The Personal Finance of Comedy
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2019
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You might think of comedians as up on a stage in a pub, but that's just one part of what the job entails today.
Social media, streaming services and stadium tours have changed the game. Instead of doing gigs to get on TV, you do TV to get people to your gig!
We'll look at how to start out and deal with cash and card readers, how to navigate online streaming and how you can get a mortgage while still telling jokes for a living.
The panel are-
Charlie Dinkin, comedian,director and writer
Tiernan Douieb, a stand-up perfomer and podcast presenter
Sarah Fox Clinch, a mortgage specialist for comedians at Fox Davidson
David Coppard, Head of Media and Entertainment at accountancy firm MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.4 | My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:10.8 | The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that. |
| 0:17.5 | With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to |
| 0:22.4 | helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put |
| 0:28.3 | together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life, |
| 0:35.0 | check out BBC Sounds. |
| 0:41.2 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:46.8 | Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Today it's all about the currency of comedy and the finances of being funny or trying to be anyway. We're looking at how to make money as a comedian. |
| 0:51.6 | If the papers are to be lived and why on earth should they be, |
| 0:54.7 | the comedy industry is worth £400 million a year and big earning names like Peter Kay and |
| 0:59.9 | Michael McIntyre and over £20 million a year, although I think it's best to take reports like |
| 1:05.2 | that with a note of scepticism. Nonetheless, it's certainly the case that the headline acts performing |
| 1:09.8 | to stadiums and selling DVDs and online videos can earn a fortune. |
| 1:14.6 | Well, Elliot is a 27-year-old comedy performer from Burnley. |
| 1:19.0 | I spoke to him earlier and asked him how good he was at managing the finances of being a performer. |
| 1:25.5 | Absolutely terrible. |
| 1:26.8 | So the shows that we do, it's free to get in. |
| 1:29.7 | Any money that we make, we take courtesy of a bucket system, |
| 1:33.0 | by which people donate whatever the money they want at the end of the show into a bucket. |
| 1:38.1 | Not a perfect system. |
| 1:39.4 | First time we did the gig, we forgot the bucket, |
... |
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