You’d hire a DJ.
Hire a comedian instead.
When people plan a party, a DJ, a band, a photographer and a caterer all come to mind in the first five minutes. A stand-up comedian almost never does — not because it doesn’t work, but because it never occurs to anyone. Here is how to hire a comedian, start to finish.
What are you planning?
Choose the kind of event. We’ll carry it into the inquiry.
A DJ
Background for a room that talks over it. Works for dancing, does nothing for a seated crowd that came to be entertained together.
A cover band
Loud, expensive, needs a stage, a load-in and two hours of setup. A comic needs a microphone and a place to stand.
A stand-up comic
Forty-five minutes where everyone in the room is facing the same direction, laughing at the same thing. Then it’s over and the night keeps going.
What people hire a comedian for
The middle of the market: small businesses and private hosts.
Company parties
Holiday party, sales kickoff, a shop with forty people and a rented back room — ask for a clean set, and say how long.
Milestone birthdays
Fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth. Someone who can work the guest of honor into the set without making it a roast — unless you want a roast.
Fundraisers
A comic between dinner and the ask keeps the room warm and buys the auction a better audience than a slideshow does.
Weddings & rehearsal dinners
Usually the rehearsal dinner rather than the reception. Clean, short, and it beats the fourth toast from a cousin.
Four kinds of act
The kinds of comic people book for their own events, by career level, so you know what you're asking for before you hire a comedian. D.O.C. puts no price on a comedian or a tier: a number comes from that performer or their representative, and nowhere else.
Local headliner
A strong regional act or a club feature. Backyards, house shows, small private rooms of 15–50 people.
- Usually drives in, no flights
- 30–45 minutes
- Bring your own sound, or the room's
Working road headliner
A professional who headlines clubs nationally, often with a half-hour special or late-night credits. Handles a difficult room and can work clean on request.
- Travel and hotel usually on top
- 45–60 minutes
- Will often write custom material for the host
Credited event specialist
Comics who specifically work the private and association market. Recognizable credits, and used to rooms that can't go wrong — ask for a clean set and they know what that means.
- Riders, production and travel requirements
- Often booked through an agency — find one in Your Team's directory
- Books months out
Name you'd recognize
Theater and arena acts. Realistic only for large private events, and negotiated entirely through their agency.
- Strict rider: travel, hotel, staging
- Agency handles everything
- Quote-only
Hire a comedian already booked near you that week, and there's no flight to pay for: See Them Now shows who's on the road, and where.
The thing that quietly ruins private gigs
When you hire a comedian, the one thing to settle first: who brings the PA. You hired a DJ once and they showed up with speakers, so “entertainer” reads as “brings their own gear.” A comic usually brings a notebook. The comic, meanwhile, assumes a venue has a microphone. Both are being reasonable. Then it's 7pm in a restaurant back room and there's nothing to talk into.
Who brings sound?
A mic, a stand, a speaker and a cable. That's the entire rig. Decide who owns it before anything else.
- The venue's ceiling speakers are not a PA
- A karaoke machine genuinely works in a small room
- Some comics travel with a kit — ask, don't assume
Somewhere to stand
Not a stage — just a spot where everyone can see them, with the audience facing it. A comic working from the middle of a room loses half the crowd.
- Light on the performer, not behind them
- Seating pointed one direction
- A wall behind them beats a window
Close the kitchen door
Blenders, espresso machines, a bar running drinks and a band setting up next door will beat a microphone every time. Plan the set for a quiet window.
- Tell the kitchen the start time
- Pause the music entirely, don't just lower it
- Outdoors is much harder than it sounds
Not after the toasts
A fed, seated, half-attentive room is the goal. Put the set before the bar has been open three hours, and never right after a long speech.
- 45 minutes is a full show for a private room
- Have someone introduce them properly
- Tell guests it's happening — surprises land badly
How to hire a comedian, step by step
Five decisions, in this order. Each one makes the next easier, and the inquiry below asks for each of them.
- Pick the event. A company party, a birthday, a fundraiser or a rehearsal dinner. The kind of room points to the kind of act.
- Set the length and the content level. Thirty to forty-five minutes suits a private room. Say clean if the room needs clean.
- Settle the sound. A mic, a stand, a speaker and a cable. Decide who brings them.
- Know your budget. Name a range, and the comic or their representative will say what it buys.
- Send the inquiry. Use the form below, the booking contact on the comic's own website, or an agency in Your Team's directory.
Want to see someone before you hire a comedian for the night? The Comedy Calendar shows who is on stage, night by night, and SUCDb holds each comic's record.
A business paying a performer directly can find the paperwork for independent contractors on the IRS page for independent contractors.
Send an inquiry.
Tell D.O.C. about the event and your budget. D.O.C. isn't taking inquiries yet, so yours is prepared and kept on this device, ready to copy. An inquiry does not hold a date, set a fee or create a booking.
Tell D.O.C. about the event and your budget. A complete inquiry goes to D.O.C. from your own mail app and is forwarded to the comedian or an authorized representative. An inquiry does not hold a date, set a fee or create a booking.