We are regularly asked by clients why we only do theatre style seating (rows of chairs) as opposed to tables and why it is part of our terms of agreement? Here is why: 

I have found in my experience in running hundreds of comedy shows for the last few years and after extensive conversations with our headliners, who have all been doing comedy for 20+ years, theatre style seating is a vastly better option. Tables lead to a less engaged audience. Not only is the audience facing each other, rather than the stage, they are also pushed further away, which ultimately means they end up talking. This is particularly they case for fundraiser shows where the audience is less familiar comedy and more used to things like trivia, where it is less disturbing to chat.

It also makes the venue look less far less professional, detracts from the atmosphere and will ultimately make the show 50% less well received even if people don’t talk. It is also much less social as people tend to just sit at their table and don’t move around and chat to different people before the show and during the break.

Ultimately, it will mean the show won’t go as well and therefore make it far less likely that you will sell as many tickets on repeat shows. About 9 out of 10 of our clients do follow up events with us, the ones that don’t are almost always the ones that insist on table seating. Anyone who works in Comedy will tell you that there are a lot of subtleties that make for a quality show and that no reasonable comedy club or theatre would ever have table seating.

If you wish to serve food and alcohol, we would strongly advise that you set up a food / bar area at the back of the room, that way people can eat, drink and socialise before the show and during the break, then go and take a seat when the show begins.

Part of the reason that Comedy For A Cause has such an exceptional track record is that we work with our clients to make sure that they avoid common mistakes like this one, because our goal is the same as yours – to put on the best show possible!

Once the clients see how much better the room is theatre style, they always ultimately thanks us for pushing for it. (You can often sell extra tickets too, because your not wasting space with tables).

“Matt turned up the night before and made some suggestions on our set up. I was sceptical, but followed his advise and was very happy that I did. It was such a great night” – Darin Crofts, VP Football, Campbelltown Harlequins

“It was a great show…. the comedians where brilliant. Thanks for all your hard work on this. The seating arrangement was definitely the right way to go! It all worked out fine in the end”. – Rebecca Williamson, Karuna Montessori School.