I’ll be here all week: Les McCurdy and the business of comedy

March 6, 2025

Les McCurdy wasn’t born funny. But he’s learned a lot about the business of being funny in nearly 40 years of running a comedy club. McCurdy’s, in downtown Sarasota, draws acts and standup comedians from across the world and, despite being in a mid-size market, has national notoriety for being a top tier comedy club. On this episode Les talks about his origin story and how he has been successful in a cutthroat, tight-margin. (The key: inventory management.) He also talked about overcoming setbacks (bombs while performing) and who his favorite comedians are.

3 Takeaways

(13:40) Stick with it and good things will happen
(25:00) Inventory control is key
(27:00) Small changes lead to big changes

Timestamps

(00:00) This episode is sponsored by Kerkering Barberio!
(00:25) Introducing Les McCurdy, Founder of McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
(02:20) Rapid fire questions
(05:15) How Les got into the comedy business
(08:20) Discovering comedy in Boulder
(12:05) Moving to Tampa to become a comic
(17:15) Opening McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
(20:10) Overcoming setbacks
(25:20) Learning to be a more efficient business owner
(30:30) What is happening in 2025?

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