We didn’t publicize lineups or special appearances. We had a weekly show and we wanted to sell out every week. We succeeded.
Brand
The main reason to not promote the lineups was for building a brand. We wanted a show that people trusted. The message was, “No matter what week you come, you’ll get a great show!”
I had seen many comedy clubs fall into the trap of needing ticket-selling headliners to sell tickets. The trap is that you imagine you’re going to have Dave Chapelle perform and everyone will come, but usually you can’t afford Dave Chapelle and you need someone every week… so…
- Spend all the money we have. Book a well-known comedian.
- Good show, fun.
- Book a TV show star who will sell tickets, isn’t super expensive, and will do “stand up comedy.”
- They perform poorly. The audience doesn’t have a great time and is not interested in going to a comedy show again
- Book a local radio DJ who has a following to do her “stand up comedy.”
- Not good. Audience burned again.
- Repeat this process because we can’t sell tickets to past audiences and we need to grab new ticket sales
Flexibility
One of the things we offered to our entertainers was cancelation. They could cancel any time from the show with no strings attached and no questions asked. This was a little stressful occasionally for me resolving last-minute voids, but it was a nice service to the entertainers.
If someone canceled, I didn’t have to explain to audiences why the lineup changed.
Celebs
We’d have celebrities and badasses drop in and do the show. I thought it was way more fun to surprise the audience with a celebrity drop in than to have the celebrity feel I was using them for their name. I was not using them for their name I was using them for their ability to entertain. I didn’t want people who were just randomly famous in the show. I wanted killers.
Rules
There was no rule that performers couldn’t share the lineup. They all had access in advance. I just didn’t want to do it, even when a potential ticket buyer asked me directly. I didn’t feel that it helped anyone.
This is not my rule for all shows, either. Go for it if you want to promote your lineups. I had several people tell me to promote the lineups and I didn’t hear anyone telling me the opposite, so I wanted to put that counterpoint here in this blog.
