Partnership Proposal
The State of Comedy in Boston, 2024
Comedy continues to grow and be a strong audience and revenue- driver for venues in the Greater Boston market. Established comedy venues such as Improv Asylum, Laugh Boston, The Wilbur Theater, and Nick’s Comedy Stop have seen an increase in attendance and revenue at the brick-and-mortar clubs. Comedy is also flourishing in both the larger theaters such as the Wang/Rodman PAC, Colonial Theater, Emerson Majestic, Road Runner, and MGM Music Hall. Mid-level venues such as The Rockwell, City Winery, Crystal Ballroom, and other similarly-sized venues are booking more and more comedy for the simple reason — it is very popular and reasonably cheap to produce! Non-traditional venues such as breweries, restaurants, bars, cafes, trolleys and even apartments are getting in on the action as well. Throw in the smaller venues such as Union Comedy, Capo, and comedy nights in rooms throughout the city, and it’s starting to feel like we’re in a comedy bubble — similar to the late ’80s and early ’90s. With comedy reaching a new peak, we believe there are opportunities in the small/mid-level venue market for comedy, specifically comedians, acts, or shows that are not getting booked at the more traditional venues.
What Ayslum and Laugh Bring to the Table
Improv Asylum and Laugh Boston have been successfully producing professional comedy shows for over 25 years, respectively. The combined experience of our team is well over 50+ years. Succinctly stated, we have been successfully producing comedy at all levels, from small rooms to clubs to large theaters to huge outdoor amphitheaters for a long time. Our expertise has been learned in the doing, making mistakes, and correcting along the way. Together, the people in our organizations represent some of the best comedy professionals in the USA. While our companies have grown, we’re still privately-held and operate with a small-company mentality — we focus on making sure our employees, talent and customers have the best experience that our resources can provide. For any partners we collaborate with, there is very little “red tape.” Partners deal directly with the highest levels of our organization. It also means that we have resources — financial, human, technical, and physical — that allow us to operate on a scale that many mid-sized venues cannot. We’re not moving, quitting, or dying — so our brands maintain deep roots in the Greater Boston market and community. It’s invaluable when we work with partners. It allows them to reach beyond their current networks and access a larger audience, as well as contacts within and outside the entertainment landscape.
How a Potential Partnership Could Work
The Rockwell, in different iterations, has been an important part of the Greater Boston and the Davis Square / Somerville arts and entertainment scene for decades. From all accounts, The Rockwell’s current vision and leadership is putting it on a path to success — both artistically and commercially. Your organization certainly doesn’t need our help, as your previous background and current know-how and passion will stead you well for the future. However, there’s plenty that our companies can offer to support the continued success you are having — as well as help grow what The Rockwell currently does. In no particular order, here are some areas as to how our organizations might be able to work together: Shared Bookings & Co-Producing Box Office & Operational Support Marketing & Sales Support Institutional Support
Shared Bookings & Co-Producing
Our booking department, headed by Ryan Cott, is one of the best and most respected in the industry. Ryan has his finger on the pulse of what is happening in comedy, from the biggest names to up-and-coming acts. Ryan works with every comedy agent and manager in the country. He has a deep understanding of where the markets are going for artist’ fees, how to structure contracts, and how to deal with agents and managers. On the theatrical end, the Asylum has relationships with many different artists, producers, and organizations — from our in- house talent, to burgeoning relationships with the Soho Theater in London, as well as the growing roster of talent we are working with at Asylum NYC. Our goal is to be a conduit for theatrical and alt-comedy shows between Boston, New York, and London. We have more artists and shows we’d like to book than we have venues to book them at. Which has led us to explore new opportunities: developing new venues, as well as partnering with producers and operators of other venues. Asylum and Laugh Boston could co-produce shows with The Rockwell. As a true partner, we would share the risks and rewards of whatever shows we work together on. By partnering with the Asylum and Laugh Boston, this gives the Rockwell access to buying power, as well as industry expertise that may not currently be available.
Box Office & Operational Support
We know box office operations and ticketing. In fact, after years of development, we launched AsylumTix — our own proprietary ticketing platform. We were tired of dealing with outside vendors that never responded to our needs and watching them take fees while providing minimal service. AsylumTix can be customized to meet any specific needs, as well implementing new features as we continue to discover what’s important to us as operators, as well as what customers’ needs. AsylumTix is fully digital: from emailing tickets to scanning from in-venue phones, there’s no need for any outside equipment. It has the tracking and reporting features necessary for both venues and artists, and pays out to the venue/artist on a weekly settlement schedule. Our venues run a centralized customer service center. Meaning, we manage the box offices for multiple venues concurrently. This allows us to be more efficient with our labor costs, while still providing top notch service. The Rockwell could be fully folded into our customer service center with AsylumTix or could simply use AsylumTix. Either route, your venue would receive a dedicated box office system, where you know you can always talk directly to the developers who will work with you to ensure all of your needs are answered.
Marketing & Sales Support
Our companies have in-house designers, web developers, social media directors, content creators, private show, and venue rental sales agents. We also have email and marketing lists that, combined between all of our brands, have a reach of over 100,000 users. A partnership would allow access to these databases, as we would want to do all we can to help make any shows we are a part of with The Rockwell successful. We have a beautiful luxury condo that can be used for talent housing, preferred rates with numerous hotels, and great PR connections with various media outlets to help get coverage on radio, tv, and print. Institutional Support We know that running these types of organizations can at times be lonely and overwhelming, with nowhere to turn to for guidance. Over our 25+ years there isn’t much we haven’t faced. Successes, failures, and sheer survival all have played a huge part in contributing to the various expertise that is baked into our companies. A partnership will provide access to all the amazing people at our companies who can either answer your questions, find the answers for you quickly, or steer you in the right direction to get you the information you need.
While we’re confident of what our companies bring to the table, there is plenty we can gain from The Rockwell! First and foremost, to be able produce shows with a venue that we know and trust would be a huge asset for us. Second, your area of interest and expertise in the alt-comedy scene with emerging artists would be greatly beneficial to us as a company, helping us stay relevant in terms of what’s developing in that area of comedy. It’s Not Just About Us! And... Scene! In our opinion, the best relationships — be they professional or personal — are based not out of need, but out of want: wanting to work with someone, wanting to explore in a mutually beneficial way. We would welcome the opportunity to work with The Rockwell team, to learn from and to offer support to each other and make some cool stuff together. All, some, or none of this may be of interest to you, and that is perfectly ok with us. Regardless of a formal partnership, please know that you have access to Norm Laviolette, his companies, Ryan Cott, and anyone else you may need support from. We wish you nothing but success, and we’re happy to help play whatever part in your success that you find valuable.
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Join us to start the conversation
If you haven’t been to our venues, we’d love to show you what we do. Be our guest to check out a show at either Improv Asylum or Laugh Boston so that we
can talk about the potential of the partnership we’re envisioning. Email us and we’ll show you how we can have a blast together!
200 STATE ST. UNIT C-1 | BOSTON | 617.263.6887
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