Rumour Has it That Theo Von Pays $100 Per Gig to Openers

In the midst of the comedy podcast surge, a rumour has emerged: the treatment of openers. These budding comics, often tasked with warming up the crowd for headliners, are allegedly being paid a pittance in the form of $100 (£80) per gig.

The Stand-Up Ecosystem

The relationship between a touring comedian and an opener is something special. I mean you have a lot of fans paying for tickets in large venues that are looking to see their favourite comedian in action, but in order to make sure they’ll have lots of laughs, the crowd needs a bit of a warm-up.

That’s when the opener comes in! Tasked with the difficult job of making sure that the audience is smiling and cheering when that comedian goes up on stage. It’s a win-win since the opener gets ‘exposure’ from performing for a huge crowd and the touring comic gets some much needed back-up.

Understandably the opener doesn’t get a huge cut since they’re not the main act, plus you’ve got the venue fees, agencies, and managers to pay off before the openers gets a slice – but this time according to The Regz podcast with Robert Kelly, Dan Soder, Luis J. Gomez, and Joe List, a certain comedian is a bit stingy with his openers despite his huge platform and success.

Though they never outright specify who the comedian is, a few internet sleuths went in with their deductions on who the unnamed comedian is and that led to them suggesting that it might be Theo Von, based on a few “evidences” from the podcast

Evidence?

Based on the episode of The Regz a few people came up with their own theories but came into a majority of them thinking that its Theo Von. First up is that it’s someone who has a “huge podcast” and didn’t have any of the 4 comedians as a guest (Robert Kelly, Dan Soder, Luis J. Gomez, and Joe List).

Second, people are claiming that Luis is mouthing off “Theo Von” during the episode. Dan Soder also texts the name of the comedian to Robert Kelly after quite a bit of nudging (I mean we’re all curious too). After this when asked if it was for theatres or small-time comedy clubs, Robert emphasized the syllables of ‘Thee’ in ‘Theatre’.

Lastly, the comment section, which admittedly isn’t very reliable. One comment said that, Ari Mannis opened for Theo before in 2020 and revealed that they were only paid a hundred dollars. While Iowa-based comic Dante Powell revealed in another comment,

I opened for Theo at a theater a couple years ago and didn’t get paid at all. I did 5 minutes up top for two shows over two nights. That said, not only did he get us into some really cool spots in that city as well as some dope restaurants (he paid) after the shows, but he was a welcoming hang and tagged me in a bunch of social media posts that got me a buncha followers, so it evened out in the end for me. I can’t stress enough how kind he was. I am a regular feature for Kyle Kinane and Gary Gulman and they both make sure I do REALLY well financially any weekends I do with them, so I try to take it all in stride. Idk what Ari and the other opener got paid, but they didn’t mention any issues with it.

Other Comics’ Pay

While the comedians in The Regz admitted that they were kind of becoming like a “sewing circle” with gossips and rumours, they were still a bit disappointed with the news. Gomez has a different way of seeing though as he says that,

Naming the name wouldn’t be a bad thing because then they would change it.

Other comments also discussed and compared the regular rates for openers and say that Louis C.K before his controversy gifted his openers with a Rolex watch and after his return to stand-up, Kevin Brennan said that he was paid $1000 (roughly £800) per show.

Bobby Lee also said that he was offered to open for Tom Segura and said that he wouldn’t accept the offer if the offer was anything less than $20,000 (around £16,000).

While another comment said that Maria Bamford did a super early set on a Sunday morning, and extensively talked about advocating for proper pay to which she supposedly also paid her openers $1,000 per show.

The Regz

The comics in The Regz were all appalled at the allegation that. Dan Soder mentioned a gig in the Chicaco Theatre where the rumour of a $100 opener started, which coincidentally is also roughly the cost of parking in Chicago’s Loop in a Friday night.

The Chicago Theatre seats over 4,000 people, I think, around there, He’s doing two sold out shows a night, at least $80 a ticket, and you’re making — that’s $200,000 a night. … And you’re paying your opener $100.

Theo Von also played the Chicago theatre which seats 3,600 seats in 2022. Robert Kelly continues with his thought on the matter with,

That’s f ***ing nuts. Because the podcast money is f****ing nuts, never mind that money (from the shows.)

Before they moved on from the subject they all talked about maybe sending their own old openers with some extra money. Joe List also teased that he knows of other comics who is a bit stingy with the pay but they chose to talk about another thing instead. Lastly, Gomez joked that maybe they could get this alleged comic to be a guest on their podcast for a $100 bucks.

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