A tour of your own is a route through towns where people have already bought tickets, each date under terms you’ve read. Build it from your city scorecards, confirm every hold, deposit and cancellation term in writing, settle each night cleanly, and change the route from what each town left you.
Where you are, the tests for the next stop, and the steps between, in the order most comics take them. The steps are the Career Field Manual's; mark each one as you go, and the day goes in your passport.
The next stop runs alongside the routes: a release of your own. Its partners set their own terms, so these are the tests to meet before you record. Tick each one when it’s true for you.
0 of 4 true
16 steps in 5 parts, from the Career Field Manual. Each has its “done when”, a D.O.C. tool for it, and your status, note and target date; star up to twelve for your 90-day plan.
From the Career Field Manual: Grow the act without padding and Host, feature and headline. In the D.O.C. book: topics 51–70, 115–131 and 435–455.
Grow the act without padding · set-08
Test the full set in front of paying rooms before you offer it to venues as a headline show.
Done when A full headline-length performance in a real room.
Host, feature and headline · roles-07
Done when Recorded versions and audience notes.
From the Career Field Manual: Route the road, not the poster and Turn one good night into a return. In the D.O.C. book: topics 197–233, 314–347, 348–366, 383–399 and 435–455.
Route the road, not the poster · road-09
Start the route from the towns on your scorecard where both the paid count and what the night left you held up.
Done when Actual draw, attendance and net by town.
Turn one good night into a return · audience-08
Done when A return-date decision based on demand.
Route the road, not the poster · road-03
Confirm the dates that carry the run first; add the nights between once those are firm.
Done when A route with confirmed dates distinguished.
From the Career Field Manual: Produce your own night, Get paid. Keep records. and Choose help when it solves a problem. In the D.O.C. book: topics 197–233, 258–289, 234–289 and 290–313.
Produce your own night · produce-04
Done when Who sells, refunds, markets and settles.
Get paid. Keep records. · money-07
Done when Your own worked example with assumptions.
Choose help when it solves a problem · team-05
Read each venue’s or promoter’s contract for its radius and exclusivity terms, and its cancellation terms, before you sign.
Done when The agreement reviewed before signing.
Choose help when it solves a problem · team-06
Done when Lawyer or accountant engaged when needed.
From the Career Field Manual: Turn one good night into a return. In the D.O.C. book: topics 348–366, 383–399 and 435–455.
Turn one good night into a return · audience-01
Done when A date page with no phantom ticket links.
Turn one good night into a return · audience-05
Done when A basic city-level result log.
Turn one good night into a return · audience-07
Bring what your audience has asked for, in small numbers first, and know the venue’s cut before the table goes up.
Done when Simple margin and inventory assumptions.
From the Career Field Manual: Route the road, not the poster, Get paid. Keep records. and Build a career you can keep. In the D.O.C. book: topics 197–233, 314–347, 234–289 and 400–455.
Route the road, not the poster · road-07
Done when Show advance and load-in instructions.
Route the road, not the poster · road-08
What each date left you after its share of the miles, the rooms and the meals: the run’s total, not the best night’s gross.
Done when Post-tour reconciliation, not ticket gross.
Get paid. Keep records. · money-06
Done when A documented money-handling routine.
Build a career you can keep · sustain-07
Done when Backup of gigs, clips and agreements.
Habits, not a timetable: the atlas has no stopwatch. Keep these going, and the proof for this stop builds up week by week.
Each buyer's published rule, quoted from its own page, checked on 10 November 2026. They differ, so send each one what its page asks for, and read the page again before you send.
Headlining is for comics with an established body of work, and it asks for a 45–60 minute clip of the material you’d bring.
Headlining opportunities are reserved for comedians with an established body of work and enough material to perform a 45–60 minute headlining set.
Short clips, individual jokes, social media reels, or 5–20 minute sets are not sufficient for headlining consideration.
Lexy’s Comedy Club’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
A venue may ask you not to run other shows nearby around its date: Q.E.D. asks its producers not to produce or regularly host other shows in Astoria for two months either side, and encourages performers to perform wherever they can.
QED encourages performers to perform wherever and whenever they can.
We do, however, ask QED producers not to produce or regularly host other shows in Astoria (anywhere else is a-okay!) within 2 months before or after their QED show.
Q.E.D. Astoria’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
A producer that presents headliners’ shows publishes its refund rule for ticket buyers, and asks comics for their dates in its town.
Your purchase can be refunded up to 24 hours before the listed show time.
Your available dates in Cleveland
Henceforth Comedy’s page ↗ · checked 10 November 2026
Places that publish how a touring show gets in, each checked on 10 November 2026. Save one to your booking desk to keep its status, a follow-up date and a note. 62 places in all, on the Career Atlas →
Published routeEugene, OR · Produce a show · Email
For producers with a proven show concept, an established audience and a track record: a show description, promotional images, a promo reel from the actual show, links to past shows, attendance and ticket sales averages or reports, your website or EPK, and the dates you want.
Worth knowing. It is building a permanent home in Eugene; for now its shows are pop-ups.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeEugene, OR · Headline · Email
Headlining is for comics with an established body of work and a 45–60 minute set; its page lists what to send for each kind of opportunity.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeCleveland, OH · Independent show · Email
A high-quality video of a recent five-minute set and your credits: festivals, clubs, television and other professional bookings.
Worth knowing. It can’t answer every submission; send again after 90 days with a new video.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeDenver, CO · Independent show · Email
Shows at craft breweries across the Denver metro area, with comics from across the country: email your name, a submission tape and the dates you’re looking to be booked.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeAstoria, NY · Produce a show · Form
Tell it about your show or event through the form on its page. Its baseline for new shows and producers: a ticket split with no rental or up-front costs, up to 50 tickets, generally, at a price you set; the first $50 to $125 in sales, by night, goes to Q.E.D., producers guarantee that amount, and the rest is split 50/50.
Worth knowing. It asks its producers not to produce or regularly host other shows in Astoria within two months before or after their Q.E.D. show.
Checked 10 November 2026Published routeBurbank, CA · Produce a show · Form
A proposal for a show you produce: the concept, the room you want, your audience and your marketing plan.
Worth knowing. The form asks whether you can buy $200 worth of tickets to hold the space: know the terms before you agree.
Checked 10 November 2026Venues and promoters set their own terms; the ones on this page that publish theirs are under Where to send it. For each date, ask for the terms, read them whole, and get professional advice on any contract you’re unsure of.
In each date’s contractRoad Maps: the Math of a Gig, with your own numbers · Get Paid, Get Back: the deal in writing · The IRS on gig work ↗
Fill in what you know once: it fills every note below and stays on this device. Anything left blank shows in [brackets], to fill in by hand.
Subject: Hold request: [Your name], [The city], [The dates you're asking for] Hi [The venue's contact], I'm [Your name], touring [Your show's name], and I'd like to ask about a hold at [The venue] on [The dates you're asking for]. The show: [Your set length, in minutes] minutes, [The show, in one line]. My last date in [The city]: [Your last show there, or that it's your first] Could you send your terms: the rent or the split, any deposit, the ticketing fees, and when you settle? Thank you, [Your name]
Subject: [The city], [The confirmed date]: confirming our terms Hi [The venue's contact], To confirm [Your show's name] at [The venue] on [The confirmed date]: The money: [The rent or split, as arithmetic] Deposit: [The deposit, and when it's due] Tickets: [Who sells, the price and the fees] Radius: [Any radius terms] Settlement: [When and how you settle] If either of us cancels: [What happens if it's cancelled] If anything here is wrong, tell me and I'll correct it before we sign. Thank you, [Your name]
Subject: Advancing [Your show's name], [The venue], [The confirmed date] Hi [The venue's contact], Looking forward to [The confirmed date]. A few things to confirm: 1. Load-in and sound check times? 2. Doors and showtime? 3. Mic, stand, light and a monitor? 4. A table for merch, and the venue's cut, if any? 5. Tickets sold so far, and the comps held? 6. Who settles with me, and when? Thank you, [Your name]
Tick each piece when you have it: the day goes in your passport with it. The passport keeps your whole career's record on this device, to download, print and review once a year.
Nothing yet: your status changes and ticks appear here, each with its day.
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The buyers' rules are quoted from each buyer's own page, checked on 10 November 2026. A buyer can change its rules at any time, so read its page before you send anything.
By D.O.C. Editorial. This is one stop of the Stand-Up Career Atlas: your own shows, stop 5 of 5. It's a way to plan, not a promise of bookings: it gives no expected years, its only figures are the ones buyers and venues publish on their own pages, and the buyers' rules are theirs. For what booking your own tour involves, read How do you book your own comedy tour?.
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