Last Thursday, September 29, I did a feature set at The Cleveland Improv. The Cleveland Improv has been around for a very long time and they moved to a new location a few months ago. I worked this club regularly, learned a lot from working there and have lots of fond memories, but in light of a recent email conversation with the GM and booker I can no longer work at a comedy club that doesn’t want me to do what I do.
I was doing a feature set on Thursday at the Cleveland Improv and the headliner for the evening was a local comedian named Courtney Gee. Courtney is very funny and he draws a black crowd. We have worked together before and things were fine. The emcee that night was Mike Head. Mike is a really funny comedian too and we have worked together at Hilarities in Cleveland several times.
The crowd was, as expected, mostly black people or “urban” as some people say to sound less racist (even though it sounds way more racist). Mike Head is a black comedian and when working at Hilarities with him he addresses his blackness but he doesn’t try to be ghetto or use slang or anything like that. However at The Cleveland Improv he was different. I don’t know if he felt more comfortable because of the black crowd or if he was pandering, but he was noticeably playing up his blackness. It isn’t a bad thing and I understand why he did it. I thought it was funny that he was so night-and-day in his performances at these two clubs that when I got on stage I called him out. I mentioned how he talked in front of white crowds was different than the way he talks in front of black crowds and the audience just stared at me. I told them they were wrong for not laughing at what I had pointed out and did my set which has some jokes dealing with race. I have been doing these jokes for a while now in front of white and black people and they go over well. This crowd wasn’t very happy with me for calling out Mike so they weren’t laughing at these few race jokes as hard as I would have liked and I pointed out to them they were being sensitive.
All in all the set wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great. I was proud of myself for not pandering to this crowd and presenting them with material that was outside their usual comfort zone.
I didn’t even really care about this set until the general manager of the Cleveland Improv offered his input in an email earlier today.
Here is what he wrote as a critique of my set that night:
>>>WOW, one of the worst openings I have ever seen (the Mike Head observation material). But, you didn’t stop there. Your whole set was weird and not that funny. You knew you were eating it but you continued to test the crowd and test yourself. Please save that for (what you referred as) “the other club.” How many times did you have to explain your jokes and how many times did you chastise the crowd with “these 3 people are enjoying these jokes and rest if you wrong” comments? You should have bailed on all that shit much earlier and did your normal material.
Please do not address the ethnic mix of the crowd. Skip the Black jokes? If not, then please let me know now. If you don’t have enough other material then please let me know now.
Find another way to get into the China material. You should have started your set with your fat jokes. Please don’t do anything so bad during your Xmas week and, of course, be Christmas clean! <<<
I understand he is trying to make every thing as fun as possible for these people so they will buy food and drinks. I also want people to have fun but I also want to do the show I want to do and hopefully the staff will have my back – and, at most places I work, they do. However, I can’t work at a comedy club that doesn’t want me to take chances.
Also this line really bothers me:
“Please do not address the ethnic mix of the crowd. Skip the Black jokes? If not, then please let me know now. If you don’t have enough other material then please let me know now.”
This is coming from a guy who has seen me do a lot of shows and knows I have a lot of material yet he puts this line in there?
The email also mentions me working there Christmas week. I will not be there. The only reason I was going to be there Christmas week was because I was double booked Halloween weekend.
I perform a lot around Cleveland. Places like Reddstone, Hilarities, Touch, and Willoughby Brewing Company are very accommodating. I also travel all over the country doing these jokes and I suggest you come out and judge for yourself if what I do is funny or not.
So long Cleveland Improv – we had a good run.
Good for you. I think a comedian should never adjust his/her material around an audience. You need to stick to what you want to do and let the audience adjust around you. I’ve only seen you live twice so far, but what I have seen is hilarious. You are one person who I hope really makes it big. Keep doing what you do.
Bill, I came out to see you in Detroit for just something to do and I had to add you the second I got home. I have always wanted to do comedy and watching you was like watching myself (except you were actually doing it). Me and my 5 friends thought you killed it. Fuck that guy. One of the most disrespectful emails I have ever read. He is basically telling you when and where to say your set. What an idiot.
Good for you Dude. It’s that booker’s job to decide whether or not to book you, not to write your act. He or she is clearly someone who probably wanted to do what you do and sucks at it.
I knew it. I knew that you would take our email conversation totally out of context. Like I told you, it wasn’t the race thing, it was the fact that you wouldn’t leave it alone. You chastised the crowd. You even told the audience “this shit is funny”. Every comic knows that when you get to that point it’s time to give it up. But you didn’t. You didn’t even try to work yourself out of the huge hole you put yourself in. You didn’t even try to make the people laugh. There is right way and wrong way to try new material. You, my friend, chose the wrong way. So unprofessional. You looked shell shocked up there. Like you were an open mic comic again. I have the video proof if anyone would like to see it. Your set wasn’t “OK”. It wasn’t even acceptable. I repeat, it was one of the worst sets I have ever seen. I am not the villain here. If anyone would like to see a local comic implode just contact me. You fucked up and you’re not mature enough to admit it.
Say so long Cleveland Improv. Say so long Funny Bones. Say so long to 92.3. Say so long to…
Lee you have your view of the situation and I have mine. This goes deeper than this one incident. You’re club is not enjoyable to work. You are the most heavy handed manager I have ever worked for at a comedy club. You don’t do stand up comedy so you don’t know how to give advice to comedians.
Business man telling the comedian how to do comedy.. That is always a good idea.
How does one take an email out of context when the email appears to be copy and pasted word for word? And I’m pretty sure bill wrote his set wasn’t great! So apparently lee needs to learn how to read. If you can’t even read I doubt your judgement on a comedians talents.
I believe it is your loss Lee. Easily the funniest comic in Cleveland, and is most certainly going to blow up in a big way.
just finished reading your post and everyone’s comments. I think it’s funny cause I got a similar email from him, and i’m black. i haven’t been doing comedy as long as you, but in the short time that I have, I know that 1) if you have not done comedy or as long as another successful comic, you can’t give advice. and 2) there’s always going to be crowds that just wont open up even if the material is funny. you can’t win them over 100% of the time. but you kept doing your act and you got my respect for that. i’ll admit that i’ve done my same act in front of black and white crowds, and depending on there age, i get the same response. But some black comics change there act in front of majority black crowds cause they expect to hear jokes about being from the hood or there bad kids and making fun of white people. i’ve had a white comic tell me i’d be more funny if i do that. WTF! I don’t have to clarify how i grew up to tell a fucking joke. Basically, keep doing what you do man!
Nice to see Lee threatening to try and get you blackballed. That’s real professionalism, right there.
That kind of shit is exactly the reason I’ve always avoided working comedy clubs and stick with music and variety venues. If I’m going to show up and bust my ass to make $50, I’m sure as shit not going to put up with some fucktard like this to do it. If I wanted this kind of commentary on my act, I’d book myself at the goddamn Greyhound station.
I’ve seen Squire live and it was a great time. I haven’t been to the Improv for quite awhile and it appears now I won’t be back at all. Would love to see the video evidence though.
Btw, what is considered ‘Christmas clean’?
Christmas clean means no Hanukah jokes
Say so long Cleveland Improv. Say so long Funny Bones. Say so long to 92.3. Say so long to…
He’s a petty bastard, isn’t he?
Heavy handed? Sorry if I care too much about my audience to demand great shows. Sorry I care too much about the people that work here to demand that every night, every show, and, yes, every joke be the best. Sorry if I care too much about my job to criticize an employee (you) when they need to be told they did wrong and, like I said, you did wrong. I am NOT sorry that you didn’t like working here. I am truly sorry that your wife helped light the match that burned a bridge in your career.
Lastly, you know I’ve been around comedians and standup for a long, long time and, in that time, there have only been a few bad incidents with comics that have ended business relationships. I guess you are now one of the few casualties.
“You don’t do stand up comedy so you don’t know how to give advice to comedians”. My Dad used to say “I’ve never murdered anyone but I can still talk about murder!”
Sam ~ “appears” is the operative word.
Wang ~ there are plenty, no, too many comics out there that are hysterical and not as crazy and irrational as Bill is right now.
Once again, all I can say is you should see the video. It is painful.
Yea you are heavy handed Lee. You can talk about murder but you don’t understand it the way a murderer does.
OK, I was trying to hold out hope that Lee wasn’t a total asshole, but that hope has now been dashed.
I apologize to everyone I tried to convince otherwise, because I was super wrong.
This is just from personal experience, but your ‘experience’ and ‘expertise’ led to you choosing not to deal with me when trying to put together a comedy stage at this years Ingenuity Fest (www.ingenuitycleveland.com). In fact, you started to berate & belittle me in a similar manner and threatened to curtail my efforts.
In spite of that, the festival was a great success and the board members look forward to building on the comedy programming I put together this year.
Incase you forgot
https://www.facebook.com/notes/ramon-rivas-ii/try-to-start-a-festival-and-this-is-what-you-get/10150162787702780
I made it anonymous because I didn’t want to look like I was bashing anybody, and Lee decided to publicly comment, claim ownership and continue to badmouth me in the comments.
I’ve never worked at the Improv.
Post the tape! POST THE TAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!
Only a few bad incidents? I’ve learned of 3 so far in a couple hours that this was posted. I’m gonna guess there’s probably a few more than that! Ive been in management and there’s a way to critique and give a review to an employee on their job but what you did was completely rude and belittling. Good luck to you on filling your club with that type of managing.
Lee’s dad should have murdered someone…
As a general manager of a comedy club you sure are butchering your image. After reading your response to this I will absolutely never attend a show at the Cleveland Improv, its one thing to criticize an “employee” in an email and its another to do so in a public forum such as this.
I like how you think you are so high up you have the power to prevent Bill from getting booked anywhere else. Your the manager of comedy club get your head out of the clouds man.
I will be passing this around to as many people as I possibly can. Nice job.
Ohh!! The Mighty Lee mentioned my name!! You can talk about anything you want. It doesn’t mean you have any idea what you are talking about. Clearly PR is not your strong point. Keep leaving angry messages on a comics blog. It’s definitely not making you look like an ass.
Side note: 92.3 is a TERRIBLE station on a dead medium. I’m sure Bill is crying himself to sleep over that loss every night.
I think Lee Herlands is a bully, and a fucking asshole. He should appreciate the great talent he has in Cleveland but instead he choses to shit on them and make them feel not welcome.
this is an interesting conversation, I am a comedian and have heard many bad things from close friends about management at the Cleveland Improv but my two cents is this:
1) He sent you a private e-mail, he didn’t put you on blast in a public forum (so far as i know) which would have been rude and inappropriate and unprofessional.
2) you know as a seasoned vet in comedy, most comedy club managers are bonkers and they only things they understand are keeping the lights on and if the people had a good time. Thats their job.
3) if the people didnt enjoy the show, he could have consoled you, stood by you better, but that aint gonna keep people coming back, especially black audiences, who tend to not want to pay for comedy shows as much unless its a big name.
4) Ive worked with you at a mainstream comedy club here in Chicago, and I know you’re funny, which is OUR job as comedians, to be funny. Though some comics make great livings being not so funny see: NBC’s fall lineup
It seems like the new shit might not have hit, which happens
5) it also seems like you have a problem with Mike Heads “pandering” but I work all types of crowds and their is some material that I can unleash with certain crowds because i like it and they get it. i dont think its mike fault he went that route. Again I dont know the degree he may went in his adjustment but you took the risk, which is dope, but you cant expect people (in this case a club manager) to just have your back.
All in all, i havent heard the best about that club, but in this case I can’t just say he was 100% wrong in sending you his private thoughts and you replying about it in the internet form of a blog post.
Just my thoughts
Clark I would have left it private but he sent that review after I already told him I didn’t want to work his club anymore. I have no problem with what Mike Head did what so ever I just thought it was funny and wanted to call him out.
Yes this was a private email but I felt like he wouldn’t take me seriously unless I showed him I was willing to take this to a public forum.
Thats fair, I just don’t want folks (especially comics) to absolve freedom of consequence form freedom of speech. We can say whatever we want in society, but people can respond in how they want.
Like i said, this club is not getting a lot of positive press but thats also the risk they take
sidenote: “Bonkers” is not the name of a midwest comedy club
Bill- tough break. Stay strong
Hey Lee- I’d LOVE to take Bill’s spot.