Comedian
“And the last rule is there are no rules. No one can tell you how to be funny”.
The most popular after dinner entertainer, whether as a speaker or cabaret, is a comedian. Everybody knows what to expect with a comedian: somebody who stands up and is funny. However they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some comedians tell standard jokes; some write their own material; some concentrate on personalities in the company; some are a little risqué; and some pride themselves on being squeaky clean.
Some specialise in certain groups (golf days for instance); some are suitable for International audiences; some are fairly regional in taste; some use amusing props and plenty of audience participation; some interweave jokes with their subject matter; some just tell non-connecting gags; some are young and trendy and come from the comedy clubs; some have been around for years and used to work the social clubs; some are more famous in other fields; some are celebrities in their own right.
Humour is a personal thing and an offensive joke to one person can be hilarious to somebody else. Nevertheless there is no excuse these days to permit racist or homophobic material. Just remember that it only needs one remark to upset one person to ruin an entire evening or, worse still, lose a client: so be careful with your choice.
Speciality
“If somebody comes up to me and says, ‘hey, I’m gonna take up ventriloquism’, my immediate thought is: have you eliminated every other possibility for a hobby?”
These cover such entertainers as Magicians, Impressionists, Mind Readers, Hypnotists, Ventriloquists and Jugglers. And they can come in as many different shades as comedians. Take magicians for instance: you can have illusionists (who perform large tricks, normally involving assistants in boxes), manipulative acts (who perform silently to music, linking rings and producing doves), straight patter acts (who perform small magic but generally without a great deal of humour) and comedy magic acts (who can be funny through amusing props, situations, jokes, audience participation or a combination of all of these).
Some speciality acts do have certain restrictions. A juggler might find it difficult to work in a room with a very low ceiling. A hypnotist will require a minimum number of people in the audience. Some illusionists have to be properly staged and have very specific lighting.
Booking a speciality act is probably safer than booking a comedian: in the sense that they are less likely to upset anybody through inappropriate language, material or insulting somebody in the audience. You may not enjoy jugglers: but watching somebody throwing clubs in the air whilst riding a unicycle is unlikely to cause offence.
Musical
Straight singers are rarely used at corporate events – unless it is part of a show. Instead it will normally be multi-instrumentalists or novelty music acts; or singers who write parody songs or amusing songs in their own right.
Mini-Show
There is no reason why a mini show might not be laid on as the after dinner entertainment. If this happens then you would normally have two or three acts together with a compere to host the show. The compere would probably be a comedian. The other acts might be a singer, a speciality act and another comedian to close. It is quite possible to combine an After Dinner Speaker with a Cabaret Act. A common format is for a speech by a sports personality to be followed by a comedian.
Celebrities
“He cost us £15,000 and he only spoke for twenty minutes. He was on the road back up the MI before we had finished our liqueurs.”
Acts are occasionally booked because you have seen them on the television or they are well known personalities. Nothing wrong with that so long as you know the reason you are booking them. It might be just because the celebrity is somebody who the Managing Director’s wife is very keen to meet. It is a legitimate enough reason: but look upon any other benefit you get from their attendance as an unexpected bonus.
Of course if you are using the celebrity to persuade people to attend the event, perhaps as a money raising exercise or to get potential clients to come along, then he or she will almost certainly earn their not inconsiderable fee. If their mere presence is sufficient to achieve this, then fine.
However if you are booking them to produce outstanding entertainment then you have to be a little more cautious. Just because somebody is very funny as a quiz show panellist does not necessarily mean they are automatically a good stand-up comedian. Someone who is very relaxed as a television presenter is not necessarily a good speaker. In booking a celebrity around 4/5th of the fee is for their name, only 1/5th a probable measurement of the entertainment provided. This means you could probably book a comparative unknown for 1/5th of the fee of the celebrity and the audience would be equally entertained.
There are of course exceptions. There are some personalities who are well known for being first class corporate entertainers. For those who are more of an unknown quality, be prepared for possible disappointment. Bottom line is that as much research is required on celebrities, as it is for unknown acts, to identify whether they are right for your event.
