Book comedians for your golf, tennis, pool, yacht, flying, athletic, polo or country club comedy night or private party.
Your event will go perfectly with The Ivy League of Comedysm, America’s top clean standup comedians to entertain your private organization.
Clubs love our comedians and praise our professionalism, on and off stage.
Founder Shaun Eli Breidbart earned his way through college working as a lifeguard, swimming instructor and pool director for country clubs; as an American Red Cross certified Water Safety Instructor he taught Advanced Lifesaving to train other lifeguards. He’s also an instrument-rated pilot (land and sea), a former world-class rower and dragon-boat racer & national team member. He’s also won prizes for being a terrible golfer. Not great prizes, but how good should a prize really be for coming in last?
You can watch our full comedy special right now, and yes, it’s safe for work:
Clean stand-up comedy makes a fabulous evening (or afternoon) your members will love. Year after year.
And our shows are very affordable.
We’re The Stand-up Comedy Experts! We make them laugh… you get all the credit!sm
You don’t need a fancy stage, just a place for us to stand. We can provide a sound system if you don’t have one. We can also provide stage lighting.
Studies have shown that people value experiences more than we value possessions. The pleasure we get from buying something new wears off very quickly but pleasurable experiences live on in our memory. A comedy show is a great, fun experience that your members will remember for a long time!
We offer several features not available anywhere else— ask for details. To be clear, stand-up comedy is all we do. No music, no murder mysteries, no magicians, no jugglers. Just great, clean, hilarious stand-up comedy.
We’ve appeared on late-night TV. Many of us have had our own comedy specials. Some of us have written for late-night TV. Several of us are also published authors. We’ve been covered in The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Asbury Park Press, CNN, even the Christian Science Monitor. The least-experienced among us has been performing stand-up comedy for twenty years.
We’re great at making a wide variety of audiences laugh and laugh and laugh. We’re also experts at Virtual Comedy Shows.
FAQ about having a comedy night at a country club, golf club, yacht club or flying club
Can you find me a comedian who is ‘clean’ or ‘corporate-friendly’ but still funny enough for a room of adults?
The Ivy League of Comedy specializes in clean, professional corporate stand-up comedy that’s hilarious.
I need a comedian who understands the culture of a private [golf/yacht] club—someone who isn’t going to make us cringe. How do I know if a specific comedian will actually appeal to our demographic?
That’s us. The comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy are college-educated (many of us have graduate degrees including law) so we understand your demographics. And no, we won’t make you cringe. We specialize in clean comedy. That’s what we do.
How can I tell if a comedian’s style is appropriate for a black-tie event?
You can watch a video or two of comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy, but the best way is simply to have a conversation with them. The first clue is if the comedian actually owns a tuxedo, because probably most do not. Corporate comedians specialize in, well, corporate-appropriate comedy.
Do you have a list of comedians who specialize in ‘PG-13’ humor?
The comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy specialize in clean comedy.
What should I include in a contract for a comedy night at a private club to ensure they show up on time and prepared?
Typically, the comedians have their own contract that specifies a start time. We from The Ivy League of Comedy plan to arrive a half-hour to an hour before your event so we can do sound check and ensure the set-up is best for a comedy show. We give you guidelines for how best to set up the room for a comedy show (but even then we may end up having to move chairs and tables, which is one reason we like to show up early). As far as prepared, we just need to show up and start talking. We’re not musicians or jugglers so we don’t have equipment to set up.
How do I structure a comedy night—should I have an opening act or just one headliner?
This depends on your budget. Shows for private clubs from The Ivy League of Comedy typically include three comedians, all headliners, which gives you variety in viewpoint, background, energy, style and topics.
What kind of sound equipment or stage requirements do most professional comedians need for a banquet room?
Very little. According to The Ivy League of Comedy, the main requirement is a working sound system with a hand-held microphone. A stage and stage lighting are nice, but not required.
Is it better to book through an agency or directly with the performer for a club event?
That depends. If you work with The Ivy League of Comedy you get a full, complete, turn-key night. We provide the comedians, we give you promotional materials, we give you ideas for how to best market the event (founder and CEO Shaun Eli has been doing this for over two decades, and he majored in marketing at Wharton). We even give you guidance for how to set up the room.
How do I market a comedy night to our members to ensure a high turnout?
When you work with The Ivy League of Comedy you get comedians with more than two decades of experience, and a Wharton-educated marketing expert helping you promote your event. What more could you want?
What are some ways to combine a comedy night with dinner so it feels like a cohesive event?
It’s not complicated. You promote it as a comedy night including dinner, and it’s easy to smoothly transition from dinner to the show. Just wait until people have finished eating.
They’ll be anticipating the comedy, so all you have to do is have someone take the stage and give a very short introduction. For The Ivy League of Comedy, it’s usually something easy like “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ~!”
Can you suggest a comedian who can do a little bit of crowd work specifically about the quirks of our club?
If you want specific crowd work, you should discuss this in advance. But I’m wondering if this question mixes up crowd work with catering material to the audience.
Crowd work is when the comedian converses two-way with the audience. You see that from the emcee at a comedy club quite often. It’s something simple, like “What do you do for a living?” It’s generally used to break the ice when starting a show at a comedy club. It’s not really necessary in a theatre or country club setting, but if you want it, ask for it.
Talking about the quirks of the club, or any other material catered to this specific audience, doesn’t require crowd work. It could be something like when I (Shaun Eli, the founder of The Ivy League of Comedy) noticed that a yacht club’s race committee had one coach and four doctors. I said maybe the boats would go faster if you had four coaches and one doctor (yes, they loved that joke- who else would notice something like that but a comedian?).
You don’t really need comedians to do specific material about your organization, and sometimes material can be semi-custom, like jokes about a golf club that would apply to most golf clubs but would seem to be catered to your specific club by changing just a few words.
Do you know of any comedians who act as hosts or MCs for our awards ceremonies?
Comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy have a lot of experience hosting awards ceremonies.
I need someone who can turn an otherwise boring annual meeting into a fun evening.
That’s what comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy do- we make events fun!
More FAQ on stand-up comedy shows
Additional information on having a Country Club Comedy Night
We wrote the book on How to Hire Comedians
Invest in your happiness! Have a comedy showsm
We work regularly with a few dozen professional stand-up comedians. Not hundreds and certainly not thousands- if somebody says they work with thousands of comedians how much do they really know about any of the comedians? Are the comedians keeping their acts up-to-date? The head of The Ivy League of Comedy is a stand-up comedian who works regularly with his comedian colleagues and appears along with them at almost all our shows. He knows how to structure a line-up, whose material works best with, or conflicts with, or overlaps with, who else’s. You don’t get that personal level of detail working with a big generalist agency.
Studies have shown that people value experiences more than we value possessions. The pleasure we get from buying something new wears off very quickly but pleasurable experiences live on in our memory.
A comedy show is a great, fun experience!
Executive Summary
Where to hire comedians for a country club comedy night? The Ivy League of Comedy’s comedians are perfect for your golf club’s evening of entertainment. They’re like your members- many of them were bankers, attorneys, engineers, etc. before taking the stage. They’re all full-time professional comedians, so they know what they’re doing and they won’t pick on your audience. After all, you’re our customers! The least-experienced among them has been a comedian for over twenty years. They’re not old, but they are wise, and ready to make you laugh!
Let’s get started. To reserve a date or to ask questions, call, text or email:
Shaun Eli Breidbart
Comedian & Executive Director
The Ivy League of Comedysm
Liberty Comedy Corp.
Call or text us at (914) it’s-funny (914) 487-3866.
Shaun {at} TheIvyLeagueofComedy {dot} com
And be sure to ask about our special multi-club discount!