{"id":8525,"date":"2026-09-20T13:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T17:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/?p=8525"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T17:21:54","slug":"opener-vs-feature-vs-headliner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/20\/opener-vs-feature-vs-headliner\/","title":{"rendered":"Opener vs. Feature vs. Headliner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey Dave \u2013 I was reading your newsletter today and I\u2019m wondering\u2026 What\u2019s the difference between a Headliner vs. a Feature Act? Thanks \u2013 DS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Only west of Manhattan!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Hey DS \u2013 Money. Next question?!<\/p>\n

Okay\u2026 okay\u2026 sorry for trying to be funny. That\u2019s actually a good question for comics starting out AND in certain areas of the comedy scene. And the above is only part of the answer. There\u2019s more to it, so let me explain with a true confession.<\/p>\n

When I worked in the comedy biz in NYC I didn\u2019t know the difference either. In fact, there was never a reason to bring up the term feature act<\/strong>. The comics worked their way through the open-mics and auditioned for the major clubs in the city. You can Google for a list \u2013 but off the top of my head from those days we\u2019re talking about The Original Improv, Comedy Cellar, Catch A Rising Star, The Comic Strip, Caroline\u2019s, Dangerfield\u2019s, The New York Comedy Club and Stand-Up NY.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry if I forgot anyone\u2026<\/p>\n

I was manager of The Improv, which in NYC (like the others) was a showcase club<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Yes, most of our audiences were made up of locals and tourists (like the others) but comics knew it was an important place to be seen<\/em><\/strong>. On any given night there could be industry people such as agents, managers, producers, and casting directors watching. We also scheduled showcases (auditions) for The Tonight Show, Late Night with Letterman<\/em>, HBO, MTV, The Today Show<\/em> \u2013 and plenty of others.<\/p>\n

As I said \u2013 it was a good place for comedians to be seen on stage.<\/p>\n

Non-industry nights were Fridays and Saturdays. This means the audiences (two shows Friday and three on Saturday) were pretty much local comedy fans and tourists (we\u2019ll call them out of town guests from now on). Instead of going to a movie, they could see a live show \u2013 without paying high prices for Broadway show tickets. So, the comics were booked in advance and mostly \u201cA-Acts.\u201d In other words, they were our headliners, some already famous from television and movies, and the industry people already knew who they were. These comedians already had agents, television credits and were not \u201cnew faces\u201d waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n

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Not a feature act<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Let\u2019s put it this way. You, me, and everyone on the planet knew who George Carlin<\/strong> was, so there was no reason for him to showcase for industry people. If you wanted to hire him, all you needed to do was call his agent and pitch the project you had in mind.<\/p>\n

Make sense? Okay\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays were the usual showcase nights. There would be several A-Acts doing 20 minute sets to guarantee good shows. But this is also when industry people and audiences would see the up-and-coming comics. They would be given anywhere from 5 to 10 minute sets and we could have as many as 10 to 15 comics go on stage in one night. Since we could stay open until 4 am the length of the show depended on how many people were still in the audience.<\/p>\n

So, what I\u2019m trying to say is in NYC (at that time anyway) we didn\u2019t deal with or use the term feature acts<\/em>. They were either A-Acts or newer comedians working their way toward becoming an A-Act.<\/p>\n

The difference in terms happened when comics worked on the road \u2013 clubs outside of New York and Los Angeles. And since that wasn\u2019t on my personal radar at the time, I never dealt with it.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I got to Los Angeles and started working for Budd Friedman that I learned about bookings in the other Improv comedy clubs. The venue on Melrose Avenue was a showcase club like New York, but the other Improv clubs across the country did shows with only three comedians.<\/p>\n

Only THREE comics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah \u2013 I was surprised too! My mindset was like the old New Yorker Magazine<\/em> <\/strong>cover from 1976 \u2013 that is still a popular poster around Manhattan decades later. Basically, Manhattan residents could look west from 9th Avenue (BTW \u2013 The Improv was located just east of 9th Ave) and not really acknowledge anything until the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

Stuck up? Well, when everything you need is on one island it just becomes a way of life. But I regress\u2026<\/p>\n

Outside of NYC and LA, the clubs in other cities scheduled three comics \u2013 an opener (MC or host), feature (middle) and headliner (closer).<\/strong><\/p>\n