14 thoughts on “The Most Annoying Thing Comics Do And More Stuff I’m Thinking About This Week

  1. Jason says:

    Hey Josh,

    I’ve been following this blog since the beginning, and thanks for all the content you put out.

    One thing I’d love to see more of is success stories. Examples of people who have used your advice and made it work. Big or small, I think it would help inspire others.

    Cheers,
    Jas

  2. Josh Spector says:

    Thx Jason, great suggestion. I’ll definitely try to do some more of those – here’s one I did a while ago that’s along those lines:

    https://connectedcomedy.com/connected-comedy-success-stories-marty-simpson-and-ward-anderson/

  3. Keith Ross Nelson says:

    Jsh, Very good imfo as usual Josh!

  4. Wardrick says:

    A) Did you actually just recommend that people be allowed to tweet from their seats? Do you have any idea how annoying it is to stand onstage and see people texting/tweeting during the show? Now we’re going to encourage it because it might lead to money?

    B) Did you also say that we could let the AUDIENCE decide who gets paid more? Oh, that’ll be great when I’ve driven 8 hours to the gig, only to have the local feature act with the mostly-stolen act onstage and the friends in the audience swaying the verdict.

    Mob mentality isn’t the way to decide pay.

    And sometimes the “Good Comics” have bad sets. Should the be docked for them? What if that bad set is due to the audience.

    Bad idea.

  5. Wardrick says:

    But, most of the other stuff in the article I find interesting and pretty much agree with. Well done.

  6. Josh Spector says:

    Hey Ward,

    A) Not necessarily recommending it but suggesting it could be interesting. And wouldn’t have to be done during people’s act, but could be done while MC is on stage between acts and/or at the end of the show.

    B) I’m surprised that you think there’s a problem with the audience having input in who gets paid what. Isn’t the whole purpose of a show to entertain them?

  7. Shaun Eli says:

    Sure, while we’re at it why not let the diners in a restaurant decide how much goes to the chef, the guy who mops the floors and the farmer?

    The club owner is paying the comics; if you let the audience decide then you’re changing how a comedy show is run.

    It’s bad enough when I try to book a private show and they watch videos and I hear something like “I don’t like that comic, he made a joke about his mother.” Notwithstanding how funny ALL of his video was…

    I appreciate your trying to come up with something different but this isn’t American Idol, the audience votes with their applause, not with their (I’m sorry, OUR) dollars.

  8. Shaun, I love your analogy of why letting the diners in a restaurant decide how much goes to the chef, the guy who mops the floors and the farmer?

    Don’t forget the farmer’s children!

    Yes, my dad is a farmer.

    As a stand up comedian I agree encouraging cell phone use during a show at anytime during a professional comedy show is not a desirable behavior!

  9. Josh Spector says:

    There’s actually two different things here – the first is the potential problem of people using phones during a show which I agree is potentially problematic (though also potentially an opportunity if done right).

    The second is the idea of the audience influencing the payment structure of a show which I have to admit I’m a little surprise how negative the reaction is to that and it kind of shows a real disdain for the audience in some ways.

    For what it’s worth, the audience ultimately always decides who’s worth money and who isn’t because at some point in your career people are going to have to think it’s worth money to come see you – otherwise you’ll never be able to sell tickets and therefore your value to a venue or promoter will always be minimal.

  10. I appreciate the idea, Josh.

    But I don’t trust the business side of comedy to figure this out. Audiences deciding pay, for instance.

    How about we let the audience decide whether or not the manager gets paid?

    I bet the clubs wouldn’t go for that, huh?

  11. Phil Johnson says:

    I knew that Chirpify thing would hit a nerve. 🙂 I looked at it when it first came out, but haven’t really decided on a cool way to use it yet.

    There are a lot of new services gear toward music gigs that involve the audience using their phones during the show. And for music it can work. But i think even if you let them drag the phone out during and MC bit to do a thing, it’s hard to get them to put it away again.

    And I know you’re just kind of brainstorming here Josh, so that’s cool. As a hook for a show, it could be an interesting experiment. But I wouldn’t foresee good results. 🙂

    Somewhere out there, there is a cool way to use smartphones during a comedy show without destroying the show. But I haven’t figured out what it is yet.

    The birthday graphic is a cool idea, but yeah, kinda commercial. If it were say, funny, it might come off a little better. Off to the brainstorming bin for me…

  12. Josh Spector says:

    Yeah, the thing with Chirpify or any app that’s designed to make things easier for people is that it only becomes easier once people sign up to use the service. So until that happens…it’s tough to think it will be very effective.

  13. Mike says:

    Hey Josh,

    I tried to watch that 60 mins with Dorsey. It doesnt work. 🙁

    -Mike

  14. Josh Spector says:

    I just added the embedded YouTube version to the post – that should work (hopefully).

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