STAGE TIME Magazine: Marty Fischer

That was a big accident. I was doing restaurant investment putting up money in restaurants
and comedy looked liked an interesting thing to me. At that point, I grew up and lived in
Brooklyn near Pips, one of the first comedy clubs. I had never been in a comedy club - not
even Pips. I decided that it looked like a nice business and I liked to open a comedy club. I
was introduced to Jackie Mason and I approached him with the idea. He said, "We'll open a
Jackie Mason comedy club." It was the late 80s when comedy fell apart, so we wound up not
opening a club.

But at that time I met Michelle LaFong. She was performing and we became friends. I
started helping her...and I wound up managing her. She was new. I was new and we kind of
grew together. I didn't take on any other clients for at least five or six years because I felt I
didn't have the connections. Here we are 15 years later, and my first client Michelle LaFong is
still my client and best friend.

How did you learn your way around in the business?

The same way comics do it. You just be out there and be in the clubs. I went to the festivals.
I went to the competitions. I was in the clubs late at night. I struggled with my comics to get
them on at clubs. It's not an overnight process. Most comics don't "make it" until after 12,
15 years in the business. I found that every year, I went up another step being recognized
in the business.

At what point in your career did you feel as though you had "made it?"

I still don't feel I have made it. I'm striving to be better. I just want new challenges. It was
really fun and exciting to be at a new location for the Improv and really put it back on the
map in this marketplace. I felt I did that with the Vegas festival and creating a new Expo.

How did you get started working in the festival business?

I guess I got bored. It came out of being a comedy manager. I did large shows in Atlantic
City and Las Vegas. The Vegas festival wasn't really going to happen. They did three years
and were kind of running out of steam, so I took the opportunity and wanted to keep it
going. And off of that, we were asked to do one in New York. In a short period of time,
rather than look for a hotel, we did it at the Improv.

How did the opportunity to produce the Original
Las Vegas Comedy Festival come about?

I've helped other festivals to some degree:
Boston [International Comedy and Movie
Festival,] the Original Las Vegas Comedy
Festival and then there was one in New Orleans.
Last year, I had the opportunity to take over
producing the Original Las Vegas Comedy
Festival. Unfortunately, it ran in October or
November. I didn't make the deal until
September or October and rather than wait 12
months, I developed a partnership
with NATPE (National Association of Television
Program Executives).

We started a comedy section at NATPE in
January, so we brought the Original Las Vegas
Comedy Festival to the NATPE floor...They
sectioned off an area called "Comedy Pavilion"
and we put in only comedy-related booths and
had a large space to showcase comics.

In the evenings, we ran a show each night at The Comedy Stop in Tropicana and the NATPE
attendees came. There were a number of comics who were looked at and got work out of it -
even representation.

What has been your most challenging experience as a manager?

Getting the talent to a point where they pass at City clubs and TV spots.

It has been said that comics don't really need a manager. What is the difference between a
manager and an agent. At what point does a comedian need a manager?

For the most part, you don't need representation until you're out there 5,6,8 or 10 years.
You'll know when you're ready. Of course, representation will seek you out. We're all in the
clubs and we all hear word of mouth from our clients, club owners or comic friends who say,
"Hey, you gotta come out and see this person." Some people never need a manager or an
agent because they are self-promoting that we can't do anymore for them than they're doing
for themselves.

The difference between an agent and a manager is five percent. We get five percent more. A
manager is really around to help you work, nurture your career, guide you and negotiate for
you. It becomes like a family. We're there to protect your interest and help you grow. And to
give you the time to be creative and not worry about booking yourself. An agent has a job to
do. They'll book you on it, they want their commission but they don't care if the job is the
right job for you.

What do you look for when you're scouting for talent?

One of my pet peeves and most important thing when I look at talent is people who work
clean. I don't want to hear from talent, "This is my dirty stuff but I can work clean." You can't
work both ways. You're blue or you're clean. You know that to do TV, you have to be clean.
And if you want to work across the country and make a living the rest of your life, then you
can do whatever you want. A lot of people point out the rare exception where someone works
dirty and made it to TV. And I don't know the numbers. There's a 100,000 comics out there,
maybe a thousand will become recognizable. Maybe 25-50 or even 100 dirty comics will
become recognizable. That's the main thing I look at and then their attitude.

What is your most proudest moment?

That's a hard one to say...I know I'm most proud when I'm around the talent that I've
worked with when I see them accomplish something. It's also a proud moment that in all the
years you're in the business to be a part of the Improv. My associate Al Martin, really put
together the room on 53rd Street. He's just so good at what he does and really has the
recipe for the New York market. The two of us are always laughing because we're really two
guys who came from Brooklyn that were in all kinds of other businesses before we got into
comedy, and now we feel we're both a force in comedy being part of the Improv.

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