Post-pandemic, comedy shows and concerts have emerged as some of the hottest tickets in the live events business. From August 2023 through July 31, 2024, Pollstar reports that the combined gross from the top 25 comedians was $582.7 million — an 11% increase over the $525.8 million in comedy grosses from the same 12-month period a year prior. Meanwhile, the number of tickets sold during that 12-month span totaled 7,063,839 from 1,557 performances on record, another 11% year-over-year increase. Top touring acts ranged from Nate Bargatze to Dave Chappelle to Jerry Seinfeld.
Cate Foltin
What can we attribute this success to? Christina Pryor, Director of Entertainment Ticketing for Opry Entertainment Group, says, “I like to think of it as medicine. The effect of a smile, of a laugh is psychologically proven to have an effect on our brains and, in turn, our mental and physical health. Laughter alone doesn’t solve our problems, but it is one of the most accessible ways to provide psychological escape. Out of COVID, I can’t say that we needed anything more. If you look at history, even in our darkest times, the entertainment industry powers on. As people, sometimes we need a respite from reality and our industry provides it.”
Cate Foltin, Business Manager for the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Michigan, agrees. She says, “From a presenter perspective post-pandemic, people want lighter experiences — they just want to laugh and sing. I think that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Tracy Noll, Director of Business Services at the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State University, speaks from personal experience of the need to tune out the pressures of everyday life through live performances: “I know I personally choose to spend my discretionary dollars on attending concerts. For a couple of hours, I get to escape the craziness of my life and just get lost in the music. It’s funny how there is suddenly an appeal for throwback bands like 80’s rock bands. Do people want to remember a time when things were easier? I think comedy shows serve a similar purpose. They make us laugh and release all of those good endorphins.”
Matthew Zarracina
Matthew Zarracina, co-founder and CEO of True Tickets, adds, "Post-pandemic, it seems there’s a greater appreciation for live experiences, and comedy and concerts are included in that group. Streaming seems to also have expanded audiences, exposing more people to live events they might not have sought out before."
Lindsay Radic, Senior Director, Entertainment Ticketing for Caesars Entertainment, chimes in: “Even though we are in a post-pandemic age, I think the stress from that time never went away. If anything, our lives are harder and more stressful than ever. More than ever, the public is looking for outlets to escape, as well as a distraction from heavy news stories rampant on a global scale. A few hours at a comedy show is not only entertainment but also can be a benefit to their wellbeing!”
Of course, staging a live comedy concert comes with its own set of unique challenges. Foltin states, “While comedy shows may be less expensive to present, they have more risk. From a presenter perspective, you may have to be more attuned to your audience demographics. Not all comedy plays at the local level. What plays in Detroit, may not sell north of Detroit. Humor is more reliant on the spoken word, and what’s considered ‘humorous’ can be different depending on regional, cultural norms, language or social barriers.”
She continues, “Also, name recognition plays an important role. It’s harder to sell an unknown comic or an emerging comic. Knowing your audience is important — especially if you are trying to build new audiences [and] present fresh perspectives.”
David Damerell, Assistant Director of Ticket Services at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Virginia, agrees with Foltin in that one of the unique challenges is that comedy is “very subjective. What I find funny others do not see as funny. One of the common complaints we do get after comedy shows is ‘I didn’t find this funny. I found it to be crude or distasteful. I would like a refund.’”
Then again, a proverbial roll of the dice and going with an edgy, up-and-coming comic can pay big dividends. Pryor remarks, “With concerts, you want your fans to know your music and sing along. With comedy, the draw is in the surprise. Maintaining that surprise element is crucial to the success of the tour so that the jokes don’t fall flat if they’ve been heard previously.”
Protecting the integrity of the comedian’s material is often a priority. To this end, some venues make use of Yondr bags. These lockable/sealable bags are given out at live performances where the audience member gets to keep the phone, and if they hear or feel it ring, they can exit the performance space and have the bag unlocked by a venue staffer.
Pryor calls Yondr bags “a very useful tool when you need them. They assist in maintaining that surprise element that is paramount to the success of comedy.”
Radic says, “We utilize Yondr when requested by the tour. We certainly try to be understanding of the need for comedians to feel their content will not be immediately published on social media and to control exposure. It also allows more freedom for the artist to try new content. Over the years, we have been able to streamline the addition of the Yondr process as just another step on the guest’s journey. The largest impact on operations have been the loss of the seating location found on the guest’s digital ticket, which is why we have worked with Yondr to utilize KIS scanners that print a seat location on a paper receipt in which we hope to continue to scale up on all Yondr tours.”
The process can create some tensions, though. Zarracina comments, "They can definitely slow entry. To help alleviate that friction, we launched a 'chit printing' solution that prints a seat reminder when tickets are scanned before the phones are locked. It’s been effective in easing the process."
Tracy Noll
Some live event pros don’t even bother with the hassle. “We are already challenged to get everyone into our building before curtain,” says Noll. “Adding Yondr bags to this process makes it nearly impossible. I understand the reasoning behind collecting the phones, but it does make things challenging.”
But there is hope at other venues that the process can be smoothed out. Foltin recalls, “We did experiment with a clear bag policy for lawn concerts this past summer. It went surprisingly well. Our marketing team and box office did a good job communicating the policy to audiences pre-purchase and post-purchase. I think audiences are getting more used to the policy as time goes on.”
In the end, most of the INTIX professionals interviewed for this feature agreed that the pluses of putting on a live comedy concert outweigh any potential minuses. Some have even come away with fond and memorable stories of their own that they share here.
Pryor recalls, “In Nate Bargatze’s CBS Christmas taping at the Opry House, he recorded sketches with local talent and businesses that brought the house down. It was absolutely hilarious comedy coming from a local to a local audience.”
Radic adds, “We just celebrated 100 performances of Jerry Seinfeld at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace last year, making him the longest running headliner at the venue! We worked with his team to have his friend and fellow comedian, George Wallace, present him with a plaque onstage commemorating the event, and it was quite special for everyone in attendance. Every guest received a specially designed poker chip marking the occasion, as well.”
Brianna Pena, Director of Ticketing at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, says that one of their comedy show events involved a bit of extra toil on her part: “Managing last-minute changes is what keeps me on my toes. But it can also be one of the best parts of my job. We had comedian Adam Ray, who’s known for his Dr. Phil impersonation, come in to perform. It’s a really popular show ... uh, especially for his family! He was local at one point. So, he had 14 or 15 seats over the allotted amount he was given, and it was a sold-out show. So, I didn’t have many places to put his family. But we made it work. We placed some seats in some [non-handicapped accessible] aisles. If I had known about it a week or so earlier, I probably could have done something better. But we figured it out!”
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