By Creig Ewing
You’re booked for a comedy show and want to perform before a packed house. You decide to promote the show. So don’t do these things:
Wait until the day of the show to promote. You’re too late. Most civilized people make plans more than a day in advance. Plan to promote your show on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, whatever, at least 2 weeks out. I try to promote shows about every other day from about 2 weeks out then every day 3 days out.
Share posts on Facebook. The booker posts a flyer for the show you’re on. You share it and pat yourself on the back. Facebook’s algorithm doesn’t really like sharing. So unless you want people to see your shared post for the first time a week after the show, save a copy of the flyer and create your own post.
Ask people to come to the show to “support local comedy.” You want people to come to the show because it’s going to be fun. Don’t make it sound like folks are being forced to come to your dance recital. Use your God-given comedy writing ability to tell people what a good time it will be, dammit!
Assume it’s someone else’s job to promote the show. You do you. But the more people — from headliners, to features, to hosts, to folks doing a guest spot — promoting the show, the more people will be in the audience. Bookers and club owners want comics who will successfully help promote shows.
Make it hard for someone to buy a ticket. Super. You posted a flyer for your show on Instagram or Facebook. Make sure to include a link to buy tickets. Don’t make people work for it. In Facebook, it’s better to put the ticket link in the comments. Facebook would much prefer you buy an ad to promote your show.
Create a post and highlight or tag everyone. People hate when you tag them randomly on posts and will more likely unfriend you than come to the show. If you promote a show, it’s fine to tag the people on the show and a few folks you know might be interested.
Use a very common template to promote a show. You have probably seen the 2 or 3 flyers that everyone seems to use for a comedy show. If you use one of those, it just makes your show seem generic. If you create a flyer, make sure to include the date, the venue name and address and ticket info.
Promote shows on Twitter. Twitter is fine for getting people to know you and hate your comedy, but it’s terrible for promoting shows. I wouldn’t waste your time.
Make a flyer listing all your shows for the month. That’s cool and all but it doesn’t really count as promoting your show at Hilarious Harry’s Ha Ha Hut in Hattiesburg in August.
Post on weekends. Weekends are the worst time to get eyes on your posts. You want to do most of your promotional posts between 9 am and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Things you can do to promote a show
Create posts on multiple platforms with a flyer. Hopefully the booker or owner has shared a flyer. Use it to create posts on Facebook, Instagram, whatever. Or dress it up and create your own version.
Make your own video. Tape a video promoting the show. Caution: Make it a video that will make people want to go the show. Plenty I have seen make me want to steer clear.
Good luck!
