Working With Talent Agencies
Most every metro area has local talent agencies which book a variety of entertainers and performers. They can usually be found online or in your phone book yellow pages.
Yes, local talent agencies will book comedians.
As a comedian, here’s what you need to know about working with a talent agency:
1. If you don’t have a corporate clean act, you won’t get much action from local talent agencies.
This is primarily due to the fact that the bulk of the business a local talent agency gets is from local businesses for business events.
2. You need to have your promo materials in order:
- Resume/Bio
- Testimonials
- Business Card
- Business Phone
- Headshot (color)
- Video on CD or DVD — 3 minutes max unless more requested
- Promo flyer(s) – for use by the talent agency to send to clients requesting talent
- Agent friendly website – optional, but it would be in your favor to have an agent friendly website which means that it contains no direct contact information for you.
3. You will need to have a good idea of your minimum pricing for gigs.
4. You will probably need to meet with someone at the talent agency to introduce yourself, provide your promo materials and availability for work.
Many talent agencies work on a buy and sell basis, not on a commission percentage. Meaning to say…
If you are getting $1000 for a gig, then the agency is getting quite a bit more—2 or 3 times more, NOT a 10% or 20% commission. So, you need to be aware of that arrangement when you are working with local talent agencies.
Once your promo materials have been reviewed and you have been “accepted” into the talent agency stable of entertainers, I would recommend that you send the talent agency a postcard every quarter to keep your name on their mind when they are recommending talent for an event or occasion.
The only other thing I can really tell you about working with local talent agencies is that you need to be aware that with the exception of Christmas party bookings in December, it can be months in between comedy gigs you that you can get from a local talent agency.
If you are having difficulty producing a corporate clean stand-up comedy act, you may want to check out the Killer Stand-up Comedy System.
Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money
About the Author/Founder of the SCP Blog
Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and is a globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development and presentation strategies -- for entertainers as well as speaking professionals.Please check out the Featured Articles page for direct links to articles on this blog for pro comedians, comedy entertainers, and speaking professionals.
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Tagged with: comedians • comedy gigs • Self Promotion • stand up comedy • talent agencies • talent agency
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Those four tips are perfect for getting along with a talent agency. My boyfriend works for a UK comedy agency and he says that to book a comedian they really need to impress him and stand out from the crowd. He always says “They cannot be another one of your run in the mill stand up comedians”, which is a good point. So yeah another good tip is to stand out from your competitors I suppose.
wish i knew how to start touring and making money you see me and my brother are professional comics we are are a team please give us a call at 816 862 6554 thanks Bruce
Well, the first thing I did was Google your name. Other than a Facebook entry, nothing appeared.
That tells me that you have no real Internet presence. No press kit — no testimonials, no resume, no bio, no local newspaper articles.
In other words…
Outside your local area, you don’t exist. Yet, you want to tour.
The Internet is no longer a “nice to do” thing for entertainers. It is an essential part of becoming a “name” in the business of show business and providing you opportunities for those who can help you to find you in the first place.
Cheers,
The Prof
Great article Steve!
My name is Adam Mamawala, and I am a 22-year-old recent college graduate and aspiring stand-up comedian. I have a website in the works (www.adammamawala.com), a large youtube following, a facebook fanpage, etc., as well as a DVD, professionally made CD, headshot and bio.
However, I need to find out where I can send these materials. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any type of list or database of comedy agencies.
Do you have any advice on how I could get this information so that I can start getting booked more regularly for shows?
Thanks,
Adam
Adam, I don’t know of any such database. Believe it or not, online searches in your area or using the phone book for finding talent agencies is your best bet.
I wish I could be of more help.
Cheers,
The Prof