Choosing the Right Comedian for Your Event

Comedians are a fantastic entertainment option for corporate events; however, it can be a risky game. Are you shying away from booking a comedian with the fear that they will be inappropriate? This feeling is valid and felt commonly by many who book entertainment, as a mismatched comedian can ruin the event.

It’s a shame to miss out on the huge benefits of comedy for business, as when done right, they are a truly incredible asset. Continue reading for our top tips on choosing the correct comedian for your event!

What is the Aim of Your Event?

This is the most important factor to consider when choosing a comedian for your event, as the aim of the gathering dictates everything surrounding the event.

Is the aim to boost your employees’ morale, to bring your team together or to entertain your workforce on an out-of-office trip? No matter what it is, the aim must be decided before embarking on the rest of the planning process.

Understanding Your Audience

Knowing your audience is fundamental when planning an event. What is the average audience age range, job function and industry and background? It's important to know all of this when selecting entertainment for your event, as you do not want to choose a comedian whose comedy style does not fit with your event attendees.

If your audience is 40 and over, you don’t want a younger performer who will be swearing and laughing about their failing dating life - whilst this comedy style would work great for younger audiences in a non-corporate setting, it’s crucial that the audience can relate to the comedian’s jokes and enjoy their style.

Dave Gorman

Alexander Armstrong

Jo Brand

are much better suited to older audiences, whilst the likes of

Iain Stirling

Maisie Adam

Dick and Dom

will better appeal to the younger audiences!

Whilst comedy preferences are, of course, not based solely on age ranges, this is a good place to start. It gives you a rough baseline of what they can relate to, which in turn suggests what they may find funny.

Finding a comedian with the perfect comedy style to suit your audience will make your event memorable for all the right reasons, so it’s important to understand as much about your audience as possible before booking the entertainment!

Consider the Time and Place of Your Event

Selecting the right time of year, day and time to host your event can drastically affect the number of attendees; the weather can also impact this if the venue is hard to get to.

Hosting your event on a weekday is likely to boost attendance, as people are more likely to take time out of their working week to spend time with colleagues (as opposed to weekends, which tend to be saved for friends and family). With this, weekday evenings will gain higher traction than during the day, so guests won’t have to book annual leave or be worried about work whilst at the event.

Events in the winter will have higher attendance than summer events, as there are fewer people away on holiday at this time of the year, although there is the risk here of getting stuck with bad weather. Ensuring that the venue is close to good public transport links, carparks and suited for worse weather will combat this.

Considering all of this, it’s important to remember that if your event is organised and marketed well, including featuring a fantastic entertainment line-up, you’re guaranteed a good number of attendees. However, there are aspects here that are out of your control, so if there just happens to be terrible weather or public transport strikes on the day of your event that negatively affect the number of attendees in the room, remember that you did the best you could.

Setting a Budget for Your Event

It’s very easy to get carried away whilst planning an event, as naturally, we all want the best of the best materials and entertainment to really make our event stand out.

However, it’s important to decipher how much you realistically can (and want to) spend on your event to ensure the best return on investment.

Are you happy for the biggest chunk of your budget to secure a top-notch comedian, or would you rather have a nicer venue and a cheaper comedian? These are all aspects of budgeting that you need to consider when planning an event.

Research the Comedian's Style

Making sure you have a good sense of the comedian’s style before booking them is vital, as you don’t want to be expecting safe corporate entertainment and end up receiving a dry humoured comedian who picks on audience members.

Doing your homework will save you all this stress. Visit the comedian’s webpage on our website to read their biography and see Speakers Corner videos with them, it would also be helpful to watch clips of the comedian performing on YouTube.

Checking their reviews gives you a deeper indication of how the comedian will perform at your event. Comedian reviews give you the full picture with honest responses to their performances in corporate settings. They may be great on the stage at a stand-up gig, but what about at a corporate event? Reviews are the best way to understand this.

If you’d prefer to speak to someone about your options and any potential concerns you may have about a comedian before booking them, do get in touch with our friendly and impartial team, who will be more than happy to help.

Working with a Booking Company

Simply put, planning an event is a lot of work. One of the ways to help yourself alleviate some of the workload is to work with a booking company that can take on some of the work for you.

We do the hard work for you; all we require is some information from you about your event and expectations, and then we do the rest! Following on from the initial discussion, we curate a selection of the comedians who best fit the bill. Once we find the perfect one and they’re booked in, we organise the comedian’s transport to and from your event and remain on call the day of – should anything go wrong.

Email, phone or live chat; no matter your preferred method, we’re available at the other end of the line! Get in touch with us via email at info@speakerscorner.co.uk or give us a call at +44 (0) 207 607 7070.