Flyers

In 2015 it's supposed to be all about the internet. Granted, without the likes of social media and email my comedy activities would be all but impossible. I remember back to when I ran my first music gigs at the start of the noughties and actually booked bands on the phone or even by post having found their address on a record sleeve. Those days are thankfully gone.

However, even when you're looking to put 40 people in a small room every other Tuesday you cannot post a Facebook event and wait for the fans to roll in. Facebook ads don't work for this kind of night and simply being in the listings is like producing a product for Tesco then having it placed on the lowest shelf in the farthest corner of the store and wondering why no-one's bought it.

The most powerful thing is word of mouth of course. If people talk about your night positively then they are likely to convince others it's worth going to. All my nights now have a degree of this going on, which I'm very pleased about. However, that alone will not fill the room and ensure the tirelessly hard working acts aren't giving up their evening to present their material to a room mainly made up of the other acts. Most of which will have already heard their ten minutes before.

In my opinion the next best thing is flyers. You give them out wherever you go, you put them all over the pub on the night so random people know it's going on, you put your vision in print. For whatever reason, people trust print more than the internet. Perhaps the thought the promoter had to spend actual money on having them printed gives an indication of their self-belief in the night. Something in your hand is more real than something on your phone.

There's also something distinctly satisfying about having thousands of flyers stacked up in your flat. Your night is a real night. Your night is an event.

My new ones arrived today - 5,000 to see me through to the end of the year

And yes, I did go for a Hackney vibe (the Warhol bears are on the front, the dates on the back).