When Humour fails to “tickle” the cash register

It was the show of a renowned comedian. All front row seats had a common feature. They were unoccupied.

The main act came on stage. He poked fun at how people at Thane, in Mumbai’s neighbourhood, had a lot of money. They bought the tickets, but never turned up, he claimed on stage. Was that a lame attempt at covering up? One can never be sure.

But this act of swathes of empty white seats showed up again at the show of a globally renowned stand up sometime back in Mumbai. This time, the comedian didn’t draw the attention of the masses to the seats. But it was the high point of discussion after the show —especially among those who had paid up. This is a point when consumers start questioning their own actions, or start putting the word out.

It’s not difficult to see the reason behind the no-show. Humour is no longer in short supply— reaching us through several manifestations from short reels to real lives.

Stand up comedians have the real problem of over supply. Their managers are not making things easy by overpricing tickets. Sometimes a comedy live show can buy you two movie tickets, or a couple of beers at an upmarket hangout. Is the golden egg bearing hen theory repeating itself?

Another theory is that humour isn’t selling. At least advertising folks started believing in it sometime ago, if you go by the anecdotal decline of humour in advertising (something that this column touched upon earlier).

The other thing that is giving Stand Up Comedy a real run for its money are the live music acts. And there’s only limited money and time for the audience to decide where they want to park themselves.

Of course, there was an oversupply on the live music scene too, but the economics are making both organisers and sponsors be more prudent.

For groups hanging out for a good time, the huddle at a concert is far more suited for a display of camaraderie than the usual theatre seating of a comedy show, where you can have only so much choice on who you can surround yourself with. Yes, that’s a factor of what age group one belongs to. And a significant section of people in their 30s or 40s (with real disposable income) are preferring to spend quality time at home.

Will stand up comedians take one serious look at their business? Or did we ROFL their feathers and prep them up for a solid comeback?

(The author is the editor of ETBrandEqity.com. This weekly column offers a sneak peek into the discussions, debates and introspection in our editorial team.)