Joel Pace, Booker for Heffron Talent International and The Comedy Zone Comedy
Clubs
STAGE TIME talks to Joel Pace, booker for Heffron Talent International and The Comedy Zone Comedy Clubs about booking talent and the importance of keeping customers laughing.
How did your comedy career begin?
I walked into The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, NC to go see Brian Regan in 1991. They had a small karaoke bar next door they used for customers waiting for the second show. The host of the karaoke room didn’t show and a waitress asked if I would host that night…she spoke with the manager and he offered me $50 and all I could drink. I had a blast and did a good enough job they said I could host a few nights a week. I went from hosting the karaoke night to bartending to managing and then booking and owning clubs.
What are your responsibilities as a booker?
The main responsibility is to make sure that the product we put on stage is the funniest show the customers have ever seen. We are a full service agency. We visit the venues, train the staffs, assist with advertising and create marketing and promotional items for the clubs. We are like the “McDonald’s franchise of comedy.” When you use “The Comedy Zone” name, Heffron Talent International is your booking agency. We currently book over 50 venues across the country, not counting cruise ships, private parties and corporate events. So we are always looking for fresh, professional new talent.
What skills do you need to be a successful booker?
Communication! Booking the shows is only a small part of what we do. I spend many hours a week looking for new venues to become “The Comedy Zone” so we can create more stages for the comics to work. A booker has to be a comedy fan…I know most will say they are, but are they in a club at least three nights a week, watching the shows and making sure that is what should be on the stage?
You have to take what “you like” out of the picture and think about what customers want to see. There are some comedians that work every [Comedy Zone] club and I’m not a fan of their comedy, but I know that the customers like them. It also goes the other way…there are some that I think are great, but I know they wouldn’t work in certain rooms.
How do you balance friendship with comedians and the business of booking?
We are up front with the guys that are our friends and tell them that we look for certain comics for certain rooms. I would say out of my top five friends, two are full-time comedians…There are times when I have to tell them things they do not want to hear, but they also understand that this is a business.
What is the booking criteria at the Comedy Zone?
We want to see their promo pack. It should include a headshot, bio and video. We do not put anything on stage that we haven’t seen except when that person has been referred by another trusting booker or one of our headliners that has been with us for years.
How do you decide which comics to book?
We try to piece each show together show that will have a good flow. We don’t want two guitar acts on the same bill. As big as this industry is, we are a tight little group. Heffron Talent and the bookers and owners of top clubs around the country speak to each other every week. We always talk about who is doing well for each other and who is not getting it done.
How do you define the comedian/booker relationship? Some view it as an employee/employer relationship while others see it as a contractor relationship.
It is different for each booker. We have an open door where comics can stop in anytime. We know that this a team game, meaning that if it wasn’t for the comics, there would be no us. At the same time, if it wasn’t for us, there would be a lot less stages for them.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Keeping everything in order. By us having over 50 clubs to book each week, that’s over 100 comics performing for us weekly.
How important is it to keep the customers in mind when booking a show?
Very important. All we think about is the customers. We book shows that we feel will make the customers laugh, not so much what we think is funny.
What advice do you have for bookers and what pitfalls should they avoid?
Know what you are putting on stage. A lot of small time guys will just book anyone. The comics fail to deliver a good show, then the customers think live comedy sucks.
What advice do you have for new and established comics?
New comics: Write clean and original sets. Established comics: Keep writing. Don’t settle for what you have.
What are three valuable lessons you have learned working in comedy?
Know what you are putting on stage. Build a relationship with the comedians. And read STAGE TIME magazine.
– Tasha A. Harris
