Clubs are designated comedy venues that book on a weekly basis. Depending on the club, your work week may cover three, four or five consecutive nights. Some of the bigger comedy club chains include Yuk-Yuks, Catch a Rising Star, The Improv and the Funnybone.
Any comic of any worth prefers clubs over one-nighters. The venue is perfectly designed for comedy, with state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and an elevated stage with unobstructed sight lines.
The crowds are there for one reason - comedy. They pay good money to attend, making them attentive and, usually, receptive. And because most club's hire door staff, hecklers are quieted immediately. The overall setting makes these venues conducive for clever, well-written material.
Clubs are a great networking source for new acts. If the headliner or feature likes your work, he or she may recommend you to other club owners or bookers. Or maybe even invite you to open for them at other venues. Many big-name acts, like Brian Regan, George Lopez and Robert Schimmel use comics they worked with at a club to now travel and open for them across the country.
If it's an A-Club (as compared to a B-Club) you have the chance to work with a major act. They often attract big crowds and media. And sometimes they're accompanied by their agents and producers. It's a great way for generating possible recognition for yourself and getting your name on the comedy radar.
One-Nighters
One-nighters, also referred to as hell gigs, take place in bars, restaurants, hotel banquet rooms, bowling alleys and any other public place licensed to serve alcohol. Sometimes bookers will string four or five one-nighters together on consecutive nights in different towns, allowing you to make it monetarily worth your while. They try to geographically bunch these gigs together, but out west it's not uncommon to drive five or six hours in between shows.
Conditions are often less than ideal for performing comedy. Lighting can be non-existent. Sound systems shoddy. And stairs can serve as stages.
Crowds are less attentive. Often some people are only there by default, holdovers from a happy hour that ended three hours earlier. Consequently, you're dealing with loud drunks stepping over your lines, trying to challenge your claim as the funniest person in the room. This doesn't happen all of the time, but it's common.
Some one-nighters are precursors to dance nights. So while you're on stage the bar fills with disinterested, chatty people anxiously waiting for you to shut-up so they can dance.
And many one-nighter crowds base a successful show not on a comic's talent, but in their ability to send shots up on stage and get the comic drunk.
Despite the dire description, one-nighters serve a purpose for new acts. They're good venues for getting stage time and sharpening your teeth, learning how to deal with hecklers, learning how to keep your emotions - anger and fear - in check, learning how to cope with bombing, and learning how to work a room.
Just make sure you don't get labeled as a one-night comic. You can identify one-night acts a mile away. They're good at pimping crowds for shots or access to weed. Instead of entertaining they're more focused on using the stage as a vehicle for getting laid. And their entire acts rely on base, lowbrow material. Don't get caught in this trap. It's an act that will prevent you from working clubs and condemn you to comedy hell.
Any comic of any worth prefers clubs over one-nighters. The venue is perfectly designed for comedy, with state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and an elevated stage with unobstructed sight lines.
The crowds are there for one reason - comedy. They pay good money to attend, making them attentive and, usually, receptive. And because most club's hire door staff, hecklers are quieted immediately. The overall setting makes these venues conducive for clever, well-written material.
Clubs are a great networking source for new acts. If the headliner or feature likes your work, he or she may recommend you to other club owners or bookers. Or maybe even invite you to open for them at other venues. Many big-name acts, like Brian Regan, George Lopez and Robert Schimmel use comics they worked with at a club to now travel and open for them across the country.
If it's an A-Club (as compared to a B-Club) you have the chance to work with a major act. They often attract big crowds and media. And sometimes they're accompanied by their agents and producers. It's a great way for generating possible recognition for yourself and getting your name on the comedy radar.
One-Nighters
One-nighters, also referred to as hell gigs, take place in bars, restaurants, hotel banquet rooms, bowling alleys and any other public place licensed to serve alcohol. Sometimes bookers will string four or five one-nighters together on consecutive nights in different towns, allowing you to make it monetarily worth your while. They try to geographically bunch these gigs together, but out west it's not uncommon to drive five or six hours in between shows.
Conditions are often less than ideal for performing comedy. Lighting can be non-existent. Sound systems shoddy. And stairs can serve as stages.
Crowds are less attentive. Often some people are only there by default, holdovers from a happy hour that ended three hours earlier. Consequently, you're dealing with loud drunks stepping over your lines, trying to challenge your claim as the funniest person in the room. This doesn't happen all of the time, but it's common.
Some one-nighters are precursors to dance nights. So while you're on stage the bar fills with disinterested, chatty people anxiously waiting for you to shut-up so they can dance.
And many one-nighter crowds base a successful show not on a comic's talent, but in their ability to send shots up on stage and get the comic drunk.
Despite the dire description, one-nighters serve a purpose for new acts. They're good venues for getting stage time and sharpening your teeth, learning how to deal with hecklers, learning how to keep your emotions - anger and fear - in check, learning how to cope with bombing, and learning how to work a room.
Just make sure you don't get labeled as a one-night comic. You can identify one-night acts a mile away. They're good at pimping crowds for shots or access to weed. Instead of entertaining they're more focused on using the stage as a vehicle for getting laid. And their entire acts rely on base, lowbrow material. Don't get caught in this trap. It's an act that will prevent you from working clubs and condemn you to comedy hell.
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