Six Conditions For An Ideal Comedy Setting

Lighting



The ideal room has a well lit stage and very dim light to no light on the audience so that the audience can have a clear view of the comedian and not be distracted by anything else in the room.

Stage



A low stage, close to the audience. You want to be slightly above the audience so they can see you however you do not want to be too high to where there is a separation, the audience should almost feel as though they are in the show.

Free of Distractions



If you are looking for a good room for comedy it should be separated from the rest of the venue. The best bar and restaurant shows are when the audience that is there is there for the show and not forced into it by being a patron surprised by comedy… Have fun yelling at talking people to pay attention or talking over TV’s/Music.

Room Size/Seating



The room should feel full, think realistically how many people can you consistently get to come to your show? You don’t want the room to ever feel empty. A packed room with 40 people is better than 50 people in a room that seats 100. Low ceilings are also nice, get the laughter bouncing off the walls. Seating is also important, if your show is not sold out do lot let the audience sit in the back of the room, sit them right up front.

Sound



If you are going to run a show don’t skimp out on some cheap generic mic. Get a good XLR mic and speakers to match. You want your voice to be clear and loud throughout the room. With bad sound the audience will not stay tuned in as long.

Length of The Show



Keep the show about 70-90 minutes in length, if it’s really a great room and you have amazing comics maybe push it to two hours, past that you are wearing out your audience. You want to leave the audience wanting more so they come back to the next one not leaving saying that was funny but I’m tired. In cities with lots of good comedians such as LA or NY we see far to many shows that run over two hours. This is also good for the comedians as it’s rarely fun for a comedian to perform for an audience that has listened to two hours of comedy before them.