​If you talk to any working comic in the 1980's and early 1990's they'll tell you about the comedy boom where openers were making a real living in comedy. For definition purposes, a feature was the main term used to describe an opener. Hosts and emcee's were usually local comics that supported the club's open mic nights or local DJ's that did 5-10 minutes up front and plugged the shows on the radio all week. But the 20-30 minute Feature could do 5-6 shows a week, make a $1,000 a week (or more) and then headline corporate shows or cruises on the weeks they weren't at the local Yuk Yuk in the Midwest. Today, comedy doesn't pay that rate anymore. Being a feature today means getting the opportunity to open for a headliner for little to no pay because comics today aren't grown adults as much as they are independent content creators. 

What is the Basic Pay For Opening?
If you work a weekend at a club, you can expect $25-$50 a show as the host if you are working for a reputable club. There are showcase towns that might only give you a free meal or drink, but on a road gig (basically outside LA and NYC) you should get some cash. It will also always be "industry rates," which is a way clubs can pay a very minimal amount, because they're all in on the same amount. 

As for Features, you can expect around $75-$150 a show depending on how many shows. The most I've heard is $550 on a scale deal. The Feature usually gets a free meal and place to stay on the road. Some weekends that have four shows will pay $75 a show but if only one show a night pay $150. So there's a glaring inconsistency in what the time and energy is worth. Because why wouldn't it be $150 a show if there were four shows? Because the economics don't play out that way. The booker is essentially looking at the books and saying "I can afford this much regardless of how many tickets or drinks I sell."

Headliner pay can go for $700-$1200 a weekend, but if the headliner is doing a door deal, that can hurt the feature pay. Because the more the headliner takes, the less there is for the undercard. So when a headliner brings their own opener and host, the club will usually take the pay out of his cut or let him pay the openers without making sure it's a fair wage. 

Why Don't Features Get Over $600? 
One factor to consider is that comedians are independent contractors, so if they make over $600 the venue or booking agency has to 1099 them during tax season. If they do two or three gigs for under $600, the IRS does not have to know about those independent contractors. But clubs have to pay headliners a certain amount, and they report that to the IRS, knowing that's the proof they are a comedy club. 

As for headliners who bring their own features and hosts, they might want to pay them limited cash because they'll pay the taxes on the revenue. Let's say a comic make $5,000 on a door deal. They'll pay at least $1,000 in taxes, if not more. So now they're down to $4,000. But they flew in, maybe even paying for the feature too. So that's $1,000 again, unless they're using credit card points, which means they're spending money through credit on the trips that need to be covered as well. So once they pay out $250-$500 to the feature, they might make $2,000 out of the $5k. Now, if they're working 50 weekends a year, that's $100,000 in profit out of $250,000 in revenue. Some weekends are less. Some are more. But the structure is based of constantly working. 

Now, if the headliner is a huge name and they're making hundreds of thousands a month and paying their openers the same at scale or less, I would say that's a great immoral act of greed. And I would also encourage you to rethink working with them. Because most likely they'll drop you once you start feeling free to book weekend gigs outside of them.

In the words of Higgins to Keeley from Ted Lasso, "A good mentor hopes you will move on. A great mentor knows you will." If they are expecting you to be happy with their scraps, then you have to go find different pastures. I've made more money doing "less visible" shows than performing for peanuts in bigger venues.

The Lie of Content Creation 
The other reason bookers don't pay, is they know you're all filming your sets and trying to go viral on TikTok. Because of this new development, comics will forfeit money for stage time. Everyone wants to be the next Matt Rife. And yes, some comics are making money in the algorithm. But most land on 500-1,000 views with little to no money.  

But it's in this content creation "opportunity" that comics throw money aside to try to hit the winning lotto ticket. It's not a bad idea, but just remember - every time you set up a camera to film without getting guaranteed pay, you're still getting paid as much as an open micer. 
You can do both. You can ask for money AND film your sets.    

Asking For Pay is Your Right but YOUR Responsibility
It doesn't matter if you're working a club or working with a headliner, at some point you have to ask for more money, as they won't usually volunteer it. If you've been going to a club and getting $25 a show, but it's no longer a value to you, then either ask for more money or quit. Here's the rub though - don't ask for more money until you're ready to walk. Because once you suggest it, either they'll say it's fair and pay up or you've made it weird. 

I've had to walk away from low paying showcase and opener gigs or just flat our reject bookers because the math didn't math. In the beginning you feel bad about it because you want to fill the calendar up. But these low paying gigs never become the way to financial stability in comedy. In fact, there is almost no financial stability in comedy. Most road comics freelance or contract jobs in various arenas of life. There was time last year I was doing road gigs, teaching online classes, writing for the VC Reporter, writing YouTube scripts, teaching 1:1 workshops, selling old toys on Facebook, helping emcee charity events, running JR's Comedy club, and doing freelance consulting for business development days. 

It takes twenty years to build a schedule that pays a living. Until then, you live a schedule to get paid. 

Final Thoughts
Don't be discouraged if you're not making a lot of money now as an opener. And don't be discouraged if you aren't getting much work outside of small gigs. But also don't settle and become frustrated with the process. You'll have to feel it out and see how long it takes others like you to move up or move out. 

Keep in mind, so many comics aren't honest with how they're able to make it. Mommy and daddy might be paying the bills. Their spouse or significant other could be financing everything. They might have loads of debt and loans they took out thinking they'll hit it big and pay it back. So they can do all these low paying gigs without feeling the strain that others feel. Until it all comes crashing down.
I know up and comers who have other people paying for their dreams, but I also know national touring headliners with spouses who pay for 80% of the bills on their salary while the comic jumps from ship to ship or club to club.

What you have to do is read the room, expect no one to reach out to help you, ask when you feel ready to move up in pay, and be ready to cut ties until you've found better gigs or realized this just might be a side hustle while you work a day job. 

​I've always said, the cruelest thing a teacher can tell students is to follow their dreams. The real statement should be "Follow your dreams until you realize it's a nightmare."    

I recently saw the new film "The Long Walk" and made a joke that it's a metaphor for the Uncle Clyde's Comedy Contest. For those unfamiliar with the film based on a Stephen King novella, the story is about 50 young men who are drafted into walking across New England, with the catch being if they stop walking they are shot dead on sight. The film then explores the horrors of the boys having to move on despite the way their friends were "eliminated." The joke I wrote wasn't really just about the long running Flapper's comedy contest, but really about the nature of comedy in general. Yet, while the joke is hyperbolic, there is truth to the way many comics view comedy - a sort of survival of the fittest - with a never stop griding mindset. While some romanticize the hustle, I would highly encourage you to rethink the idea we are competing against each other and refocus on the idiom high tides raise all ships. 

The Violent Metaphor Has Some Truth
While we can preach a hippy one love message, we all understand there are only so any spots and only so many comics who can take those spots. Many of us have felt the shafting from bookers only to see another comic with a similar look or style get the slots we seek. But while it's easy to get jealous, if you stick around long enough you'll see many "successful" comics don't stay on top long, forced to go back to the same rooms they started in. 

The thing about the Social Darwinistic approach to the arts is that no matter how much a comic positions themselves, the crowd, not the bookers, will determine the success of that comic. Regardless of what you think about the top comics, and trust me, I'm shocked sometimes who makes it to the top, people have decided they're the funniest ones (for now). Over the years everyone from Andrew "Dice" Clay to Tony Hinchcliffe to Gallagher have filled Madison Square Garden. While brilliant comics like John Pinette (RIP) and Eddie Pepitone wouldn't even try such a feat. Yet, Pinette and Pepitone are universally loved by their peers, with the others not so much.  

So yes, there is a truth in the violent metaphor, but that truth must always be looked at through the light of legacy as well. 

Comedy is A Long Walk
If there is something the film touches on really well is the way we have to keep moving while others leave us behind. Perhaps the hardest part of stand up comedy is that we start as a community but end up as an individual. The first few years are open mics and showcases with comics we grow to love or hate doing shows with. Some even become topic of conversation amongst comics for no other reason than their successes or failures. We develop a real village. Then someone meets a headliner or gets passed at a club and their comedy life changes, leaving the group for new pastures. 

Sometimes comics quit because they can't keep paying for open mic spots or paying for parking while not making any money for those shows. Some comics choose family over comedy community. Some comics decide the workforce is better for them. Some comics get writing gigs or acting jobs and move on and never look back. Some become wildly successful and are on the road or play rooms where you can't even get the booker to watch your tape. 

Ironically, the more successful you become, the more isolated your career will become. Whether you spend it on cruise ships, corporate gigs, or the road, you'll find yourself separating yourself from your original community and having to keep on truckin' as you find new rooms and venues and bookers and friends. The curse of walking longer than others is the loneliness that hovers over you, like a shadow.      

Maintain a Few Close Friends 
One thing I have picked up on after working with a lot of famous comics is they keep a few friends around regardless of their individual success. Like in the film The Long Walk, the characters Ray and Peter bond and keep themselves going as forces beyond them (military, rain, inclines, etc.) keep knocking them down. It is in this tight knit support group they keep themselves motivated to walk. 

This is important as you keep building your career. I've seen some huge headliners keep certain people as their close knit community and you can see it has kept them humble and focused. Someone has to be able to call you on your BS, and if you don't have that person in your life you will ruin the success you have because your gut and heart reactions will betray you.

One thing that does make a difference in maintaining these relationships is the pay discrepancy that can hurt a relationship. Some comics go out of their way to compensate their openers and entourage while others think a few hundred bucks is fine after the show makes $25k+ for them. While I can write a whole essay on properly paying openers and writers, if you find yourself underpaying a friend because the headliner you ran with before did that too, just know, it's not cool and it will strain the relationship. 

Scott Galloway talks about becoming wealthy to be good to your family and fly your friends around to experience things with you. Too often I hear about successful comics underpaying their buddies and then flying around with wealthier comics. I would say that's pretty awful, and it's accepted under the guise of "that's how you do it." 

I would argue if you are budgeting correctly, you can find a way to pay what is fair as opposed to paying what has been "the norm." 

Final Thoughts
While watching The Long Walk, I felt this is a generational film like Whiplash, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Shawshank Redemption. A film about the plight of man trapped in a system where only friendship can save them. It's that good. It's also violent and harrowing and left me shattered for days. It's that powerful. 

​But it's also a great reminder and warning of the way people live their life, whether they want to or not. And like most great parables dealing with the darkness of the human soul, it can remind us to find our better angels instead of pursuing the better deals.           

​
We live in a culture obsessed with winning and being ahead of the pack. Whether its the old expression "keeping up with the Joneses" or today being considered "high value," we all are trying to carve out our piece of the pie and make a name for ourselves. And while many of us intellectually understand this is an unhealthy way to evaluate ourselves and our comedy career, none of us can escape the burden of trying to prove our worth to bookers, other comics, and our family & friends.

This desire to be "the best, the best around" (Karate Kid, anyone?) bleeds into all areas of life. We want the best looking spouse or significant others. We want our kids to be the smartest in their class or the top athlete. We position ourselves at work to get promoted. We get an apartment and then want a condo and then want a house and then we want a rental property. It never ends. And yes, competitiveness drives us to be the best version of ourselves, but it also creates the worst version of ourselves.

We strive to reach the levels of fame others reach. That's normal. But when we hustle and toil away, if we don't reach the next level, depression and anxiety hit us like an Amazon truck and we find ourselves emotionally worse off in our moderate success than we did in our early bottom of the pack status.    

That's why I want to tell you, it's okay to be a middle of the pack comic, actor, musician, performer. In fact, if you reach the middle, you've reached a part of the mountain 90% only dream of reaching - and that contentment can be more freeing than all the economic success in the world.           

What is the Middle of the Pack?
If you break down the comedy world there are essentially five levels of comedy. 

Level 1 Open Micer
We all start here, doing open mics at various clubs and alt venues. Even the greats started at open mics in small towns or big cities, but you have to start here if you have no inherit fame. You practice jokes and make comedy connections at this stage.

Level 2 Showcaser
At this level comics get booked for unpaid gigs at clubs, bars, and various venues. There might be some gas money or free food involved with performing, but these 5-10 minute sets are usually in front of crowds that either didn't know it was comedy night or these are hard/soft bringer shows where the comics need to do the marketing to promote the show.  

Level 3 Paid Host/Opener/Feature
Now we're cooking with gas. At this level there is a spectrum of success. You are getting paid booked work on a regular basis. You can email clubs and venues for spots. You work with established talent in the industry. This is the middle of the pack in its purist definition. 

Level 4 National Touring Headliner/Feature  
If you are traveling around the country/world doing comedy AND making money doing it, then you are in the upper middle of the pack. These are comics headlining B & C rooms, brewery shows, cruises, corporate gigs, churches, etc. They don't have a following as much as they have a great reputation with bookers.

Level 5 National Headliner w/ Fanbase 
This is a pretty big spectrum of talent. Your biggest names in comedy that everyone knows about goes here. From your Mark Normand's to your Jerry Seinfeld's. Some have big fan bases but aren't known by every age group and others have TV and movie careers where they carry the project. These are the millionaires and award winners. 

While there are degrees to these levels - like where do you put an unused SNL cast member or TV writer, but generally these five categories are where all comics can place themselves. And like an iceberg, 90% of comics make up the below the water base. 

Being in the Two Middle Levels is Really the Goal
I know we all want the Netflix package. We want the YouTube money and TikTok viral experience. But it just isn't happening for everyone. Sorry, but most likely you won't be so famous they name a burger after you at a chain restaurant or ask you to be the spokesperson for a well known product. You might never get to host the Oscars either.

Instead of winning AGT, maybe you can make the B roll and get a clip posted on IG. Maybe you get a few small parts in commercials or independent films. Maybe you can open for a famous comic and get paid a couple hundred to perform at huge theaters. Maybe Dry Bar or Comedy Dynamics puts a little money into you and you get a special.  

So many comics get to Level 3 and feel like a failure. Level 3 is like being the 12th player on an NBA roster. Yeah, you aren't starting or getting Nike deals, but you're in the NBA!     

At Some Point You Might Be a Jobber  - Which is Amazing!
Back in the 1970's-1990's professional wrestling there's a term called a "jobber." This was a local wrestler who would wrestle main event wrestlers to make them look good. These jobbers would play Madison Square Garden, be on TV, and do the local house shows. They'd get paid to wrestle under the WWF banner and get beat up by Macho Man Randy Savage and Ric Flair when they weren't in a Main Event match. Jobbers would get paid and eventually become known for their ability to help a wrestler look more ferocious or noble. 

Today, I would consider myself a "jobber" when I go from town to town hosting, featuring or headlining in various cities. Whether it's featuring in Tucson, AZ or headlining throughout Oregon, I'm paid to do a job, not sell tickets. When I walk into Chadwicks or Pechenga Casino, the venue and booker did the marketing and I'm the guy hired to make them look good. Being a jobber might not sound glamorous, but to the crowd, I'm the celebrity who stopped by to entertain the locals. 

Jobbers in pro wrestling might have never made it on a Wrestlemania, but they did get to play the big venues and work with the big name superstars. They started wrestling schools and ended up getting jobs at WWE and other territories. Sure, it wasn't the endgame, but they got to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and if you see yourself as one of the lucky ones collecting regular checks, even as a host, you can say you're ahead of the pack, even if it is the middle. 

Final Thoughts 
Don't let the success of others deflate the accomplishments you do have. Your comedy career cannot be defined in financial gain or status, but must be defined by personal growth and the enjoyment it brings to yourself and others who get to see your act. There are a million factors to what allows a comic high levels of success, and being funny is at the bottom. 

Networking, comedy styles, geographical location, independent wealth, age, etc. You are more than the sum of your jokes. Sometimes a weird encounter can build a relationship that creates opportunities others never get. 

Also, stand up comedy is still a young art form. Most comics who started in the 1980's are still alive. Unlike pro sports, there's no retirement to allow younger players spots. Some people got in at the top early, and your only fault is not being born in the 1960's or starting when you were 18 years old.

If reaching Level 5 was really the end all, then why do so many top talents struggle with drugs, alcohol, relationships, and other social issues? Even the money can be a curse, with leaches and lurkers trying to suck you dry, and when you set boundaries, people yelling at you.   

Patton Oswalt once said he was happy enough with his fame stating, "I can get into any restaurant I want without anyone knowing why."  

​So if you can make it to the middle of the pack, you can breath a deep sigh of relief knowing you "made it." It may not be the "it" you wanted "it" to be, but a life in comedy in the middle is still miles ahead of the rest.