I've seen on the Treason Show website that they have a £1000 pool (per show?) and a points system. Is it the same for NewsRevue? Do you get paid the same for each time they use a piece of material more than once?
I ask as I'm meeting up with some fellow performers later on this week to look into the possibility of doing a live sketch show. Perhaps appearing at more than one venue.
I want to work out if it's financially viable.
Griff seems to have the figures down pat.
As for skit shows, most people I know expect to make a loss, small profit or nothing from skit shows.
Average cost for a small theatre is £150 a night, plus a share of tickets.
Pay for actors, and publicity and there's not much left.
News Revue will usually pack the Friday and Saturday show, and be 2 thirds empty the other nights. And that's the best known skit show in London.
Treason packs out most shows in Brighton (don't know about the rest), but they work very hard at it.
And in all of these shows no ones getting rich, Treason apparently do corporate stuff e.g. training etc , and News also run the Canal Cafe I think (so lots of people hiring it every night to do their own stuff 2-3 a shows a night every night). So to be even more pessimistic these guys have all got other earners.
Thanks for the responses.
The plan at the moment is not to be a topical show, or very little in the way of topical stuff until we can get established. The venue costs have already been factored in.
Actors, they can scavenge through the bins for food so they won't cost anything. ;-)
The only unknown is the audience, that is the question we need to consider. We need to work out what we have to cover in the event of a low turn out. Plan for the worst and all that ...
Kudos to your courage. None topical shows, there seems to be quite a few of them, have you got a distinctive angle?
And where will this fine show be taking place? Need any embittered writers?
Well without wishing to give too much away, the sketch show will have a theme and a number of recurring characters. I guess in some respects it could be considered live sitcom meets live sketch show. It's hard to say more at the moment.
We hope to start building a website soon to allow would be writers to find out more about "the world" that the sketches must take place in. That may sound fairly inflexible but it isn't. It's more of a tone to the show.
The domain is registered it just a case of making sure we've got all bases covered before we proceed. No one is in a rush and we'd rather set out knowing we have a fighting chance of keeping it going.
As for the where, it'll be in the Midlands.
Talking about payment, I received my first NR cheque today, for the princely sum of £30-73. Better than a kick in the teeth, anyway. And I'm not going to be a tart and frame it ( 
), I'm going to use it to buy beer.
Really mine was for 50p, to 10 gazillion ultra pounds.
Quote: James Williams @ April 21 2008, 7:43 PM BSTTalking about payment, I received my first NR cheque today, for the princely sum of £30-73.
Took me ages to realise you meant £30.73!
That was one vague cheque, otherwise.
well mine was printed on gold leaf. Or gold-pressed latinum for you Sooty, you geek
n.b. good luck Vic, may I offer some advice from the great Roy Chubby Brown.
Always remember your playing to 6 pints (well at the NR it's more likely a bottle of Chardonnay but you get the drift).
I think I did that because that's how one writes cheques!!
Ah!
I wouldn't know. I never pay anyone.
Oh right in which case £80.65. However it's likely to be buttons this week, as they currently are not loving my stuff.
Any way as a federation citizen, what do I need latinum for? Gold pressed or otherwise.
Show-off!
You need it if you want to play on the Dabo tables. Anyway, they're a bit unclear about money really as in TNG, in its Utopian fluffiness, it claims they've evolved past it. However in DS9, with its darker format, money often changes hands between Federation citizens. And in the original series Captain Kirk was always saying "you've just earnt your pay for the week," although he was probably talking figuratively.
Because Star Trek is real.