Taking One Thing Off Your Plate

Okay, we're going to take a slight detour before we wrap up Spring Cleaning. But it's really more of a tangent, it's related!

I want to give you permission to stop worrying about getting in at clubs!

It's not you, it's them. I don't want to badmouth anybody (or everybody in this case) but if you objectively take stock of the clubs in NYC right now, it's not what it used to be… and it ain’t pretty.

Many comedians make getting in at certain clubs (or all the clubs!) a major milestone goal. And for understandable reasons.

In theory, when you're on the roster of a club, you have steady work and steady-ish pay. The club takes responsibility for the marketing so you can put some of the hustle down, just show up and do comedy! The dream!

There's also the element of validation - both internal/psychological and the external validation of using it as a credit or a foot in the door on the road or with industry.

So let’s break it down and take a look at each of these… and where you should put your effort instead!

Spots & Pay

If you take objective stock of the scene as it's settled in post- pandemic, it’s a different world from 2019.

I'll only speak about NYC in depth, since I know it the best, but I know LA is still struggling with audiences coming back in full force as well.

When the audiences aren't coming like they used to, there are some standard business strategies that every club is using to a greater or lesser extent. Rely on produced shows, lean more on draw than talent alone, lower comic pay, or just limp along canceling lots of shows.

This really lessens all those objective benefits of being passed somewhere - fewer spots available if you aren't a producer, bringer or draw, potentially lower pay per spot, and lower pay overall thanks to fewer spots.

Validation

There are soooo many disparate ways to get validation, but many seem maddening and arbitrary (helloooooo Algorithm). So having a solid anchor of “reality” like getting passed at a club can feel especially comforting right now.

But, given everything we’ve already talked about, that is also shifting sands. I don’t think that completely (or even mostly) eliminates this point. We’ve all got pretty entrenched beliefs about what working at certain clubs signify that don’t change that rapidly, including industry gatekeepers.

Because it can be as arbitrary and capricious a marker or your progress as how well your last TikTok performed, you can go ahead and divorce your self worth from it in the same way I hope you have with going viral. And understand that, even more than ever, your success in this goal will not be directly tied to the amount of effort you put into it. At some point, you may be just throwing good money after bad so you can take some of that time and effort to focus on other things.

Ummm, okay, so what DO I do then?

There’s actually a wealth of quality stage time available outside the traditional big clubs. There are lots of incredible independent shows and startup or BYOB venues happening already and more will grow to fill this need.

I’m also optimistically assuming some really big tentpole/prestige shows will emerge to fill the space that used to be held by places like the Knit or Kabin or Matchless (RIP - oh my god, I’m “In my day..” years old now). Don’t Tell and CYSK are already the kind of “brand names” that mean something to a lot of Gatekeepers.

And I don’t generally advise producing a show as a foot in the door at clubs or anything, but creating your own space* to do the art you want to do is something to consider (if you have the right resources). Heck, that’s exactly how the original alt comedy boom started.

*I don’t literally mean creating a space space like Sesh or 7th Street, but the creative space of a weekly or monthly show.. that said if you have a pile of money sitting around and want to fund my dream venue, HMU 😉

So, really this is just something to think about as you continue to re-prioritize your time and efforts. It’s different for everyone, some folks are inches away or have a skill or facet that will give them a leg up in this landscape. For others, it’s better to focus now on becoming undeniable or growing your audience/draw.

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