Hils Jago is the popular and well known promoter of the Amused Moose in London. She has generously agreed to contribute a hugely revealing insight into the mind of a promoter who - in her case -  is particularly supportive of new comedy.

So tell us Hils - how did you become a comedy promoter and what keeps you doing it?

This historical bit is going to be convoluted - but what isn't in comedy!  Been around comedy since 82, Perrier panellist (as Time Out reader) in 88 - winner was Jeremy Hardy, finalists included Doug Anthony Allstars and the Wow Show (cognoscenti will appreciate that we'd had a good time!)  Never missed an Edinburgh since - flew up for an extra night last year to see Jason-John Whitehead win BBC New Comedy Awards, then onto the BBC party, before catching the 6.30 am flight back to Luton and the day job!

While in a queue at the Astoria for the long running weekly BSkyB comedy and music filming (89-91) I struck up a friendship with Pete Cracknell who was dabbling in running gigs - including the Charlie Chaplin at the Elephant and Castle (which Jo Brand played quite often to keep punters, mainly nearby students, coming in). 

During 91 I got gigs for Dickie Bean, a friend who didn't like making phone calls (!!) who moved from Open Spot to Comedy Store act in 9 months - his pic's still on the stairway there and he now writes as Richard Bean for the Royal Court Theatre - so I learnt much about the bookers role from the agent/manager/acts perspective.  Around 95 I did some successful PR work for Noel Faulkner at the Comedy Cafe, having done the door there a couple of times.

At some point I met a comic at Charlie's who I recognised as being the vendor of a flat I'd recently looked at in distant north London, by the name of Martin Davis.  In the mid-90's he took over Comedy at SohoHo! and I helped out from time to time - the highlight was probably the Terence Higgins Comedy Benefit on a Sunday, when a dozen or so top comics (including Julian Clary and Jo Brand) did 10 minutes at each of 10 London clubs, travelling at breakneck speed between them on motorbikes courtesy of the dykes-on-bikes posse. 

Over the last three years I have developed a June/July Edinburgh Preview season which stages more previews than any other venue anywhere - promoting and booking all the acts including Al Murray, Bill Bailey, Ed Byrne - not bad for a pokey room above a pub with dodgy sight lines and a staircase as backstage.  So when Martin moved on from being resident MC my role expanded gradually into booker at Comedy at SohoHo!

In the last two and a half years my own Amused Moose venue has developed to the point where it has become the prime London gig for newer comics, but not Open Spot/New Acts as I do a fair bit of talent-scouting and also now get reliable recommendations too - I still try to see everyone before I book them so I can get the programming right.  We run our own New Talent competitions (in the middle of one now, on Mondays) with judges including a couple of punters but primarily bookers, managers, agents, reviewers, past Perrier panelists etc who know their stuff - this year's standard's really excellent.

Are you going to be hosting any of the major competitions?

It's probable that we'll again be involved with staging SYTYF (Channel 4 So You Think You're Funny) and BBC New Comedy heats.

All very gratifying - ah yes now I've gone full circle, because I was asked why I do it.

Well that is the main thing ... seeing unknowns mature and grow in stature, and more generally because I've always enjoyed live performance and discovered I get a real buzz from seeing people taking the high risks (no safety net!) involved in getting on stage as a stand-up.

Tis true that it can be exhausting if you do booking/promoting properly and put a lot of yourself into it, but hey what else would I do that I'd enjoy so much (close runners up might perhaps be to get my garden back into verdant bower mode replete with hammock, finally finish tiling the bathroom, acquire a fella! - maybe if I focus on the latter the other things will follow!!?)

What part do you think promoters play in encouraging the growth of new comedy? Is it enough to offer open spots, or is there more?

Promoters get bored seeing the same people continually doing the same things - they'll only keep rebooking them if they like them and what they do, and if they ring the changes occasionally without taking out their crowd pleasers (eg Ed's "going into the kitchen to make toast" accompanied by hair flick, Sally Holloway's council cat gag, most of Mark Hurst's set) and that applies to newer acts too.  Acts need to keep bookers happy as well as audiences - never just the promoter, or just other acts, or just the audience. You'll be remembered not just by how you look, though that is important so try to be an individual, but also as mentioned by your most memorable gag (usually either a strong image, something that everyone strongly relates to, and/or quirky) which may not in fact be your funniest so you may be tempted to take it out - don't.

Also comedy taste changes so promoters have to accommodate to that.

Hence booking policy will allow acts to rise through the ranks - if newer acts aren't booked then stagnation will set in and gradually the club will fail as punters become disenchanted and drift away because the top acts will have moved on to bigger things too.  The opposite can be true too - too many newer acts dilutes a show as there won't be the quality in depth.
 
It's important for new acts to realise that every comedian has clubs they never do.  New acts will hear phrases like, for example, "Oh he's not a Jongleurs (or Comedy Store, or Comedy Cafe, etc etc) act" - which may simply be a comment on their style, or it could be factual in that that comedian has either decided not to seek bookings at that venue or hasn't succeeded in getting through their try-out and then getting repeat gigs regime.

Q3. What's the best way for a new act to approach/contact you for an open spot?  And what criteria do you apply?

New acts should e-mail me with their London giglist every month or so (I can usually only talent spot on Tuesdays to Fridays though that may change soon - meanwhile I'll be at all the Hackney New Acts heats and final). The giglist should include a telephone number that has a reliable answerphone - ideally a mobile so they can be contacted quickly (promoters want quick responses, otherwise they'll offer the opportunity to some other act!!)

Non-London acts should list name acts they've gigged with, who work/live in London that I could speak to, plus a gig list.  If I do book them it's likely they'll have to do just 5 minutes on a Monday the first time I see them, so a list of Mondays when they could come to London would be useful (they probably wouldn't leave the club until 9.30pm earliest).

It's really helpful to know whether gigs (future and recent past) are/were open spots, paid spots (and whether 10/20/30 etc), MCing etc - summary of recent gigs could also usefully include the names of headliners and other known acts on the bill so we can see the type of gigs you're doing. 

On a Monday at the end of July Amused Moose puts on a Showcase of 20 or so "new" comedians who will be going up to Edinburgh for a competition, doing the 5 or 8 minute maximum set they'll do there - every year some travel a long way to London for this showcase, as they get to meet others who'll be up in Edinburgh with them which means they'll maximise what that'll offer them by feeling more in control and networking beforehand, and get an opportunity to be seen by me and others, usually including Malcolm Hay from Time Out.

Who wouldn't I book?  I don't book acts who are crude or gross, behave threateningly to the audience, or do anything dangerous or gruesome.  I won't rebook acts who drink excessively or who I know have/may/will use drugs on the premises.

Right - the nitty-gritty now - what impresses you most about a new act that performs in your club - and least?

Off stage I like them to be amiable - the same as my friends and those who help at Amused Moose.

Onstage I suppose I'm looking for that special spark (hmmm - sorry not to be more specific) or originality in some way, ideally both - oh yes and they need to make me grin, laugh or clap!!  As I'm not a professional in the business (by that I mean I don't earn my living from it) I do still laugh, because I'm not totally focused on audience reaction and calculating finances.  It's quite unusual to see a 'professional' enjoying comedy in the same way a punter does, so new acts shouldn't be put off if they see someone making notes, blankly leaning against a wall arms folded, whispering to a second bored looking individual, or just gazing into the audience ... they're probably concentrating quite hard on what's happening and how you're doing.

So how can a new act progress from an open spot at your club to a support spot?

They get spotted, do a few Mondays (starting off with 5 mins, then progressing to 8 or so), then move to Sundays (starting again at 5 or 6, then moving up to 10), then get an open spot (5) on a Saturday.  Then Pete (in my case) gets to see them, and give his seal of approval or not - they may need to do another open spot, or move to a paid 10, then MCing or a 20.  Throughout I'll have seen them elsewhere and will know how they're progressing, and they'll have kept coming back to do short sets on Sundays and sometimes Mondays to keep honing and adjusting their best 5 or 8 minutes for competitions or Open Spots at the Store or Jongleurs, and headlining at Amused Moose on the Monday and maybe compering on the Sunday.  And so on ..........

Unimpressed - moi? 
I get really annoyed by acts who turn up late on a Sunday or Monday and assume that'll give them a better position in the running order - either I don't put them on, or if I need them I may bung them on immediately and unceremoniously before they've a chance to get their heads together!  Hmmm ... they had my mobile number so could have rung! 

What else unimpresses me?  I think my other responses/comments give some good clues!

Finally - if you had one key piece of advice for new acts, what would it be?

Sorry, rather more than one!

Be persistent but really pleasantly, and if in London aim to get two or three gigs a week, record them and listen back to them - don't record over these recording but store them because this will become the equivalent of a comedians joke book but better because you hear exactly what you said, how you said it, and how it worked.  Review recent and past recordings regularly, and learn from them - extend material so that you have maybe three laughs in a gag eventually, ideally working at different levels if not at all levels.  On free nights, ring round to see if you can get on at a gig once you are gaining a reputation - before that you'll just have to keep turning up, smiling and offering to lend a hand for a while (that's how Jimmy Carr first got onto Amused Moose)

Oh yes and buy a Casio vibrating watch, from Argos or H Samuel and use it - sticking to your allocated time's a way to promoter's heart.

Make friends with other comics initially at your level, but soon across the board -
you'll be surprised how accessible most of them are, but don't make the first move ... and then don't be upset if they don't always respond to you in the same way.  Bigger names are often under considerable pressure, and may be just too stressed to be talkative sometimes.  Don't panic if you discover the amiable chap you've just been chatting to turns out to be a major player at the BBC or Montreal Comedy Festival. 

Network, and store phone numbers. 

Write your own material - if there's a dispute about who wrote something ask around as it may be that the other guy has a reputation for nicking gags.  You may have to gracefully dump stuff if the other act is bigger than you and it seems you both simultaneously wrote it.  If you discover you're covering the same topic in a similar way as someone else, talk to them about it as soon as possible.  Negotiate, compromise - maybe both changing your gags a bit.  You could even ask a booker who knows the other act what to do - they may advise or perhaps act as intermediary

Always check what the booker/promoter wants from you when you arrive, and try to deliver in line with that.  Be conscious of the composition of the entire audience and work to that - don't focus exclusively on a part of the room/section of the audience, as that excludes the others and you may lose their attention, so the energy will drop. 

Don't panic on stage, it'll show.  Act opposite to your instincts - don't
hyperventilate, fidget, shout/screech/gabble.  And don't ever let on that you're
questioning your own ability to handle things!!  Very few acts do consistently well, and most will say they struggle quite often, but you'd rarely know.  Try not to say "What did I want to talk to you about ..... " or "shall I go now?"!!!

Become a walking office - mobile phone and diary at all times.  Be reliable, and always arrive a bit earlier that needed - if you get delayed make serious attempts to let the booker or venue know.  Offer to help if there's a panic on at the gig - some of us are better organised than others, and things can and do go wrong in the best regulated circles.

Plan your comedy career - what are your short, medium and long-term objectives.  Review this at least twice yearly.  Talk this through, and your expectations and aspirations, with anyone who approaches you to manage you or offer you any kind of contract - new acts are always desperate to get signed up but remember the old saying "marry in haste, repent at leisure".  Sign with the wrong person for you and your aspirations, and you may miss key time windows while you're festering in an acrimonious dispute unable to gig at all!  

If going to Edinburgh to do one-man shows, or being in films, or specialising in voiceovers, or writing and starring in a mega-sitcom for example figure in your plans, make sure that whoever has approached you will be able to do that for you - look at their track record, who they know etc.  You may well be able to change things in any contract that you are offered - be sure to take legal advice about contracts, and speak to other acts who are managed by that person/organisation and some who were but aren't anymore.  Promoters can put you in touch with them, and offer advice too.  

Don't rush into anything - if one agent/manager is interested, then probably others will be also - however a second one may not approach you while you're still talking to the first one, or for a while after.  You may be able to negotiate a non-exclusive contract, or a trial period to see if you suit each other.

The key thing is to be as nice as you can to everyone - by now you'll have realised just how important it is for new and developing acts to never gripe or moan about
anyone/anything connected with the extended comedy world! 

And don't fall into the trap of believing your own PR.  Oh yes, and when you're a celeb do remember kindly the people who helped you get started as it can get lonely at the top - so keep in touch once in a while, gig for us as a Top Comic Who Cannot Be Named, and ask one of your PA's to keep sending us tickets for your premieres and tv shows!!

And Be Lucky!