility.

That’s your Golden Ticket.

Use it.

Thanks for reading and as always – keep laughing!!

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Don’t send that video… yet

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Hey Dave – What’s a good way to promote myself as a comedian and my videos to talent bookers? Can I send them to a video posted on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram? – BT

Are you ready?

Hey BT – I’m not revealing any kind of marketing breakthrough by saying almost everything today is done online. Okay, in my opinion in-person showcases are always the best, but not always easy to schedule – especially if promoting yourself for gigs not within easy travel distance.

And believe it or not, there are still a few (very few) talent bookers that request hard copies of promotional packages. In my opinion it just means they’re out of touch with what’s going on. If they can’t get online and learn how to work with streaming video and website links, what kind of gigs are they getting for their clients?

I’m guessing Amish barn-raisers.

What used to be included in a hard-copy promotional package is what still needs to be included when you promote yourself online. And a dedicated website – rather than social media – is considered more professional and even required by some bookers I’ve worked with if you want to be considered for work.

But don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a big-time website with a lot of bells and whistles dedicated strictly to your comedy or speaking career. One or two pages with the necessities (video, photo, resume, bio) will do the trick until you hit headline or television star status and can hire a publicist to do the work for you.

Are you sure?

Here’s some insider advice:

Great promotional material might get you noticed, but talent and experience are what gets you hired. Basically, it’s still all about writing and performing. That part of the job never ends. But when you’re ready to take the next step in your career, you’ve got to let people know – and that’s when professional looking promotional material and marketing techniques come into play.

Notice one of the words used above – professional. Here’s one of the most important lines from my book Comedy FAQs And Answers:

“They may call it amateur night – but no one is looking to hire an amateur.”

Sharing your videos with friends is easy on YouTube, Facebook, and others. Millions of people do it every day. Just send a message asking them to watch your video and include a link. But when it comes to promoting yourself to get professional bookings, you need to realize that your video and website are important marketing tools.

Go back the word I used earlier – professional.

Once you have a professional looking video and a professional looking website, then you can start contacting bookers to look at it. This is done through networking (meaning you know someone that can recommend you or put you in contact with the booker), researching, (going to the booker or club’s website and finding the required way to submit promotional material or request a showcase), and/or (and I hate this one, even though I’m good at it) cold calling. With the cold call you basically want to get the correct information on how to submit your material to a booker and then follow it.

Now this is not going sound too friendly or supportive, but I have to say it…

To the writer of this question – and don’t get angry because no one else reading this knows who you are – I’ve watched the YouTube link you sent. Here’s some good advice. Do NOT promote it to comedy talent bookers. It comes off as being very amateur and could damage your chances of being seen later when you’ve gained enough on-stage credits and experience to be taken seriously for paid gigs.

No booker has time or interest in watching really bad amateur videos. Take my advice on this one. Plus, it could come back to haunt you.

I remember a very influential comedy booker when I was working in New York City. I saw a comedian who was very funny and mentioned that he should check him out. I was surprised to be told he had seen the comedian a few years earlier when he was just starting his career. Based on that early impression, the booker said the comic was terrible and he had no interest in hiring or even showcasing him.

Here’s my advice.

Don’t worry about promoting yourself for work until you’re truly ready to be hired. Seriously. Be honest with yourself. If you’re doing open-mics or smaller shows and honestly feel you’re just as good or better than others getting paid gigs (listen to your audio recordings – audiences won’t lie), then make the leap. If not, don’t rush it. The best comics and people hiring comics all know it takes time, dedication, and experience. There are no short cuts.

Then promote your career as if you deserve to be called a working comic. This includes a headshot, resume with on-stage credits, a short bio (so they know something about you) and reliable contact email and phone number. You can have all that stuff on a website and in any design or format you want that makes it easy for talent bookers to review.

But the most important part of a promotional package is your video. Don’t put out something that makes you look like an amateur just to have a video to submit. Think of the first impression you’re making and that there might be a good chance the talent booker will remember it. For a long time.

They may call it amateur night – but no one is looking to hire an amateur.

Thanks for reading and as always – keep laughing!!

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Why Do Talent Bookers Organize Showcases?

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Hey Dave – You’ve talked about showcasing in the last few newsletters. What’s the motivation for a talent booker to organize these showcases? What’s the benefit to the booker and the club? — MB

Hey MB – The simple answer is this: showcases exist to find talent.

Whether it’s a comedy club talent booker, casting director, television producer, event planner, or speaker bureau, they all have the same goal – to see performers in action before hiring them.

Yes, they watch videos. Everyone does.

But if you’re in a major entertainment market like Los Angeles or New York, there are far more opportunities to watch performers live. And live tells you things that a video never can.

Think about your favorite band. Watching them on YouTube is one experience. Seeing them perform in concert is something completely different. The same is true for comedians and speakers.

What Talent Bookers Are Really Looking For

When I worked for The Improv in Los Angeles and New York, I regularly received calls from casting directors looking for very specific performers. Sometimes it was for a sitcom, movie, documentary, commercial, or a one-time appearance on a late-night television show.

One of the most competitive showcases we hosted was for The Tonight Show.

The producers weren’t simply looking for funny comedians. They were looking for comics who were funny and experienced enough to handle the pressure of national television. They wanted performers who could walk on stage, deliver under the lights, and not freeze in front of the cameras.

If you had only five minutes of material and were hoping to hit the lottery, this wasn’t your audition.

Why Three Minutes Is Enough

Rather than spending weeks reviewing hundreds of submissions, producers could schedule one showcase and watch a carefully selected group of comedians perform live.

Most comics were given about three minutes.

That may sound short, but experienced talent bookers can learn a tremendous amount in three minutes. They can evaluate stage presence, confidence, originality, audience connection, professionalism, and, of course, whether the performer consistently gets laughs.

I used the same system as Talent Coordinator for A&E’s An Evening at the Improv.

After reviewing stacks of audition videos, I’d invite about ten comedians to perform at a Monday night showcase. Each comic did three minutes, so the entire showcase lasted only about half an hour.

There was never a quota for how many comics we’d book.

One week we might discover four or five performers ready for television. The following week, none.

That’s simply the nature of scouting talent.

A Real-World Example

One evening at the New York Improv, I received a call from The Today Show.

It was an election year, and the producers wanted a comedian who performed political material.

Instead of launching a nationwide search, I contacted ten comedians from our roster who specialized in political comedy and scheduled a showcase.

Each comic performed three minutes.

The producers came to the club, watched everyone in one evening, and selected the performer they wanted.

It saved them from reviewing hundreds of videos and scheduling countless auditions. They made one trip, saw everyone under identical conditions, and left with exactly what they needed.

That’s the real value of a showcase.

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Why Agents and Managers Love Showcases

Showcases aren’t just organized by talent bookers.

Agents and managers often book showcase time at clubs like The Improv and fill the lineup with comedians from their own roster.

Then they invite casting directors, producers, network executives, talent buyers—and in the case of managers, talent agents they hope will represent their clients.

Yes, organizing these events takes work.

But it’s far more efficient than emailing promotional packages, making dozens of phone calls, and trying to schedule individual meetings.

Everyone who matters is in the same room at the same time.

A successful showcase becomes part audition, part networking event, and part business meeting.

What’s the Benefit for the Club?

Hosting industry showcases brings prestige – and business.

Imagine owning a comedy club that’s regularly visited by producers from major television shows, film studios, streaming platforms, and talent agencies.

Where do ambitious comedians want to perform?

That club.

And when the best comedians want your stage, audiences follow.

That’s why clubs compete just as hard to host industry showcases as comedians compete to perform in them.

Showcases Aren’t Just for Comedians

The same principle applies to humorous speakers.

When I worked as an agent booking college entertainment through the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), showcases were the primary way speakers and comedians landed college bookings.

At regional NACA conferences, colleges sent student activities representatives to watch live showcases over several days.

Comedians, motivational speakers, musicians, hypnotists, and other entertainers each performed approximately twenty-minute sets.

After seeing them live, the student delegates selected who they wanted to bring to their campuses during the upcoming school year.

If you wanted college bookings, you had to be seen.

The Bottom Line

Whether you’re pursuing comedy clubs, television, corporate events, or speaking engagements, showcases remain one of the most efficient ways for buyers to discover talent.

For talent bookers, it’s an organized way to evaluate performers.

For clubs, it’s an opportunity to build reputation and attract top acts.

And for comedians and speakers, it’s a chance to perform in front of the people who can actually hire you.

When you’re ready, there are few opportunities more valuable than getting on the right showcase stage.

Thanks for reading and as always – keep laughing!!

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