What % of gross revenues go to a well known comedian

It’s always a mistake to gauge someone’s fame based on what you personally know. Quinn’s IMDb page lists about 100 credits since SNL, and that doesn’t count his series of acclaimed one-man shows on Broadway, one of them directed by Jerry Seinfeld. He also seems to be a big deal on Twitter. He’s not someone I would pay to see but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t built up a huge following over the decades.

But use him as a baseline. If you think there should be hundreds of comics at a higher level, then start naming them. See how far you get. And then remember that only a small fraction of that number are touring as opposed to doing other work.

Wow, Dr. Dirty John Valby is still around and doing shows? I haven’t heard about him in years…he’s going to be 15 minutes from my house in a few Saturdays and ticket are only $15…huh…

I’ve often wondered the same thing, one of my young colleagues and her SO frequent the Funny Bone, a local comedy club, and they really enjoy it. The comedians that perform there, relatively known people at best, are probably working for the door while the club earns the food and beverage profits. She’s told me most of them stick around after the show, take selfies with the audience, hawk merch and sign autographs - it’s a hustler’s life, not in a bad way, it’s just the only way they’ll make it is to work as much as possible.

Valby’s a perfect example, in all the years I haven’t thought about him (saw him in college in Upstate NY back in the early '80s), according to his Wiki page, he’s still releasing CDs, touring, doing as many show as possible for $15 a head…gotta give the man credit…and to the OP’s original question, I wonder how much money he’s taken home over the years versus what he’s earned for others?

According to the talent website listed above, John Mulaney makes $75-150K per gig.

StG

How about comedians working on cruise ships? Is room/board deducted from their pay, or part of the package?

Which, in Foxworthy, is “rightcheer!” It’s the same dialect as “jeetyet?”.

When this thread started in 2013, Foxworthy’s fee was $150K-250K.

Today it’s $75K-149K.

Ouch!

Jeff’s estimated worth is around $100 Million, I think he’ll be ok.

I was thinking more of the psychological pain of having once been at the top and now pulling less than half of that. I’m sure he’s not hurting financially, but that has to sting the ego a little.

there are bands or singers that used to be big and now play at state fairs and other small venues. Not everybody can have a career that stays at the top until they retire or die.

I don’t think he was at the top, Jim Gaffigan charges 300-499k for a private event.

There is a documentary called ‘pauley shore stands alone’ that is interesting. Shore goes on a comedy tour, and he spends a good part of the tour lamenting that his career is nowhere near as good as it was in the 90s. I guess it depends on the person. I’m sure a lot of people understand that fame is fleeing and just milk it for what its worth while it lasts, knowing it won’t be there forever.

Foxworthy is “the top-selling comedy recording artist of all time”. At his height he was certainly the top comic and sold out arenas.

This^. It’s just that the fees weren’t as high when he WAS at the top as they are now, whether through the normal inflation of value or because the supply/demand ratio for top-flight stand-up comedians wasn’t as skewed to the demand side as it is now (let’s face it, the golden age of stand-up as far as supply goes was the 80s/90s).

Being a comedy nerd and listening to a lot of podcasts where the nuts and bolts of the business gives some perspective.

Colin Quinn is one of the most universally respected comics amongst other comics. His one man shows were hits and very smart productions. He is much better known as a standup than by his tv work.

I don’t know but that’s pretty much the bottom rung of comedy. Calling someone a boat act is one of the go to insults comics throw at each other. That’s not counting specialty cruises.

He had his own show on Comedy Central (that’s where I know most of the other comedians from the past 10-15 years from; they were all on his show) for a couple years and has been in many movies and TV shows and Broadway shows, as well as many many guest appearances on everything from comedy shows to talk and cooking shows. Even hosting Weekend Update is a little different than a “bit player.”