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The Pay Rate at Comedy Clubs Has Barely Changed In Decades
If you think inflation is hitting you hard these days, just be thankful you don’t work as a stand-up comedian. Because a lot of comedy clubs are still paying their comics the same rate they were back in the 1980s, and it’s only really stayed this way because no one has come up with a better system.
How much money are we talking about? Well, first we’re gonna have to take the in-demand, celebrity headliners out of the equation. They’re in a much better position to name their price. But for comics below that level (standard headliners, feature acts, openers and emcees) at a typical comedy club in the U.S., it can break down to anywhere from $1.50 per minute on the low end to $3.00 per minute on the high end. Some clubs pay more, some pay a lot less.
And sure, it sounds so much better when you math it out to say we technically can make $100-200 an hour. But when you're only really on the clock for anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes per show, one or two shows each night, and maybe only two to four nights that week, it usually doesn’t add up to a whole helluva lot. And between the round trip travel costs of making it to and from the gig, possibly having to spring for your own hotel, and the human body’s pesky need for food in order to function properly, some comics are lucky if they come close to breaking even on an out-of-town club gig.
A lot of clubs do offer amenities that help cushion the blow a little bit. They give their comics a food and bar tab, put them up in a hotel, or have a condo they could stay in. And don’t get me wrong, those little things help out a lot. And part of being a traveling comic is being able to find every way possible to lighten or offset every expense. We pinch every penny, sell merch after shows (when it’s allowed), couch surf or sleep in our cars if we have to, take on side hustles, have day jobs, or if all else fails - we use credit cards. We’re kinda conditioned to believe these things are all part of “paying our dues” in the industry.
And comedy clubs are not the be-all-end-all of every comic’s career. There are many different types of gigs we work at: Bar gigs, one-nighters, corporate events, casinos, cruise ships, colleges, comedy contests, etc., and many of them pay very well. Some of them pay ridiculously well. But in order to land those higher paying gigs, the thing those bookers like to see on our resumes most of all… is club experience.
Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m condemning all comedy clubs for this problem. I’m not, especially not the clubs I regularly work with (we still cool, right?). Because I don’t necessarily blame the clubs for this problem. One of the main reasons most clubs haven’t adjusted their pay rates in nearly four decades is because there’s never been a shortage of comics willing to accept a low-ball offer just to get the stage time. That kinda kills our collective bargaining position to push for better pay across the board when we know the booker is one phone call away from finding someone who will take our spot for way less than what we just scoffed at.
Not that unionizing hasn’t been successful before. For years, The Comedy Store in Hollywood didn’t pay their comedians anything until comics went on strike in 1979. The strike worked, and the comics started getting paid $25 for a fifteen minute spot in the club’s smaller Original Room, while those performing in the Main Room would split 50% of the door. That pay remains the same… 43 years later.