Comedian and podcaster Duncan Campbell joins Jemele on the show to talk about how much he's getting paid to do stand-up comedy, and why it's not enough. He also talks about why he doesn't want to be paid for his standup comedy and why he does what he does for other people. And he also explains why he's doing it for the right reasons and why you should be grateful you're getting paid for what you're doing. It's a good one, and it's a really good one. You can't ask for much more than that, and you're not going to get more than $150 for your time and your time management skills. You're not gonna get more generous than that. And that's not even close to what he gets paid for doing stand up comedy and hosting other people's shows. And if you don't get paid for it, you're going to have to pay for it yourself, right? We also talk about the difference between being generous and being stingy, and what it means to be a good host, and how to balance it all. And how to make sure you're giving back to the community you're trying to support. And how much money you're actually getting paid, not just for the time you spend doing standup. We hope you enjoy this episode and that you enjoy it, and that it doesn't make you feel good about what you do it. Thank you for listening to this episode. -Jon Sorrent. Jon Sorrentino Jon & Jemele Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe to us so we can keep us up to date with your thoughts on what we're talking about comedy and what we should be doing in the future episodes of the show and what they're listening to in the next episode of the podcast, and also what we can do to help us get the most out of this podcast. We'll see you next week! -Jemele Jon's new book is out next week. Jonathan's new music is out soon! Jon s new album is out! . Brian's new song is out now! and we're looking forward to seeing you on the other side of the road! -Eugene's new album "The Good Life" is out on the road? --Jon's new EPISODE is out in the world!
00:01:02.000I would tell you this, though, but there's a lot of clubs over the years that have had this theory that, well, you're lucky to be getting the stage time.
00:01:08.000And a part of comedians, we don't respect ourselves, so we're like, absolutely, you're absolutely right.
00:01:37.000I like a lot of shows that come out of what you're doing.
00:01:40.000But I think that we have to always be very careful that if there's any money that's ever taking place in any sort of a thing where you're selling comedy, comedians get super defensive and super sensitive when you're selling a show and the comics are going to go up and do their stand-up and they're not going to get compensated from it, but yet they know that money is exchanging hands.
00:02:03.000Well, it's a show that people don't use as a workout room for the most part.
00:02:07.000These are people that are just like fucking around, like not actually like I'm selling.
00:02:11.000And plus the fact that there's like seven or eight people usually on each one of these shows.
00:02:15.000I think it's a little different than if I were like, hey, me, Ari, and you are doing a show at the Hollywood Improv.
00:03:00.000And this is why the fact that you guys are doing all this, to me, I'm like, alright, bottom line, each one of these shows for going in there and being there for five hours, for going in there and putting together all these comics, putting up advertising and making posters for it, all this...
00:03:19.000All this shit, if it's not worth $150, if it's not worth $150, then I'm not doing it.
00:03:26.000If I'm getting this much trouble for $150, fuck it then.
00:03:39.000That I get after paying the host in comics or whatever is usually about $150.
00:03:47.000Well, look, if you're spending money paying the comics and you feel good about that, you could sit down with them and say, look, I'm paying you.
00:04:26.000Honestly, you know how hard it is devoting almost every Friday to being somewhere and on fact of that, being on there for five or six hours?
00:04:39.000But to comedians, they're also doing a job too.
00:04:42.000And they're also selling something valuable, their work and their material.
00:04:45.000And they know that even though you are putting together a promotion, the promoter shouldn't be the only one that's getting money out of it.
00:05:04.000If you are somebody that are like, no, I think I need to be paid, I think I need to deserve it, compared to me, I will do almost any show for free.
00:05:13.000I never care about fucking money at all.
00:07:54.000But I think that we've got to be real considerate of comics and the fact that comics have a legitimate gripe when it comes to worrying about someone making money.
00:08:04.000I mean, it has to be explained, I think, in a...
00:08:07.000In a thoughtful manner, and not in this knee-jerk, sort of angry, yelly, sort of shouty type of way.
00:08:14.000Live in front of other people when you don't even come to me and talk to me.
00:08:35.000Well, you know what, if he had no point, no place to stand, if he had no point, if he had no place to talk to you about this, there was no argument there, then it would have no impact.
00:08:48.000The reason why it has somewhat of an impact is because it is an arguable position.
00:08:52.000Is there ever a way to talk about it where someone says, let's just say this argument, say, hey, so-and-so, you should pay this much money to so-and-so, and instead of going like, what the fuck, I do this and this, instead of going that, I go, well, hmm, let me think about that.
00:09:03.000Why should I or shouldn't I pay this person this much money or less money or more money and just have a nice conversation about it?
00:09:18.000Just to call the people and schedule the times and have them come in, I wouldn't want to do it.
00:09:25.000I went from going to doing open mics with a lot of these people that I have on these shows or just going to different clubs and doing stage time and never doing real shows with these people.
00:09:37.000So when I decided to take on this crazy shit, it was more like, hey, I got access to this room.
00:09:43.000I can make a show and we can get all together and we can have a show once a week.
00:09:52.000One of the things we were talking about, though, when we had this conversation with Madrigal and you there at the Ice House those nights, one of the things we were all saying is, and we'll just take the money.
00:12:30.000Because honestly, I am so fucking busy that I don't even need to deal with any of this.
00:12:36.000I would rather just do this podcast, be happy, do everyone else's podcast, be happy, and not have something that's such a big deal that I thought was just helping friends out.
00:12:48.000I think it is a lot more responsibility and a little extra thing that you have to chew on every week.
00:12:55.000And I think it can still be done and done through the Ice House.
00:12:58.000This way, the Ice House pays people and we'll set aside a chunk of it so you can get paid for running the Ice House Chronicles while the show is going on.
00:14:02.000I bring stuff up to you outside the podcast.
00:14:04.000Let's talk about your fucking paychecks.
00:14:05.000Let's talk about what you do for a living.
00:14:07.000It's very understandable, Brian, but do you understand that you get into this really angry, defensive position with people that aren't even attacking you?
00:14:46.000Should they lead with you every time and say, hey, just so you know, you do a lot of great things for me, but I'd like to bring up this one thing?
00:15:53.000We should be talking about fucking farts in Olive Garden.
00:15:56.000We don't have to talk about only farts and all, Brian.
00:15:59.000This is a good conversation for all of us.
00:16:03.000It's a good conversation for me to understand that sometimes you don't feel like you're getting enough credit for all the work you're doing for all those guys that are on your network.
00:16:11.000You've built this It's a platform where a lot of people find you.
00:16:14.000Find people because of that platform that you've built up.
00:16:15.000And I've been very supportive of it, Brian.
00:18:34.000When Duncan said that, he was out of line.
00:18:36.000And he was upset at you because he was making an argument about South by Southwest.
00:18:40.000And he didn't feel that you should have been interjecting what you were saying when his whole argument was about they offered him to come out there and not pay him.
00:18:48.000It's a silly, emotional thing between two guys that got dragged out in a public way that was unfortunate and unnecessary.