Comedian Hire Price

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Comedian Hire Price

HOW MUCH IS IT TO HIRE A COMEDIAN?

GET TO THE BOTTOM OF COMEDIANS FEES

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You just want to know:
“How much does it cost to hire a comedian?”
and no matter how hard you look everything seems a bit…odd.

Woolly fees?

Strange price ranges?

You just want to know costs, right?

First off, we agree and we feel your pain.

If only comedian hire was like buying from Amazon, nice fixed prices and an easy way to compare…

 

COMEDIAN HIRE PRICES

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Here’s a rough outline of what a comedian would earn on a Saturday night in London.
At Bespoke Comedy we simply do not list talent with under five years experience because generally speaking they just do not have the stagecraft to handle private or corporate comedy events. (Jack Whitehall was an exceptional exception)


That’s often the reason things can go wrong, a client wants to keep costs down so somebody offers a newer, inexperienced comic…and calamity ensues.

(We don’t do that.)

comedian hire price

show me the money

PLEASE TELL ME HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO HIRE A COMEDIAN?

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So, armed with our little diagram above, you can begin to get a handle on what different levels of comedian earn at well setup, professional comedy clubs. 

Of course, for a comedian to perform at a private corporate event the fee will be more than a public comedy club.

The next thing to bear in mind is that any comedian worth their salt will book their diary at least three months in advance. Especially for the busiest nights: Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Therefore, if you’ve got a corporate event in the next month or two and you find someone called Dave who says he is free on Friday night and will perform at your corporate event for £600… Then you have to ask yourself the questions:

1) Why is Dave free on a Friday in the next 3 months?

2) Dave should be earning at least £500 performing at professional comedy clubs, how comes he’s willing to perform at a corporate for ‘not much more’?

comedian hire fees

This is why we always get nervous when a client tells us “Yes, we already have a guy called Barry who will ‘do our gig’ for £700”. 

A comedian not performing particularly well at a corporate or private event is a horrible thing.

It’s horrible for everyone: the performer, the audience and probably the worst for the person that booked poor Barry, who by now is cringing in their seats or hiding in the toilet.

It’s also not great for comedy either, because all those people in the audience have a right to think “Bah, this corporate comedy stuff is rubbish”.

Here’s a great little article from The Independent on comedian hire fees (it’s from 2013, so allow for inflation).

Corporate Gigs: Funny Money

comedians and money

There is also another factor at play here around comedian prices, and that’s the comedians themselves. 

They do not look at themselves as plumbers that can be called out for a fee.

Personally, I always feel a bit sad when I see comedians listed as ‘Suppliers’. Maybe that’s just me.

Most comedians are proud of their creative work and do not want a price next to their name. Some may think it’s a bit reductive.
Who are we to judge?

One final point on fees, in our humble opinion, if you’re spending above £10k then pretty much half of anything above that is for the ‘showbiz glitter’ : you get to spend some time close by to ‘a person off the telly’.
That’s not to say they don’t earn their money or are less funny, it is just that as a comedian’s fame increases, so do their fees. Maybe, just maybe, they do not get exponentially funnier because they’ve been on TV more often.

You be the judge of that.

At Bespoke Comedy we first understand your requirements and then suggest the people we believe, in our 25 years experience of doing this, would be perfect for your event.

It does not have to be based on you asking “Who can I get for £5k?”, and more us providing you with the most suitable talent at a range of fees, up to your budget.
Most clients are very pleasantly surprised that they do not have to break the bank (or their budget) when we offer them a selection of talent that we know would rock their event.

Anyhoo, I hope you are a little more enlightened than when you arrived. And as and when you would like to take the next step in hiring a comedian you can get called back asap by entering your number in the box below.

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