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Comedy Outliers: Step Up Your Networking Game!

254162-250Today we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up TONIGHT at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free but we highly recommend you pick up tickets so you don’t show up to a full house.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

We are often commended by fellow comics and show producers on our networking game. That’s a pretty good indicator that we are effective in getting the word out about our “Comedy Outliers” brand. That’s how good planning and understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses pays off. Mike Brown is out in these streets meeting everyone and their mother telling them about this great monthly showcase he co-runs. Brandon Collins reads everything he can about successful marketing strategies to make sure the brand is reaching the masses. We both also give out hugs to those that come out to support what we are doing. What? Hugs are free. And soft when you use the right kind of fabric softener.
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Comedy Outliers: Nobody Puts “Comedy Outliers” In A Corner

co18Today we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up this Saturday, July 20 at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free but we highly recommend you pick up tickets so you don’t show up to a full house.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

“Oh yeah, ‘Comedy Outliers’! I heard that’s a great urban show!” This is occasionally something we will hear from comedians who we mention our successful free monthly show to. These are comics who have not been to our show before but only know of it through positive word of mouth or the promotional pictures we post on our website and other social media platforms. This is unfortunate, not because we don’t want to be labeled an “urban” show but because one of our main priorities is to be the most diverse comedy show in New York City. Being marginalized doesn’t help us achieve that. We welcome performers that appeal to all spectrums of humor: mainstream, urban, alternative and dry. We also pride ourselves on the ability to draw an audience of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This is why comics enjoy performing at “Comedy Outliers” so much. Because it is the true test of their comic material and if their punch-lines hit at our show, they know they’ll hit anywhere.
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Comedy Outliers: That’s A Brand Name!

co17finalToday we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up this Saturday, June 22 at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free but we highly recommend you pick up tickets so you don’t show up to a full house.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

We were recently hired to produce a private comedy show for a private organization that had an active membership of over one hundred people. The representatives who hired us had been to our “Comedy Outliers” show multiple times and were hoping we could bring the same fun, high grade comedy to a private fundraising event they were having for their group. We were very excited by this opportunity and worked very hard to book a venue that could comfortably accommodate their group size and talent that was catered to their preferences. All in all, we were thinking that it would be exactly like a standard “Outliers” show, which we hold in the highest regard.
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Comedy Outliers: A Wonderful Audience

co16Today we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up this Saturday, May 18 at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free but we highly recommend you pick up tickets so you don’t show up to a full house.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

When we at Comedy Outliers produce a show and say “You’ve been such a wonderful audience” – we mean it. A wonderful audience member is appreciated and always welcomed to comedy shows! Here are a few ways you can make sure you’re one of the wonderfuls.

1. Turn off your phones

Why would you have them on anyway? Pay attention! It’s a LIVE show! You silence your phones before a movie starts, and it’s a movie. Unlike a movie, a comedy show is with real people who can’t afford to ignore you (on screen or on the street).

2. Don’t talk during the show

In the crowd, you may whisper “That’s the funniest comedian I’ve ever seen. I want to support them financially forever.” On stage, all a comic hears is “Blah blah blah – I don’t like this person’s show so I’m going to talk through it.” Comics are insecure!

Don’t talk. We’ll think it’s a heckle. Or talk, if you WANT to heckle and leave the show in tears. Don’t invite that negative energy into a show.
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Comedy Outliers: Blog About It!

TodCO15ay we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up this Saturday, April 20 at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free but we highly recommend you pick up tickets so you don’t show up to a full house.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

We hate blogging.

It’s sad that as performers, we have to do things that are not performance-related to have people come to our show. In 2013, having talent and a diligent work ethic isn’t enough. Sure we can host and produce the pants off of Comedy Outliers and get listed through various publication’s help, but if we don’t have any representation in the digital realm…we don’t exist.

In some cases, the digital medium doesn’t really lend itself to our cause. Let’s say you like the Comedy Outliers show, then you make sure to like the fan page. Sounds great (and THANK YOU) until Facebook monetizes our hard work. They suggest/force/penalize us into paying money so we can reach you, who’ve already agreed to being reached in the first place! All the work put into to creating our fan base is done just so we can pay Facebook to reach our fans? Something doesn’t smell right. We need to grow out of the manure.

If we want Comedy Outliers to grow as a show, we need continue to build a great show- not a stronger web presence. It amazes us how potential audience members might dismiss our line-ups because a comedian may not have a website. We’ve heard “Has [insert comedian here] been on TV? Where would I know them from?” In turn, we will say “take my word for it” but they want to take the comedians words, in 140-characters or less, before they make a decision. Some people would rather we have Outliers on Twitter instead of business cards. Ah, the power of the internet.

YOU (the reader) have the power in your hands. Don’t judge a show (or performer) by their web traffic. Judge them by their talent, and support them with your…well, support! Come out to a live show (like ours next Saturday, April 20th) or make a purchase of some merchandise so we performers can focus on performing.

This entry would be longer, but we’re putting some finishing touches on our show. If you can’t make it, hopefully the audience will blog about it. We’ll put it on our website. And podcast. And fan page. Etc…

Mike Brown and Brandon Collins

Comedy Outliers

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Following Through: The Comedy Outliers Perspective

tumblr_inline_mji7sb8wor1qa0r4rToday we feature another guest post from Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. Brandon and Mike offer great advice to comedians, or performers in general, on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

The Comedy Outliers have a show coming up this Saturday, March 23 at Lily O’Brien‘s in New York City. Their shows are free and are first come, first served but if you’d like to make a reservation for six or more, e-mail them here.

If you’re in New York or headed that way, be sure to check out their show. It’s rare to see comedy of this calibre without a cover charge or drink minimum. That said, if you want them to continue bringing these great shows to the Big Apple, we highly encourage you to support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website.

So, without further ado, I give you Brandon and Mike of The Comedy Outliers:

“Why do I need headshots or business cards?”, “Why do I need a website when I’m not even making money right now?”, “What do you mean I need to network? Facebook is more than enough”, “Do you like cupcakes?” To be honest most artists, specifically stand-up comics, ask ALL of those questions at some point in their lives. Even the one about cupcakes…sugar is an entertainer’s best friend. Anyways, what we have found amongst many of our colleagues who are still seeking success and riches is an extreme resistance towards being business savvy about their craft. 
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Why We Love Comedy: From the Creators of Comedy Outliers

outliersAs young stand-up comedians, we know what it’s like to perform in a loud New York bar where the audience consists of ten people who were barked in by the show’s producer(s). We also know what it is like to see that show’s producer perform comedy over ten minutes of unfiltered, often excruciating material because it’s their show. We’ve watched audiences leave these shows disgruntled and with a negative view of what stand-up comedy is and should be. This is why we created “Comedy Outliers: A Free Monthly Comedy Show.”

We are celebrating the one-year anniversary of “Comedy Outliers” this month, and we couldn’t be happier with what we have built. Having taken elements from some of the best shows we have either produced on our own or performed on, we have developed a strong stand-up comedy showcase that brings the NYC comedy-club experience to the audience without the aggressiveness and pressure of those clubs. Over the past few month our show has been featured in various publications (TimeOut NY, AM New York), created buzz within the New York stand-up comedy scene (we get submissions on a weekly basis from comics who want to perform on the show), and created a strong, faithful following. What has helped us make “Comedy Outliers” so successful in such a short period of time? We attribute our success to three main points:
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4 Painful (But Hilarious) Lessons Learned in Stand-Up Comedy

Stand-up comedy can be an exhilarating experience or a terrifying one. Being in front of a live audience, pouring out your soul and getting people to laugh is a trying task. Sometimes it is the best thing in the world. Other times, it makes you wish you could just ball up and cry.

There are many lessons to be learned both as producers of stand-up comedy and performers. Comics performing on this Saturday’s show share their tales of how they earned battle scars in the comedy world:

1. Follow Your Instincts 

By: Producers/Hosts Brandon Collins & Mike Brown

comedyoutliers_1

Photo of Comedy Outliers by Mindy Tucker

We hosted our first private event last year. We were very excited and had been in contact with the private organization’s president who had specific requests regarding the type of talent we should book. We booked very specific comics who we thought would be successful in front of the anticipated audience. Unfortunately for us and the president, the booked comedians and the actual audience turned out to be horribly mismatched. The final result? A brutally awkward 90-minute showcase.

Afterward, we had a frank discussion with the president of the organization who admitted that they had provided us with misinformation regarding the type of talent we should have booked. We decided that for future events, we would book every private event just as we do our monthly showcases: diverse and fearless. We recently held another event for this organization where we followed this mentality, which resulted in a successful comedy showcase that was well received by their audience. The ultimate lesson of this story? Always follow your instincts.

2. Timing is Everything

By: Comedian Kate Wolff

Stand Up Comedian Kate Wolf

I had a show at a gay bar, the night after Whitney Houston died. I had been excited to do this show for weeks, because it was always packed with a really fun, excited audience. That night just before the host brought me up, they played a 10-minute video dedicated to Whitney. Every gay man in the audience was weeping when they brought me to stage. Needless to say it wasn’t the best set of my career, but I did get to hold an emotional man’s hand for an hour after the show.

3. You Will Be Booed and It Won’t Be Pretty

By: Comedian Langston Kerman

StandUp Comedian Langston Kerman

Photo by Phil Provencio

I was once booed in an empty basement bar by a grown man wearing a white suit and a crown. In his defense, it was his birthday. And he was performing on the show later. Obviously, a rapper dressed like he’s being baptized at a Burger King expects a little more from his opening acts.

4. Don’t Insult the Crowd 

By: Comedian Dan DelColle

Dan DelColle StandUp

Photo by Katherine Clark

December 16, 2012. It was supposed to be my first paid spot and I was excited. I’d done well in front of this crowd before. The show started two hours late so the crowd was getting restless. I’ll win them over, I thought. I opened my set with “I probably can or have bought drugs from everyone in this room.”  That was it. No one was amused. The room instantly hated me. The crowd wasn’t entirely silent because I heard someone say: “You’re not funny.” My 15-minute set was cut to about 13 minutes.

ComedyPoster-OutliersI guess the host didn’t have a light to get me off the stage because he walked on the stage and said “You’re done.” He encouraged the crowd to give me a simultaneous one clap at the same time. I stayed for the rest of the show and sat in the front row. Every other comic on the show did great and opened with a line of how horrible I did. Lessons: don’t insult the crowd and if you bomb, get the hell out of the room as fast as you can.

A note for New Yorkers: Go out and check out these comics at Comedy Outliers at Lilly O’Briens (18 Murray Street) on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 7PM. The show has a $10 cover with no drink minimum. Pay only $8 if you purchase tickets in advance. You can also support their efforts by donating on their website or listening to their weekly podcast.

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Comedians: 4 Lessons Learned in 2014

event-tips-comedy It has been awhile since our last Brown Paper Tickets guest post. The past few months have been a blur with lots of big things happening with Comedy Outliers. This year was very eventful in regards to the changes we experienced both good (being involved in the New York Comedy Festival) and bad (losing our main venue), but we have come out the other side feeling very confident for the new year.

We’d like to share event tips and lessons learned from 2014.

1. Networking Is and Always Will Be the Game

Always be ready to promote yourself. We learned to share our brand with new people we meet. Carry business cards, be prepared to speak about your credits and don’t forget to keep promoting. Each event we produced presented new networking opportunities. We tried to meet everyone in the room, from the waitstaff to audience members and cooks. You never know who someone knows. This year, networking led to working with Yelp, Webster Hall and Comedy Central.

2. Be Persistent, But Not Annoying

Trying to book talent for our show can be exhausting, even if it’s just on a monthly basis. There are specific comedians that we reach out to who are frequently unavailable to perform either because of conflicts, or unsure of their commitments that weekend. Eighty percent of the time, the comic will ask for us to reach out with a future date. Do they really intend to perform on our following show? We’re not always sure, but we still follow up. This has led to us booking some pretty impressive acts and gotten us on popular podcasts like Robert Kelly’s “You Know What Dude?,” “Keith and the Girl” and the Anthony Cumia Show.

3. Don’t Give Up When Challenges Arise

We experienced a few bumps in 2014 when it came to working with venues and managers to host our monthly showcase. Whereas at our original stable, “Lilly O’Briens” we worked directly with the owner, we found ourselves working with managers who believed in our “Outliers” shows, but the venue owners did not. This led to us having several one-offs at various venues throughout the year, which was exhausting and trying on our confidence. Our fans’ consistent support, despite venue changes helped us get through these hiccups.

4. Make Sure Your Following Feels Appreciated

This year, we began charging a small cover for our shows, changed venues several times, and took part in the New York Comedy Festival. We made sure our audience understood why these changes were happening and ensured them that our shows would maintain the same level of “Comedy Outliers” quality. With our recent New York Comedy Festival showcase, it was extremely important for us to tell our faithful audience how wonderful it was to have had their support over the past two and a half years. Allowing our audience to feel a part of our achievements was rewarding for us and them. It creates a sense of community that will hopefully drive us to even greater heights in year three. 

With the year wrapping up, it’s fitting that our upcoming holiday showcase brings us back to where it all started: Lilly O’Briens. Lilly’s has moved to a new location down the street from their prior spot, but like us they have bounced back and are ready to host our amazing show. So come out this Saturday night and have a drink and a laugh with us. 

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Making Your Talent Feel Appreciated

CO30Guest post by Brandon Collins and Mike Brown of Comedy Outliers. They offer advice to comedians and performers on how to survive and thrive in today’s competitive artistic climate.

A few years ago, when we were producing one of our first independent comedy club shows we were asked by a comic performing on my show, “So since you’re charging a cover how much am I making for my set?” At that time we were so ignorant to the business of stand-up comedy, we had no idea what they were talking about. But after speaking with some veteran comics whose opinions we greatly respected, we came to learn that the common rule of thumb with comedy shows is: if you charge a cover, you SHOULD pay your talent. Of course there are some show producers that don’t follow that rule and some comics don’t expect to get paid for every bit of stage-time. This is because stage-time and money are both valuable to a working stand-up comic. When we ran our “Comedy Outliers” show without a cover, there was never any expectation to pay our comics with anything besides a free beer and a sincere “thank you” for their time and talent. The only comic we would pay during that time was the headliner as they were usually a highly regarded comic who had several credits and added a certain amount of hype to help build the “Comedy Outliers” brand. We would pay for these comics out of pocket, which became expensive after nearly two years of being an entirely free show.

One of the main reasons we began charging a cover (we try to keep it as affordable as possible btw, use discount code “Summer” for $5 tickets) was because we wanted to be able to pay ALL of our performing comics. Another reason was to build the brand through better podcast equipment and merchandise, but we can only continue to produce great shows and content if we have exceptional talent. By creating a budget as producers and knowing our limits in what we can pay for talent has forced us to produce a much tighter show that provides a high quality experience for our audience. It is important to remember as producers that your talent needs to feel like their time and talent is being appreciated. When we were just a free bar show, the performing comics were just happy to be in front of a great crowd that was both diverse and energetic. Now we can offer that pay them for their time that they could’ve spent at another show. This has helped us build a stronger relationship with the comedy community in NYC that we love so dearly. They are always appreciative of the gesture and that’s a great feeling to have as a show producer. Keep that in mind when you produce your new show…spread the wealth!

Comedy Outliers’ next show is at Brick NYC (22 Warren Street) on Saturday, July 26th at 7pm. The show has a $10 cover with no drink minimum. Pay only $5 for advanced tickets if you use the discount code “Summer” for $5 tickets! You can also support their efforts by hitting the “Donate” button on their website or by listening to their weekly podcast.

 

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