​10 Comics You Should Be Looking Out For (Booking and/or Watching) PART 1
Every year hipster magazines get a list of clients signed to major agencies and make a list of Comics to Watch For Next Year. These comics are usually trust fund babies and pretty faced social media stars that have about 5 minutes of usable material and flame out once given a real platform because they weren't ready for primetime. The comics that I worked with ten years ago who are doing great things weren't on those lists. They just hustled and made it. Michael Longfellow is on SNL. JC Currais was in Babylon. Trevor Wallace become a social media king. They are all amazing comics too. So I want to make a list of 10 comics I worked with over the past two years that you should seek out and book ASAP if you have a show. And pay them if you can. PART 2 Comes out Tuesday! So here we go: 

Kacey Spivey @hahaKacey
Whether Kacey is performing in Los Angeles, at NACA events, or teaching comedy classes, she is a beacon of positivity in a dark LA underbelly of comedy. Her mixture of pure stand up with musical parody songs is a refreshing break from the average young comic's hot takes on Tinder. I've known her since 2020 and have asked her to be my opener on a few road gigs. A full out professional through and through. 

Aaron Branch @aaronbranchworld
I met Aaron a couple years ago when I was co-running the Flappers auditions, and I knew immediately he was going to break through. He currently is a regular performer at the Laugh Factory and just showcased at The Comedy Store. His Netflix series Unstable with Rob Lowe was a huge hit for the streamer, and you can find him on numerous YouTube podcasts and web series. I've had Aaron close out big corporate shows, like the Budweiser Brewery show I book, and crowds love him. His style is edgy without being profane, and if you run a show, headline him now before he gets too busy!   

Maxi Witrak @maddmaxi
Maxi is a regular at The Improv on Melrose, hosting and bringing up the biggest names in comedy. The amount of trust the top club in the world has in her proves not only her comedic ability is top notch but also her professionalism is evident. In an industry where comics leave you on read, booking Maxi is a pleasure as she's never late, never complains, and delivers every time. You can find her posting on IG regularly, seeing the evolution of bits as they're going through the process. If you're a young comic, this would be a great person to model after,  

David Rosenberg @rosiepigs
If you add David "Rosie" Rosenberg on Facebook you'll find his posts to be silly one day (involving house pets, cheese, and butts) and insightful the next (his advice to younger comics rants are great). He's performed on every show and stage in Los Angeles, and he is known for his playful crowd work. It's a new show every time. He'll hate that he's on this list because he hates self-promotion, which is why it's great to book him, because he leaves his ego at home with his family that he clearly loves. If you want a great closer to your show, Rosie is the man! 

Alexis Prigo @alexisprigo 
I first worked with Alexis at a garage show in Santa Clarita in 2016, and I've found myself booking her on numerous shows ever since. She's just as comfortable at a rowdy bar theater show in Palmdale as she is on the main stage of The Laugh Factory. Her laid back, relatable material ranging from dating to having hot girl diseases plays well in any environment. She also had a big break being on The Adam Corolla Podcast earlier this year. Plus, on top of all this her terrier Stella is the coolest dog on the block. 

Andrew Searles @andrew_searles
Andrew is a Canadian born comic with a high energy act filled with style and substance. Whether he's doing amazing act outs or breaking down problems with the healthcare system, his comedy goes beyond typical d**k jokes. I've been working with Andrew for almost a decade now. We've performed in showcase clubs, BBQ restaurants, and on my co-produced JR's Comedy Club shows. He travels internationally, so if you're looking for someone to bring a different sensibility or looking for a comic with different approaches to typical topics, he's your guy to look out for!   

Steph Clark @stephclarky 
Getting booked in LA can be ridiculously hard. Steph figured out a business model that produces both great shows and opportunities for herself and comics with pop up shows in Northern LA County and Ventura County. Her Funny Girl Events is a staple within the Ventura County/Northern LA area comedy scene. She has shows in Oxnard, Agoura, and up and down the coast for you to see, and her company can produce shows for your bar or corporate events. If you want a funny, likable, professional comic, look no further. And sometimes you luck out and meet her rescue dog Ruby in a stroller.   

Thash Mose @thashmose
The second international comic on my list, Thash, a Danish model turned comedian, is a regular staple from coast to coast. She performs regularly on the Models of Comedy shows in LA and New York, as well as down south at The Comedy Store La Jolla. The past few years she was accepted into The Boston Comedy Festival, The Ladies Room Comedy Festival, and The HCA Comedy Festival in Denmark. She just headlined and sold out the YooHoo Room and opened for Jay Leno, proving she can handle any type of room. She travels a lot for her various gigs, so follow her on IG to see if she's in a town near you.     

Chad Opitz @chadopitz
Chad and I have known each other for years, crossing paths at various festivals and showcases. These past few months we've gotten to know each other much better. Like a time traveler from the 1990's alt scene, he's Andy Kaufman one minute and Patton Oswald the next. His act is a mixture of whacky songs and movie references. A finalist in the San Francisco Comedy Contest, he's a passed comic at Hermosa Beach's legendary Comedy & Magic Comedy Club. So you know he can make the cool kids and beach life seniors both laugh. He also accidently misplaced his car and reported it stolen, proving he's a true slacker comic destine to tell that story to Jimmy Fallon one day.    

Samantha Hale @thesamanthahale
Founder of Horror Nerd Night, a monthly show at The Improv, Samantha is a well known entity in the Southern California comedy scene. She can be found at The Comedy Store La Jolla, the various Improvs, and teaching comedy classes in Burbank. One of the top producers in the LA area, her Horror Nerd Show has expanded across the Southern California landscape; plus she produces drag queen comedy shows and recently completed a long running show at Hamburger Mary's. Her mixture of pop culture references and relatable dating material will leave everyone in stitches. I've been working with Samantha for a decade now. You don't want to miss her!      

Well, the multiple studios have released all the major films of 2024. This year had a lot of solid films, but maybe only a few "classics" we as a society will go back to. While Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine topped the box office, you won't find them on my top ten films list. Both were excellent entertainments, but for a film to make my end year list, it has to really stick with me. Last year's #1 Dream Scenario was such a film and this year the top ten all stayed in my head rent free this year. Whether they were epic dramas (The Brutalist, Conclave), horror films (The Substance, In a Violent Nature), or just beautiful animation (Memoir of a Snail), this year saw genre pics glow. At the bottom of the list you'll find honorable mentions to check out as well. So enjoy!      

The Substance is a masterpiece. Here director Coralie Fargeat's original vision transcends typical cinema. A science fiction fable starring Demi Moore as an ageing star and the lengths she'll go to capture her youth is both a horror genre classic and a great satire. Instead of providing speeches, it asks questions. Is this self mutilation the price of fame? Is the way women feel the need to maintain youth while men grow pot bellies and grey hair a blatant double standard? Is age just nature taking its cruel evolutionary course? By the end we've gone on a full rollercoaster ride of pleasure and pain.
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T​he mystery of life. The poetry of life. That’s where animation can go to many live action films cannot, and Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail is that shiny light of a film. A stop motion claymation three hankie weeper about a sad little girl Grace and how she chooses to connect to a world that has been nothing but cruel to her and her twin brother Gilbert. Rated R for violence and sex, it's a full plate of story and beauty from the opening frame to the closing shot. 
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Most horror films are clunky, rushed, and feel like a music video drenched in blood and gore, which is why I truly responded to the quiet, somber opening of In a Violent Nature, as we slowly follow this man-creature through the woods searching for the locket his father gave him to protect. The mixture of fantasy and hyper realism is a nice touch, reminding us of Halloween and how sometimes the scariest thing is the killer staring blankly, methodically, and then attacking with sheer brutality. And boy does In a Violent Nature live up to that title. This film haunted me in ways no film did in 2024.

It’s wonderfully refreshing to watch a film of this much talent and skill. Director Edward Berger directed All Quiet on the Western Front a few years ago and showed he’s very capable of making everything feel epic yet intimate. If the film suffers at all it’s in the ending. While the story unravels nicely, after all the plot lines tie together, it seems a bit lost on how to wrap up Thomas’s journey. But like Ralph Feinness doubting Thomas, it's the journey that sustains us more than the final conclusions. 
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Written and directed by Marielle Heller, Nightbitch isn’t afraid to say out loud the dark internal thoughts all mothers must have about their children, and yet the film isn’t anti-mother, anti-husband, or anti-family. If anything, the film is strongly pro-family. An often funny and poignant deep dive into the mind of the modern wife turned mother questioning her decisions and identity. Oh, and Amy Adams becomes a dog at night, hunting rodents. It's wildly entertaining. 
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This is a true science fiction action spectacle. A film that creates a world and with methodical precision blows it up beautifully. George Miller (at 79!) takes his Mad Max saga back to the Immortal Joe era and refills the desert landscape with one exciting stunt set piece after another. This is what I wanted the Dune films to create. Pure bliss. There’s very little to not love. At 2 1/2 hours, it might have benefited from a few cuts, but when something is this good, a little overindulgence is worth it on a road trip this much fun.
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Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl builds empathy in characters society and our families have taught us to ignore. It's a poignant and profound work. Pamela Anderson stars as Shelly, a 30 year dancer on the Las Vegas strip for a show called Le Razzle Dazzle, the last show of its kind being shut down in a few weeks. Representing both a dancer and a lost era, Anderson showcases raw vulnerability as a woman who was able to build a life for herself but at the cost of having an estranged daughter and no future outside of working in a shady shadow of a once glamorous Vegas. Jamie Lee Curtis almost steals the show as her best friend. A tragedy wrapped in Vegas glitz. 
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Kinds of Kindness is three short films connected together by the theme of loss and love, desperation and despair, and the pain we feel trying to make others love us. While all three shorts are entertaining, and the 2 hour 45 minute run time flies by. This is a brave, bold, ambitious project, and if there’s anything we can all get from Kinds of Kindness, it’s an artistic and expressive jolt of a true cinematic experience. Yorgos Lanthimos is slowly becoming the X rated version of the Coen Brothers.
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2024 had many other noble efforts and entertaining films. The above films will probably go up and down lists I make in the future, as well as become less or more entertaining on future screenings. If there were an 11, 12, and 13, Pharrell's Piece by Piece was the documentary of the year for me, and June Squibb stole the show in Thelma, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was the best political allegory of the year.  

If you want to watch a masterclass in ensemble acting, A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan and August Wilson's play adaptation The Piano Lesson deserve all the admiration possible.  

Then there are the highly enjoyable entertainments that I know will be watched again on streaming over the years, as they're sharply written and have some of the best memories I had in a theater this year. Keiran Culkin's face in A Real Pain is a reminder that suffering comes in many shapes. Anora was Sean Baker's most commercial film, about a group of mobsters trying to track down a spoiled brat with the help of his stripper wife. We all felt like we could fly after watching Wicked. Richard Linkletter and Glen Powell wrote the sexy comedy caper Hitman with some big laughs attached. Jason Reitman's Saturday Night retold the story of SNL's first show to great effect, and Challengers was the love triangle of the year. Plus late addition Nosferatu gave us a Christmas day gift that was both a delight and horrifying.   

I saw over 200 movies this year. Not all got reviewed, but if you want read all my hot takes on the films of 2024, click here to go to my Letterbox page. And like Siskel & Ebert used to say, "the balcony is closed" on 2024. 

Getting to work with so many comics in their beginning stages has a lot of perks and a lot pitfalls. The enthusiasm and early desire to succeed is contagious. Reminding comics of the basics and fundamentals reminds me as well. Teaching others often turns into reteaching one's self. On the flip side of the coin are the universal problems ranging from joke stealing to bad comedian imitation. Whether it's young male comics wanting to be the next Joe Rogan with aggressive premises, older comics wanting to imitate the old timey one liner comics they saw growing up, or young women confusing a five minute showcase set with a five minute soapbox about the issue of the day. Comedy is a platform to be passionate, but it can't just be rants about the woke, the patriarchy, and bad puns. Yet, if there is one group that comes off the most cringe, it's the manosphere group of men 20-55 who think doing their best "Austin comedy scene" bits are the fast track to success. Here's why male focused comedy might be an endgame, but it's not the starting point. 

What is the Manosphere Comedy Scene?
When you hear about the manosphere of comedy, this is referring to the Joe Rogan brand of comics who live off the frat boy persona. Tony Hinchcliffe's Kill Tony show is probably the training ground. Their brand of stand up appealing to mostly younger and middle age males, as they "take on the woke" and become the court jesters for right wing personalities like Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro types. While still very crass and blue, their act breaks down the arguments of the left, bypassing comedy clubs and filling out theaters and arenas. 

They take on contrarian points of view, making fun of transgender people, questioning Covid and the policies that sprung out of it, and finding flaws in opposite gender logic. Matt Rife's opening jokes in his Netflix special are a great example of this. His "cancelation" earned him a seat on Jordan Peterson's podcast. Meanwhile, Rogan has had many of these comics on his podcast, being the kingmaker of his era. What most of these comics have in common is being "canceled" by the mainstream media, without seeing their bank accounts suffer. Some were "canceled" for bad roast jokes, some for bad sexual related behavior, a few by guilt of association and others for just general statements made on podcasts.

But at the heart of their success is the "cancelation" surrounding them. It's why the term doesn't apply today like it did in 2017. Ironically, the fasted way to build a following is have a group of people call for your head on a stick. 

Why Do Men Love Them? 
Regardless of your own feelings toward the manosphere, they're popular and they make a fortune traveling the country. Some like Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura are scandal free but maintain the man-child persona other men wish they could emulate on the daily. Others like Rogan have platformed or been seen with right wing personalities with little pushback from their male base. And some have found themselves in scandals ranging from offensive ideas to actual sexual depravity.   

The problem is they all have been labeled "canceled" by some group or another, which today is the badge of honor they wear. As young males feel "canceled" by a western society that no longer sees a use for them, these comics are their superheroes. Goodbye action stars like Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis. See you later playboys like Hugh Heffner. And forget sports stars like Michael Jordan. Young men today want to be like their favorite stand ups. And previous icons like Jerry Seinfeld won't cut it.

One reason is because these guys made it on their own terms. They didn't use TV or movies like Adam Sandler did. They just ranted about life from a podcast studio and told fart and dick jokes on stage. They literally said on stage what young men wish they could in their office space. To put it bluntly, the manosphere created the opposite of the safe space. A HR nightmare turned national tour.

Where the Problem Lies With the Manosphere and New Male Comics
Whenever we start our stand up career, we tend to accidently "do" an impression of our favorite comics. For me, I was doing a sort of John Pinette and Jim Gaffigan hybrid. A lot of young comics ten years ago were emulating Louis CK or George Carlin, throwing out hot takes left and right. Usually, young male comics are attracted to the aggressive style of comedy that inspired them to try this act of self torture. Whether its using controversial language, taking about taboo sexual fetishes, or just humping a stool, they take on the worst qualities of their favorites. 

But this new group of manosphere comics is different from previous generations. They aren't left leaning punchline machines like Louie CK or Dave Attell. This generation is mostly premise based comedy. Stand up is the veil used to hide their desire to simply be drunken frat boys on stage. They just want to complain about not being able to say what they want, when clearly they still say the "anti-woke" and "politically incorrect" ideas, but more so to applause and cheers. It's a form of hyper validation. 

What newbie comics don't understand is when they try similar things on stage, they aren't saying it to 2,000 fans. These newbie comics are saying unforgivable rape jokes or domestic violence jokes or racist words at open mics, bar shows, and bringer shows thinking they're auditioning for Kill Tony's roster. People are embracing the train wreck because Hinchcliffe said it's okay, and he's the flavor of the week. 

The Effect On Comedy 
While a lot of young male comics see this style of comedy as a fast track to viral success, they don't understand these comics have a fan base that they don't. People pay to come experience THOSE specifically platformed comics. The manosphere is being put on payrolls of other comics as openers, as well as putting each other on each other's podcasts, creating a community that supports themselves. Being like them doesn't mean acceptance. Moving to Austin doesn't mean you'll be accepted. 

This aggressive style also creates a lot of uncomfortable open mic situations. Professional adults dabbling in stand up or making a real run at it have found mics and shows to be quite hostile to them. Bad open micer comedy referring to women, LGBTQ+ members, and minorities by crude names and phrases evolves into comics separating themselves from the community faster than they'd like. As these young male comics spew their vile after paying to play, they only end up discouraging others from attending to watch or participate. 

Quick Advice For the Wannabe Manosphere Micers
If you find the manosphere brand enticing, just know that there will always be a place for real vulnerable comedy with your unique point of view. Watching comics go out of their way to be edgy or "anti-woke" has been cringy at best, disgusting at worst. Write great jokes first. Learn what audiences like about you before you try to burn the stage down. Being anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-feminism isn't going to take you anywhere beyond the open mic scene. Even if you do get a few showcase spots, you'll find strangers confused. 

You have a comedic mind. Use it. Talk about embarrassing situations you've been in. Don't look to put down others; look to elevate yourself by knocking your own ego down a peg. Once you establish that you are fair game, you'll be able to call out others through an established point of view.    

Final Thoughts
While stand up must have a free speech at its core, self regulation and the element of surprise is key to success. Yet, the manosphere open micers have neither self-regulation or any surprises left. It's the same "anti-woke" crusade every time. Even though it's working today for the establishment, the history of comedy says otherwise. Andrew Dice Clay, Pauley Shore, and Sam Kinison were selling out everywhere and then it just ended. People grow up. Men get married. People have children. If the comics don't grow with their fans, they'll die out. 

We see how earlier versions of the same male dominated fanbase adjusted as they got older. Had Eddie Murphy continued his male brand of 1980's stand up comedy, he would have changed, as proven by his string of family films in the 1990's. Steve Martin's silly college student stand up became much more philosophical once his film career developed. Even Adam Sandler's drunken Billy Madison characters grew up and he has been producing married man comedies and hard hitting dramas. That's how you create a 40 year career. 

​Another aspect many young comics don't realize is that the manosphere group started as typical joke writers and changed later. Go YouTube early Rogan and you really wouldn't see this coming. Rogan might always be the go-to-guy due to his podcast's popularity. But many of those trying to copy his swagger will find a brick wall at the end. He was a world champion fighter. These micers are calling out sick at their call center jobs. They are not the same. 

​Back in 2015 I was taking a comedy class in November and decided to write a series of jokes about Christmas songs. They weren't very good, but they were fun to write. One joke was about how there's no difference between Rudolph and Jesus's story - both about a misfit who lights up the world, becoming a savior for his people. Another was about Mommy kissing Santa, like the old song says. Pretty sure they both didn't come off well. And I think I made a Magic Mike joke about Frosty the Snowman taking off his hat. I was in my first year of stand up and thought I needed holiday jokes to survive the winter season. Today, I might have a riff but nothing written down on the set list. Because seasonal jokes aren't a ticket for long term success. It took me 4-5 years to figure that out. 

Let's dive into the pro's and cons of writing specific Christmas jokes and what do with them after Santa leaves you a bag of coal for mocking him on stage. 

Seasonal Jokes Last About As Long as a Christmas Tree 
If there's one issue I have with holiday jokes is that they come and go so quickly, that by the time you craft them to be the most effective, you have to retire them for 11 months. It's like a weird comedy timer in the sky that forbids Christmas jokes before Thanksgiving and after January 1st. Maybe its because people don't want to think about holiday shopping and traveling or the money spent, but if you pay attention you'll see a joke that murdered in mid-December get nothing on January 2nd. 

This is consistent with flash in the pan news stories and movie jokes with films people easily forget. While holidays are usually popular topics with a strong general knowledge, the desire to discuss these topics isn't very strong outside the season. This is why we don't listen to Christmas ballads at malls or watch Snoopy Christmas Specials between January and October. 

While it looks like I'm picking on Christmas topical Christmas jokes, this applies to Halloween, 4th of July, Valentine's Day, etc. People are very narrow minded, and this is a topical joke with a short elf on the shelf life. 

Why Having A Few Holiday Jokes is Smart 
With that said, having a few holiday jokes in the opening part of a set can be a life saver in developing the idea of a spontaneous set. Just joking about the Christmas decorations at the venue or joking about your shopping budget can give you a little energy up front that creates a spirit of inspiration. Holiday jokes smell like newer jokes to a crowd, so they'll think your older jokes are new as well. 

Too often comics write 5-10 minutes all about Christmas or Halloween, and unless it's a theme show (which I love doing) these jokes are draining your creative energy. Like Roast Battle jokes that take away a month of writing for one 3 minute set, holiday jokes can stop the longer lasting stories and punchlines from developing. But having a couple up front, even if a bit hacky, create a new opening joke energy.

Something as simple as making fun of eating too many hot dogs at 4th of July, joking about your costume on Halloween, or even an edgy Memorial or Veterans Day joke can get the crowd thinking that you came to play. 

Don't Recycle Jokes - Use Holidays To Hone Writing Skills 
If you do want to write holiday jokes, I would encourage you to write new ones every season. It's a great way to show yourself your joke writing improvements over the year. Plus, from a psychological perspective, you'll tell the jokes with more energy and excitement knowing you'll never tell them again. Like a list of gifts you'd give Santa, they won't be the same the following year. 

I do enjoy having a few extra jokes to shake things up and being relevant, but I don't want all my jokes to live in a vault where I pull them out on schedule all year long. Once that becomes the game, the fire inside gets dull. Why I'm a huge believer in having a real act (30-60 minutes) of jokes and stories you can take anywhere, I also know being able to play and take risks is where the fun is also. 
Currently, I'm performing in teacher shows where I do 90% of material based on my old teaching career. Only a few of these jokes work with regular audiences, but the hyper focused material goes over great with the teacher crowds. What these special shows do is force me to write new material that actually starts to strengthen my more evergreen jokes.

I also regularly perform on a Horror Film Comedy show where I riff and write disposable horror film jokes. But I find that a few of the jokes can be reframed for general audiences. I once wrote an Omen joke where I stated, "I don't fear the Omen. I taught junior high. And no boy is as scary as an eighth grade girl." 

I converted that joke into my teacher shows which have been in theaters with 500-750 people. "People ask me if I'm scared to perform in these giant theaters. I tell them no. Because I taught junior high. And there is nothing scarier than an eighth grade girl."

Then I just adapt based on the show. The great benefit of keeping your joke writing fresh is you will be able to rearrange jokes to fit the room. Maybe one of your holiday jokes can be transformed into a more evergreen joke in the next few months. 

Final Thoughts 
As the year ends, you might have found yourself feeling forced to write a few Christmas jokes and put the rest of your material on hold until January. Don't worry about that. You can write one or two, or just riff about the holidays, and then go into the new material you hope to use for the long haul, as well as the tried and true. It's up to you, but don't feel the pressure to be topical every week. 

One time I was working with a comic and he was very upset I told him to write jokes that would be usable in three to five years. He wanted to joke about that week's events like Colbert and Jon Stewart did. I told him to use Facebook and Twitter for that and focus on building a real act. That was 5 years ago. Today, he's still focusing on the most recent headlines and he's made no money in comedy...still. 

​Don't let the fear of not being relevant stop you from being a professional comic. Because taking off December to just write jokes about December holidays is basically still just taking off December.  

If there's one thing I that really annoys me and discourages me from booking a comic is when they ask for a spot without any dates attached to the message. Because the second they ask for a spot without any context or guidance, I know I'm opening the door to a ping pong game of finding a workable date that pleases both parties. The infamous, "Got any spots for me?" message shows two things: The comic's clearly underwhelming schedule, and the lack of regard for the time of the booker. So let's look at how you SHOULD message a booker when trying to get anything from a guest spot to headlining set. 

Don't Make A Booker Work Harder Than They Already Do
Whenever a comic messaged me over the past decade looking for a spot at Flappers, JR's Comedy Club, or my many bar shows, the ones that gave me a month or specific weekends always got an immediate response. Why? Because I can look at those specific dates and check. When a comic just gives me open ended availability, and then says "I'm booked that weekend," after I send a date - I'm now done with them. Bookers and comics who produce shows have no desire to message back and forth. It's annoying. I find that even veteran comics do this, but I also noticed they don't get up more than a couple times a month. The reason is simple - they aren't intentional with their avails. 

Here's The Info To Share With A Booker 
So here's what you should be doing, whether it's a Facebook DM or a traditional, professional email: You should be giving the most specific info possible. If you are requesting at a part time open venue, make sure you send dates the venue actually runs shows. You'd be surprised how many people send ten dates and only two of them are show nights. If you aren't sure what dates they run shows, check the website. If you tell them you're free on the dates they have shows, you'll probably get a faster response, if only because you have shown an effort to do your homework. 

Never tell a booker you are free all the time. That doesn't look good at all. Give specific months and dates. Check your own calendar to make sure you never ask for a holiday. You'd be shocked how many people ask to perform on Thanksgiving or Memorial Day when the date changes (unlike October 31 and July 4). Also, double check you put the correct date. Nothing more embarrassing than asking for a spot, only to mix up the date and day. "Can I perform Tuesday August 15th?" looks great until they realize August 15th is a Wednesday and since they have shows on both nights they now have to ask you what you meant. Being over prepared and on point will help you immensely. 

I once asked a comic to give me any Saturday in April and I'll book him. His response: "Why should I pick? Aren't you the booker?" I sent him the first April weekend. He wrote back, "I'm booked." I didn't write back. We never talked again. Don't be that guy. 

Have Your Media Updated 
Depending on what you are asking for, you need your correct media updated. Here are a few things to consider sending with dates you are available when messaging a booker. 

Guest Sets

• Just a five minute YOUTUBE clip
• Specific Dates 

Hosting

• Five minute clip and website link
• Specific Dates 

Featuring/Headlining 

• EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
• Specific Dates 

You do not have to send more than one clip (YouTube ONLY), nor do you have to include all your socials. In fact, I heard a few bookers complain when people send tons of info in the email. Keep the email SIMPLE. You don't need to include a bio or headshots. In fact, don't send a headshot unless they request it. Too often, comics send the wrong things in a way to make themselves feel important, but if you aren't the headliner, no one really needs a picture unless they ask.

Headshots are another story. Oy Vey!  Gentlemen, please stop sending badly cropped group pics and bathroom selfies. Ladies, the school yearbook and 1990's mall photobooth look needs to go. It's a head shot. You and your head with some torso is just fine. 

Don't Wait For Clubs To Contact You 
Working with Flappers and JR's Comedy Club, I can tell you, if you are waiting on the booker to book you, keep waiting. I might text a person to headline, but when it comes to unpaid guest sets, I'll wait for people to ask me. Unless I have paid gigs to hand out, I don't usually ask people to perform for free. Local clubs like Flappers might send blind booking agreements, don't wait on them. They have 15-20+ comics attending auditions. Those comics are filling up the spots. You need to be proactive with your local club. If they need you promoting, then wait for when friends are in town, and hit up your local club. An email stating "I have four buddies in town on 12/13 and 12/14..." sounds way better than "I haven't been booked in a month, any spots?" 

You have to take some ownership to get what you want. 

Final Thoughts
Taking a proactive position in your bookings is the most important skill you can develop as a comic. And the tact and language used is the most crucial in finding success. Those who are direct and honest with their intentions will always get ahead faster than those begging for crumbs. The club doesn't care about your career. They care about making payroll. So you have to pursue them, and take the ghosting and rejection that comes with that. I had over 200 shows in 2024. I also have over 100 dead end emails and DM's to people who produce shows. 

Just make sure you are following the procedures required until you reach a friendlier stage in the relationship. Don't drop in during the day to have a sit down with the booker. Don't complain on social media. And don't try to ask hosts and headliners to give you guest spots as a comedy life hack. All of this will just upset the powers that be. 

​It's 2025 in 4 weeks. A fresh start. A new beginning. Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in the world." I say, Be the comic other bookers want to see in the world.