Back in the 1990s, when club comics such as Frank Skinner, Jack Dee and Lee Evans were becoming household names thanks to the “comedy boom”, being a comedy agent was often a cutthroat business, fighting for the few opportunities on TV and radio. But with the rise of panel shows and streaming services, and the alternative scene moving more into the mainstream, a new school of agents are adopting fresh approaches to ensure their clients stand out. And forget bullishness – one of those tactics is to be nice.
“Being in competition with other agents is now a very dated concept,” says David Geli, co-director of comedy agency UTC Artist Management. “It needs to be collaborative. Everyone’s in this industry together and they’ve got to work together.” Geli, a former cameraman, set up the company with Polly McGirr, a TV producer. Bored of seeing the same old comedy faces on television, they started running an open mic gig at Greenwich’s Up the Creek club, as a means to see new acts. Neither, they tell me when we meet near their Peckham offices, had any desire to be a manager. But one act changed their minds.
“Through the open mic we met a very shy, slightly awkward and really brilliant comic called Dane Baptiste,” says McGirr. “We tried to get him an agent and we couldn’t. Nobody would pick him up.” Eventually, Baptiste – who now writes and stars in his own BBC3 series, Sunny D – suggested that Geli and McGirr manage him themselves. Three and a half years later, they have 10 clients on their books – including Tez Ilyas and Sophie Willan – all of whom have embraced the agency’s ethos.
“We are particularly hands-on with every act,” explains McGirr. That means monthly writer’s rooms, where UTC clients all meet up and pitch content to each other, and every act is paired with another, so they each have a mentor. “Our approach isn’t going to fit everyone,” admits McGirr, “and there’s a lot of expectation. We work really hard for our guys, so they’ve got to match it.”
Although UTC acts are pushed in terms of work ethic, the agency isn’t looking to create instant stars. It’s about longevity, says Geli. “It’s very easy to gauge who’s in it to be famous and who has integrity in what they do,” he explains, adding: “It’s about: what are you going to do in 10 years’ time?”
Another agent who adopts the long-game approach is Chris Lander at Phil McIntyre Entertainments. The company – which largely operates as a promoter, organising tours for John Bishop and Bill Bailey – brought Lander in to head up a new arm of its management division. PME already represented John Cleese and Victoria Wood, but was lacking in the new talent department. Lander’s list now includes 16 acts, including Felicity Ward, TV regular Nish Kumar and Radio X presenters Elis James and John Robins.
One of Lander’s first signings was James Acaster, who has been nominated for the Edinburgh comedy award for five consecutive years and is now a regular on Mock the Week and other panel shows. It’s been a gradual climb for Acaster. “One thing I stress to acts when I’m in conversations about signing them is: this is a long road,” Lander tells me over the phone from San Francisco, where Acaster is gigging. “We take our time to make sure they build up a steady following. Someone like James has come back to the Edinburgh fringe every single year and consistently written a better show. By bringing back shows every year and getting better and better they get to a position where the channels and TV execs are desperate to work with them.”
Not every agent is able to adopt such an approach. PME has the resources to support acts financially, for example, paying for an Edinburgh run that would usually leave a comic thousands of pounds out of pocket. “We think it works in the long-term,” explains Lander. “And it means we can say to the act: all you need to do is write a brilliant show, be as funny as you can and turn up on time – we’ll do the rest.”
Whereas Geli, McGirr and Lander are all in constant contact with their clients, that’s more tricky for Nathalie Laurent-Marke of MPW Artist Management. The agency arm of promoters Mick Perrin Worldwide specialises in representing international acts that want to work in the UK and/or break the English-speaking market. “The world clock in my phone is very extensive,” says Laurent-Marke, when we meet in a Soho cafe. “I spend half my life on FaceTime and I’m up at weird hours. But that’s what makes the job interesting.”
MPW represents comics from France, Italy and Belgium, among other places. Some acts are huge stars in their home countries, such as South Africa’s Loyiso Gola, while the concept of standup is relatively new in countries such as Russia, where Igor Meerson is based.
“The potential is massive in the English-speaking market,” says Laurent-Marke, “and with services such as Netflix, content is shared all over the globe. The world is getting smaller.”
The agency was set up by promoter Mick Perrin, who has toured acts such as Eddie Izzard and Dylan Moran across the globe and brought overseas comics to the UK. Perrin realised that many international comics needed more than a tour promoter in the English-speaking world; they needed help managing their careers, too.
While Laurent-Marke is often hundreds of miles away from her clients, when it comes to their material she’s intimately involved, much more so than a standard agent. “There are language issues and cultural differences,” she explains. “There’s a difference between English as a language and how we actually speak. Also, an act can’t just rely on being different to make that funny and interesting, they’ve got to make points that people wouldn’t necessarily notice, and not rely on stereotypes.”
Brexit might make some of MPW’s plans more difficult, though. Visas are already a logistical nightmare, says Laurent-Marke, and that’s likely to get worse. Are her clients worried about the effects of our EU-exit? “There’s definitely a concern about what it will mean in terms of work,” she admits.
While the country is shutting itself off, the comedy world seems to be more global and collaborative than ever. They might be chasing the same opportunities, but Laurent-Marke, Lander, Geli and McGirr don’t see each other as competition. In fact, there’s a camaraderie between them. “We’re the kids of alternative comedy,” is how Lander puts it. “It’s a lot less like the wild west than I think it was in the 90s. We talk, we recommend acts to each other and we don’t poach each other’s clients. I guess we’re kind of comedy 2.0.”
