News: Comedy Report Confirms Rise of Women

Ticketmaster today reveals that female comedians are enjoying an unprecedented surge in popularity, with ticket sales having trebled since 2011. The finding forms part of Ticketmaster’s State of Play: Comedy report, the most comprehensive study ever done into the UK comedy industry which also divulges where, how and who with, we enjoy comedy, and shows just who and what tickles our funny bones.

The report names Lee Evans as the UK’s favourite comedian, reveals that heckling and updating social media during a gig is unacceptable, and also confirms a 46% increase in comedy events outside of London.

The State of Play: Comedy report, produced by Ticketmaster’s LiveAnalytics division, surveyed 2499 members of the British public including 1259 comedy attendeesand combined findings with ticket sales to produce a wide-ranging set of insights.

Women in comedy

With events on sale for female comedians up 1064% since 2009 and Ticketmaster sales for female comedians having trebled since 2011; shows by female comedians now account for 14% of all comedy events sold, as opposed to 2% in 2009. Leading lights include Miranda Hart and Sarah Millican, who have both gone on extensive national tours this year, and have topped the list of highest selling female comedians since 2009.

Famous comedians

The pull of famous funny men and women is significant, with the top-five selling comedians also named as the nation’s favourite comedians. Over half (51%) of comedy attendees wouldn’t pay to see someone they hadn’t already seen on TV, whilst two thirds (67%) would rather go to a big comedy tour with a famous comedian rather than a smaller event with mostly unknowns.  That said, the other half of comedy attendees who would be happy to watch a comedian they haven’t previously seen on TV also mention wanting to support new talent and try out something new.

Ticket sales figures back this up, with the top-5 selling events since 2009 accounting for over half of comedy tickets sold each year (yearly average of 59%). 63% of comedy attendees have been to at least one of the top selling performers’ shows, whilst almost a third (29%) have been to three or more. Over a fifth (22%) of tickets for big arena events are sold the day they go on sale.

The UK’s favourite comedian (based on 1259 comedy attendees) was Lee Evans, closely followed by Michael McIntyre.

Arenas vs. regional theatres

Whilst the most popular comedians tend to fill sold-out arenas, the results also suggest that comedy attendees prefer regional theatres (39%) to arenas (29%). Indeed, regional comedy events are up 46% since 2009, with more than half (51%) performed in regional theatres.

Why we go to comedy gigs and who we go with

The majority of attendees go for the comedian (62%). The top reason for attending was for a fun night out (42%), followed by for a special occasion (28%). Proving that comedy is very much a social experience, the majority go in groups of three (38%) and a further 37% in groups of four or more.

We are most likely to go to events with our partners (39%) over friends (31%) and family (19%),even though only just over half (55%) admit they share the same sense of humour as their other halves. A die-hard group, 9% of comedy attendees even go alone, mainly men (68%) aged 25-34 (29%).  

However, it seems that comedy events are not the time for romance, as despite our partners being our most common companions only 2% of comedy attendees usually go to one on a date. Perhaps this is down to men and women’s different senses of humour:

Sense of humour

Men are more likely to believe they have a better sense of humour than their partners compared to  women– citing reasons such as ‘My comedy taste is more academic/cerebral/clever than my wife’ and ‘I’m weirder than her.’

Differences in what types of humour men and women find funny are also apparent, with males finding sexual, death, religious, race and toilet humour funnier than females, who were less impressed with these types of jokes. 

The biggest differences in what men and women find funny In terms of comedy styles, just under a quarter (24%) like comedy that tells a story best,  21% prefer dry humour, over one in ten (12%) love sketches, whilst dark humour appeals the most to a tenth (10%)

Differences in what different regions of the UK find funny are also evident. Scotland found toilet humour the least funny, whilst only Yorkshire didn’t find sexual jokes acceptable. The South West, North West, North East and Scotland all found humour about countries/regions funniest, whilst the West Midlands, Wales, the East and South East all preferred humour about the economy. Northern Ireland and Yorkshire found jokes about education tickled their funny-bones the most, whereas for London and the East Midlands it was politics.

Audience behaviour during comedy events

When their funny bones are tickled, 59% of comedy attendees admitted they have laughed so hard they cried, 57% so much that their cheeks hurt, a quarter (25%) have spat out their drink and one in 20 (5%) have even wet themselves!

However it seems that overall comedy attendees are quite conservative, with only one in five (20%) thinking it’s OK to heckle, and a mere 3% doing it regularly. Checking phones was only seen as acceptable by 9%, even though almost a third (32%) admit to having done it.  A mere 13% think it is acceptable to update social media during gigs – although 21% admit to having done it.

What we spend and drink

When it comes to how much we’re prepared to shell out for a ticket to see a comedian, the majority (45%) would be willing to pay £30-59 for a ticket. However, over three quarters (77%) of the 30% of us who want to be closer to the action at the front would be more likely to pay more for seats. Over a quarter (27%) would only be willing to spend up to £10 on merchandise. Over a quarter (27%) don’t drink alcohol at comedy events at all, whilst the majority (40%) drink an average of 2-5 units.

After they have returned from the event, 17% of comedy attendees write reviews – most on social media (60%).

Ticketmaster’s Vice President of Insight, Sophie Crosby, said: “The report shows that the shared experience of attending comedy events is something that truly unites us, not just as families and couples but as friends – even though we may have differences in humour! The industry is in rude health and it’s fantastic to see that the public are engaging in a range of options for seeing live comedy – from arena tours with the country’s biggest comedians to shows in smaller regional venues.”

Comedian Shappi Khorsandi added: “It’s great to see the surge in female comedians, stamping out the prejudice. We have still further to go though, I'd like to see more female comics enjoying the dominance that men do on the bigger stages. Perhaps we are not capturing the public’s imagination in the same way, but it is all changing for the better and we are well on the way to enjoying equal success with our comedy brothers."

I was asked to comment on the findings by Ticketmaster and what struck me most was the rise in live shows by female comedians. I knew that there were more female comedians performing but this dramatic increase clearly demonstrates that there is a huge demand for funny women. Fortunately there is a rapidly growing number of gifted female comedians out there to meet the demand. It was fascinating to discover that men think that they have a better sense of humour than women, and I was also interested to see that 17% of comedy fans write reviews after gigs. They are all after my job. There’s a saying that everyone is a critic. That not be completely true, but this survey does confirm that 17% think they are.

Click here to read the full report.

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