Sin Bin owner Chris Hall has launched a website that promotes local comedians and comedy shows
It’s not a big secret. Yuk Yuk’s are not just noises made by Ewoks, but also a central stand-up venue to Vancouver, and Russell Peters is not our sole Canadian comedy export. Despite having a lively comedy scene and talented stand-up comedians, Vancouverites seem to know very little about comedy in the country and the city. The problem is simple: those looking for a few good laughs have no idea when comedy gigs are happening, and who’s in them.
“There’s probably 20 to 25 comedy shows a week in Vancouver,” said Chris Hall, owner of The Sin Bin, “but people just don’t know about [the shows] or don’t know how to find them.”
After observing friends in the industry and their frustrations with getting audiences together, Hall founded My ComedyBook. The new networking platform is a hybrid between a catalogue like IMDb, and a promotion platform like MySpace or Facebook. “I found it weird that there was no centralized database for comedy and comedians. Even burlesque has more out there online than comedy does!” said Hall.
Designed to eliminate the void between fan, comedy booker, and comedian, My ComedyBook’s homepage lists upcoming comedy shows in your region and displays a reel of featured local comedians that have received the most ‘laughs’, similar to a ‘like’ on Facebook. Events can be clicked on to reveal performers who have individualized profiles with a ‘Book Me’ button for event organizers. The profiles provide a user-friendly experience and allow visitors to find comedians and their future events, read a biography, and watch high-quality performance videos.
This is essential for comedians because it provides fans with a place to learn about them and pass fair judgment on their sense of humour (or lack thereof). My ComedyBook may also ease the booking struggles faced by comedy venues like Yuk Yuks, benefiting both performer and entrepreneur. “[Comedy] is not like work experience, where you can look at a piece of paper and see that you’ve performed here and here. You really have to know if they’re funny or not in order to put them in a show,” said Hall.
Some have argued that Facebook has the same basic video-sharing and event-creating functions while being even more accessible, but My ComedyBook addresses an entirely new demographic. “Rather than just advertising to their friends on Facebook, they can reach a wider demographic of people that are actively searching for comedy shows,” said Hall.
“It’s a specialized thing. If you went on Facebook right now, you would have trouble finding a comedy show tonight in Vancouver. Unless you’re friends with a comedian on Facebook, and unless you’re one of his 400 friends, other people have no way to find out about the shows that he’s doing at pubs and bars around Vancouver.”
Ideally, My ComedyBook will also function for regions outside of Vancouver. “We’re starting with North America to see how that goes, and branch out if that goes well,” said Hall. “There’s a lot in Europe as well, but I think the main demographic is in North America, with the big cities being Vancouver, Montreal, L.A, and New York. We’ll start with that.”
Sin Bin owner Chris Hall has launched a website that promotes local comedians and comedy shows
