CB Comedy Booker

For Bookers

Questions to Ask Before Booking a Corporate Comedian (Pre-Booking Checklist)

· 7 min read

A corporate comedy booking has more potential failure modes than almost any other entertainment hire. The audience didn't choose to be there, the room is usually wrong, and the consequences of a bad show are visible to your CEO. The single best protection: a thorough pre-booking call.

This is the question list. Use all of it. A pro will answer every question without irritation; an amateur will get defensive at half of them. That's information.

About their corporate experience

  1. How many corporate events have you done in the past 12 months? (Looking for: at least 6–8.)
  2. What industries have you performed for? (Looking for: variety, ideally including yours.)
  3. Can I email a past corporate client for a reference? (A pro says yes immediately.)
  4. Have you ever bombed at a corporate event? What happened? (Pros have war stories and a calm answer. Comics who claim they've never bombed are lying.)

About content and tailoring

  1. How would you describe your content rating? G, PG, PG-13, R? (Be specific: "PG with no profanity" is different from "PG with mild profanity.")
  2. Will you avoid jokes about politics, religion, race, gender, body image, and our specific industry? (Get the list in writing if these matter.)
  3. Can you incorporate company-specific material? Where would you draw the line on inside jokes? (Pros do this well; amateurs do it badly.)
  4. What's your process for the days leading up to the event — will we get a chance to flag anything we're uncomfortable with? (Looking for: yes, ideally a brief call with someone from leadership.)

About the performance itself

  1. How long is the set, and what's your absolute minimum/maximum? (You want a 5-minute window of flexibility.)
  2. Do you do crowd work? Are you comfortable not doing it if our culture is more reserved? (Some audiences hate it. Better to know.)
  3. Will you stay for a meet-and-greet after? Any extra cost?
  4. Do you have a backup set if the room is small or the energy is low?
  5. What's your approach to a bombing audience — when do you call it and end early?

About video and recording

  1. Will you record any of this? (Default answer should be no, unless you've explicitly granted permission.)
  2. Can we record a few minutes for internal recap reels, with your approval on what gets used?
  3. Is the meet-and-greet photo-okay?

About logistics

  1. What's your tech rider — mic, monitor, lighting, stage size? (Get it in writing, in advance.)
  2. What time do you need to arrive for sound check?
  3. Will you arrive the day before? If your flight is delayed, what's the backup plan?
  4. What's your dietary requirement and green room request? (Most pros are simple — water, snacks, quiet.)

About money and the contract

  1. What's the deposit and refund schedule, in writing?
  2. What's the cancellation policy if our event is cancelled or postponed?
  3. If you can't perform on the day (illness, emergency), what's the replacement plan and how is the fee structured?

What their answers tell you

A few specific things to listen for:

  • A comic who doesn't ask you any questions back is a problem. The first sign of a corporate pro is they want to know your audience, your industry, the agenda, and what's happening before and after the comedy.
  • A comic who immediately quotes a much higher price than the website when you say "corporate" is fine — that's normal practice. The same comic who won't tell you the price until you've shared your budget is fishing.
  • A comic who answers every question with "don't worry, it'll be fine" has not done enough of these.

Print this for the call

Below is a printable version, no commentary. Run through it on your first call with the comic; use the gaps to negotiate before signing.

PRE-BOOKING QUESTION CHECKLIST

Experience
  □ Corporate events in past 12 months: ___
  □ Industries performed for: ___
  □ Reference contactable: Y / N
  □ Bombing story (red flag if "never"): ___

Content
  □ Content rating: ___
  □ Topics to avoid (in writing): ___
  □ Company-specific jokes: ___
  □ Pre-event review process: ___

Performance
  □ Set length: ___ min, flex range: ___
  □ Crowd work: Y / N
  □ Meet & greet included: Y / N (cost: ___)
  □ Backup short-set plan: ___
  □ Bombing-out plan: ___

Recording
  □ Comic recording: ___
  □ Our recording: ___
  □ Photos OK: Y / N

Logistics
  □ Tech rider received: Y / N
  □ Sound check arrival time: ___
  □ Day-before arrival: Y / N
  □ Flight delay plan: ___
  □ Green room / dietary: ___

Money
  □ Deposit: ___% by ___
  □ Cancellation refund schedule: ___
  □ Illness/replacement plan: ___

Save this checklist: the time it takes to run through it (45 minutes on a call) saves an order of magnitude more pain when something goes sideways on the day.

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