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BACK ISSUES INTERVIEWS Stand-Up Comedians Jim Norton Robert Kelly Donnell Rawlings Brad Stine Tammy Pescatelli Leighann Lord George Sarris Nick DiPaolo Russ Meneve Shang and more By Tasha Harris, NYC Comedy Journalist STAGE TIME The Magazine That Stands Up For Comedy |
It was just a matter of making everyone aware of what it should be, how it hasn’t changed in
20 years and how do you feel about it. We had overwhelming feedback and had a meeting and
went from there.
Why do you think so much time passed before someone stepped up to the plate?
It was just having the right leaders to do it. We were passionate enough to do all the work.
How much work went into organizing the Coalition?
Bringing everyone together is a lot of work. Uniting people for a cause is very hard to do,
especially comedians. People were really afraid of the cause. Some people were afraid of the
clubs, some were for the clubs, and some were behind the raise, but not for other things,
so to keep the whole ship together, to get the goal accomplished was really hard. We had to
go about very slowly…the bulk of the work is keeping the group together and going about it in
a very civil and dignified way with the clubs. I think back to how many conference calls we had;
we were on the phone for hours.
I noticed that in the beginning, there was a lot of press, but in the end there was very little
follow up.
Once there was a resolution, there was no story. People wanted to see a big strike with cameras
in the street.
What was the outcome?
They went up on the money. It’s a little different with each club. On average, it’s $20 or $25
during the week. I know before comics would get $10 and sometimes as low as $5. On the
weekends, it went up to about average $80 from $60.
What kind of feedback did you receive from the comics?
I think they were very supportive of it. The only people that really fought it were the club owners.
Some comedians were not really behind it, which I found shocking.
Why?
I think some were afraid of losing their spots because we were challenging the clubs.
Did the cause benefit all comics?
It benefited everyone who works, that’s working at a club, even the people who weren’t behind it.
What’s next for the Coalition because I saw a letter that you sent out in regards to comics
getting paid for their sets that are used by digital media companies?
We sent out an email because there are a lot of companies are trying to build these massive
libraries for this whole new media revolution that’s happening and they’re giving comedians very
little money and they’re profiting. They want to own the sets and perpetuity, which means they
would own it forever. The comedians were signing and I tried to put a stop to it, and luckily I did.
People just don’t think. They’d be like, “Yeah I’ll sign it, give me $20” and the companies bank
all their material and then use it, sell it to Verizon and make millions of dollars and that would
be end of it. Luckily, we got the word out.
Find out a rate you want to do it for and at the very least, get that perpetuity agreement out. If
they want to hold it for a year, and then maybe use it, that’s one thing; but to own it forever,
that’s too much.
It seems like comics need a performing rights organization –
Or a union really–
Because they’ll make sure you get paid.
If you try to unionize, they don’t want to do it. I don’t why but people are afraid of unions.
20 years and how do you feel about it. We had overwhelming feedback and had a meeting and
went from there.
Why do you think so much time passed before someone stepped up to the plate?
It was just having the right leaders to do it. We were passionate enough to do all the work.
How much work went into organizing the Coalition?
Bringing everyone together is a lot of work. Uniting people for a cause is very hard to do,
especially comedians. People were really afraid of the cause. Some people were afraid of the
clubs, some were for the clubs, and some were behind the raise, but not for other things,
so to keep the whole ship together, to get the goal accomplished was really hard. We had to
go about very slowly…the bulk of the work is keeping the group together and going about it in
a very civil and dignified way with the clubs. I think back to how many conference calls we had;
we were on the phone for hours.
I noticed that in the beginning, there was a lot of press, but in the end there was very little
follow up.
Once there was a resolution, there was no story. People wanted to see a big strike with cameras
in the street.
What was the outcome?
They went up on the money. It’s a little different with each club. On average, it’s $20 or $25
during the week. I know before comics would get $10 and sometimes as low as $5. On the
weekends, it went up to about average $80 from $60.
What kind of feedback did you receive from the comics?
I think they were very supportive of it. The only people that really fought it were the club owners.
Some comedians were not really behind it, which I found shocking.
Why?
I think some were afraid of losing their spots because we were challenging the clubs.
Did the cause benefit all comics?
It benefited everyone who works, that’s working at a club, even the people who weren’t behind it.
What’s next for the Coalition because I saw a letter that you sent out in regards to comics
getting paid for their sets that are used by digital media companies?
We sent out an email because there are a lot of companies are trying to build these massive
libraries for this whole new media revolution that’s happening and they’re giving comedians very
little money and they’re profiting. They want to own the sets and perpetuity, which means they
would own it forever. The comedians were signing and I tried to put a stop to it, and luckily I did.
People just don’t think. They’d be like, “Yeah I’ll sign it, give me $20” and the companies bank
all their material and then use it, sell it to Verizon and make millions of dollars and that would
be end of it. Luckily, we got the word out.
Find out a rate you want to do it for and at the very least, get that perpetuity agreement out. If
they want to hold it for a year, and then maybe use it, that’s one thing; but to own it forever,
that’s too much.
It seems like comics need a performing rights organization –
Or a union really–
Because they’ll make sure you get paid.
If you try to unionize, they don’t want to do it. I don’t why but people are afraid of unions.