I have a lot of respect for clubs and independent bookers, due to the fact that booking a show is one of the worst experiences ever. I’ve booked shows before and it boils down to two choices – go and babysit or just roll the dice and hope your drunken comics don’t blow your regularly scheduled gig by being drunken comics.
I know of a story where a guy got a tryout, did well, got promised more work…then went back to the hotel and trashed it. Thanks for the job, sir! Did I mention I slept with your wife? No matter, see you next Monday! Bad open mikers lie to bookers about their abilities and credentials then go and eat shit for 25 minutes, ruining a gig. Then I come along and have to give five references, a DVD (that will never be watched), a DNA swab, and complete the final eliminator on American Gladiators only to hope some heckler vermin didn’t trash me behind my back to the bar owner after I called them out onstage, thus ruining future work opportunities.
As bad as I’ve described my end, imagine being the agent/bar/club/whoever that puts on the shows. The agent has to trust everything is cool from two states away and the bar has to hope that the comic doesn’t decide to walk into his biker joint and watch a 145 lb. city boy trash the entire crowd. Needless to say, I don’t do that, because I have OCD and have to be there. I have, however, done a lot of booking when present and it blows maybe 1% less. More on that tomorrow.