Rick Greenstein

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
AGENCY ROSTERS
Rick Greenstein
The Gersh Agency
S
But most people in the industry
know Rick as the agent for comedy
powerhouses like Dave Chappelle,
George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Janeane
Garofalo, Kids In The Hall, Brian
Regan, Arsenio Hall, Joe Rogan,
Kevin Nealon, Jim Breuer and
Robert Schimmel, to name a few.
In the nearly 10 years he’s been
at The Gersh Agency, Rick has built
the firm’s comedy department from
the ground up. As TGA’s Senior VP,
he oversees a roster of more than
50 comedians. And he’s done a nice
job of it. At least that’s what the
firm’s Bob and David Gersh think.
Recently, the brothers made Rick
a partner at the agency.
When Rick’s not sitting in his
Beverly Hills, Calif., office securing
personal appearance gigs and
running the company’s comedy
department, he’s usually indulging
in his other passion: playing music.
“It’s what keeps me sane,” he
told Pollstar. “That and my family;
I have five young kids and a wonderful wife of 19 years. Between
being a dad, my music keeps me
balanced with the demands of this
business.”
Playing in a band is what got
Rick interested in becoming an
agent in the first place. Throughout
his high school and college years,
the young musician would book all
the dates for his band. Soon after
graduating from Colorado State,
Rick gave up his life as a musician
and decided to open his own booking agency, GPI. Little did he know
that his days of booking musical
acts in the Rocky Mountain region
would eventually turn into one
big joke.
What were your days in
Colorado like?
A Well, in December of ’82,
I moved from Fort Collins to
Boulder and opened a booking
agency. I booked bands up and
down Colorado’s front range.
Within a year, I had about 40
bands. I probably represented
60 or 70 percent of all the bands
in the Boulder/Denver area.
I booked clubs, colleges, resorts
and anything else I could find.
In a small market like Boulder,
I had to diversify and make ends
meet. That led me to do PR at the
Blue Note. It was a famous club
at the time. I worked for them
three mornings a week while
simultaneously running my
booking agency.
During that time, I also opened
a theatrical lighting company.
I took a couple courses with
lighting pros in the area and
basically started to lease out and
design lighting systems. Then the
buyer at the Blue Note left town
and they offered me the job.
I was in Boulder for about three
and a half years. This was in my
early to mid 20s.
And four years later
you relocated to Los Angeles?
A I decided that I wanted to go to
L.A. and step up into the big game.
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ome may recognize Rick Greenstein as the guy
from Pollstar’s 2004 CIC who traded guitar licks
with “Phat” Nat Burgess at Los Angeles’ Avalon.
I basically booked all my business
out for a solid year, so I had a
buffer. I administered all my
Colorado business from L.A. for
about a year.
After the move, I ended up
booking Al Stewart and met up
with Spencer Davis. I actually
managed Davis for a year and
a half. I also signed, as a comanager, a band called Wednesday Week, an alternative group
on Enigma Records.
I basically did that for a couple
years then decided it was time
to join a larger firm and get back
into the agency business. So I went
through some directories to find
rosters that looked interesting
to me and APA’s list caught my
attention.
What drew you to APA?
A They had a great jazz roster
there at the time, which was of
great interest to me. I cold-called
them and was able to arrange an
interview. Two weeks later, I was
working there.
In addition, their comedy
roster was solid. They said, “You’re
going to spend half of your time
in comedy and half in music.”
I basically came in and covered
everything that wasn’t being
handled by the other agents.
My pitch to them was this:
“There’s a lot of business out there
and a lot of grassroots venues
and all kinds of opportunities
you guys aren’t tapping into.”
So I said, “Everyone has their
own territories and that’s fine.
Let me just go out there and find
you new business.” I made them
a deal they couldn’t refuse.
I was booking most of their
jazz roster. Harry Connick Jr.
was previously signed by APA
in the New York office and he
didn’t have an RA on the West
Coast. I volunteered and started
working with Harry when he
was a $500-a-night piano player.
While I was there, I also signed
a young actress by the name
of Jennifer Love Hewitt. She was
11 years old at the time.
They also had a great comedy
roster. It included George Lopez,
Dennis Wolfberg and George
Wallace, among many others.
I started booking their entire
comedy roster in the western
half of the U.S.
I was at APA for about three
years when I got a call from
the William Morris Agency.
WMA asked me to go over and
run their comedy department.
Which one attracted you more,
music or comedy?
A I was attracted to both equally
but by the time I finished my
tenure at APA, I was more
interested in comedy. I loved
jazz, but as a business venture,
I felt that genre of the music
business had limited growth and
income potential compared to
opportunities in comedy.
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I also looked at the marketplace. There were a lot of strong
music agencies in town and
dozens upon dozens of really
strong agents I knew I’d have to
compete with. In the comedy
landscape, I looked around and
there were less than half a dozen
agents that I felt represented the
entire business. Comedy seemed
much more fertile.
I also loved the fact that
there are annuities in the comedy
business. You can make a deal
for someone on a series that
could potentially make money
five to 10 years or longer.
With personal appearances,
you book a gig, the commission
is earned, then you book another
one. I like having my hands in all
of it, not just one-nighters.
What differences are there
between booking music
and comedy?
A The general landscape of the
buyers are different. Most concert
promoters focus primarily on
music. Only a small percentage
of them really focus on comedy.
Although, with the recent success
of numerous comedy tours,
more promoters want to get
involved with comedy.
The biggest difference from
a strategic standpoint is that in
comedy – and I really believe this
is why the list of comedy agents
are kind of small – you can’t
just learn on your own and have
AGENCY ROSTERS
it down in five years. You really
need a mentor and there just
aren’t that many people around
who know the business.
There’s a lot of experience
and gut that comes into booking
and building careers in comedy.
You also don’t have some of the
tools that you do in the music
business.
What kinds of tools?
A For example, you have
SoundScan and playlists from
all the radio stations. So if a band
comes out with a record, you
have an indication of where it’s
selling product and where it’s
getting airplay. That gives you
accurate, up-to-date information.
When you’re booking comedy,
you don’t have any of that. All
you have is some history if the
artist has ever been in the market.
You have to have a real sense
of what kind of comedy works
in that specific market.
Comedy is spoken word,
and some will go over better in
certain markets with different
cultures. You also have to have
a sense of which buildings are
right for your artists. Spoken
word doesn’t work in all venues.
Some clubs are loud and you’ve
got bars right by the stage.
It may be the perfect place for
rock ‘n’ roll, but the worst place
for comedy.
You also need a sense of what
radio stations are in the market
and if they’ll be supportive of
bringing your guy on to the
morning show or presenting the
show.
What finally brought you
to The Gersh Agency?
RICK and Gersh’s Sarah Leach lighten
the mood at the firm’s Beverly Hills,
Calif., headquarters.
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2005/2006 Edition
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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
A An opportunity opened over
here at Gersh about 10 years ago.
At the time, they weren’t really
in the comedy business, per se.
There were comedic actors, but
they weren’t really in the personal
appearance business. Ten months
prior to me arriving something
had been attempted, but that
didn’t work.
RICK GREENSTEIN with the players at The Gersh Agency’s comedy department: (front
row) Paul Meloche and Shane Scheel, (second row) Bernie Spektor, Bree Bruns, Sara
Sheragy and Miguel DeJesus, (back row) Matthew Blake, Rick and Douglas Edley.
I brought over some clients
with me from WMA and built it
from the ground up. The comedy
department started with just
myself and an assistant. Over
the course of the last 10 years,
we’ve grown substantially.
Now, there are 10 people in
the department – five agents
and five support. We oversee all
personal appearance aspects of
our clients’ careers and handle
all of the comedy-centric type
specials and/or networks like
HBO, Showtime, 30- to 60minute specials, Comedy Central,
etcetera.
As a comedy agent, you’re
not only involved in personal
appearances, but you’re also
involved to a certain extent
with television, film, book
deals, radio and TV hosting,
television staff writing, CD/DVD
deals, and so on. There are
numerous ancillary business
opportunities with comedians,
which keeps it exciting and
challenging.
In addition, we work in
tandem with our packaging,
lit and talent departments for
series development and casting
opportunities.
What is your main focus
at the company right now?
A In regards to personal
appearances, I focus primarily
on the major tours. I also
deal with a handful of comedy
clubs and corporate buyers that
are old standing relationships.
But I mostly deal with people
like Robin Tate, Geof Wills
at Clear Channel (and several
of his associates throughout
the country), AEG and
others.
I’m also the responsible
agent for a significant portion
of our roster, which is a job
within itself. Then there’s
the fact that I run the comedy
department with all of its
administrative responsibilities.
We have our own unique
personality in the comedy
department. It’s a very tight-knit
group. We couldn’t have accomplished half of what we’ve done
without the combined efforts
of our dedicated agents, our
amazing assistants and our
diligent and tenacious contract
and support staff. I’m constantly
mentoring them, and continually
learning from them as well. We
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
do have a business to run, which
we run very professionally.
At the same time, we like to
have fun. We’re selling comedy,
so we might as well have a great
time and enjoy the laughter.
I think our jovial attitude is the
glue that keeps things together
around here.
How did your recent
partnership at Gersh come
about?
A My business has been very
significant to the company.
It’s grown steadily each year. The
agency has always been a close
family-held company, and I think
the brothers – Bob and David
Gersh – feel that it’s important to
reach out to some key people that
have contributed to the growth
and strength of the company.
Another aspect of the partnership is the leadership I try to
exemplify within my department
and throughout the company.
So they offered me the partnership, which is a beautiful thing.
It’s nice to be recognized for my
contribution to the company.
Did you have any mentors
as you were coming up?
A When I was working at APA,
Marty Klein was the president
and considered the comedy
guru. He had Steve Martin,
Rick Moranis and John Candy.
I was fortunate to work there
when he was running the ship.
Danny Robinson was the
head of the comedy department
and he was a wonderful person
to work with. He’s still a close
friend.
Jim Gosnell, who is the
current president at APA, is a
very close friend of mine too.
I learned a tremendous amount
about agenting from Jim, not to
mention a few other things. In
my three years at APA, I learned
by observing each of them.
When I went to WMA,
I worked pretty closely with
David Snyder. We shared an
office together for six months,
which was a life-changing
experience. David embodies a
tremendous amount of valuable
experience and knowledge and
loves to share it with others. That
said, my right ear is still ringing!
But one of my most important
mentors was Buddy Morra from
Morra, Bresner, Steinberg &
Tannenbaum. He was Robin
Williams’ and Billy Crystal’s manager for a long time, and had been
involved with David Letterman
and numerous people over the
years. When I went to WMA, he
took me under his wing because
we shared Jake Johannsen, who
was a client I inherited.
The most important mentor
I had was my father, Jerry
Greenstein. He passed away
several years ago, but he was
by my side when I got my start
in business and all through my
days at WMA. My father wasn’t
in the entertainment business,
but he was a brilliant businessman. He gave me a tremendous
amount of support, advice and
guidance.
Now that he’s gone, his brother,
my uncle Stanley Greenstein,
has stepped into those shoes.
What’s your philosophy
on signing acts?
A It’s not about building the
biggest list in town, it’s about
building the right people that
we believe in that we’re proud
to represent. We won’t sign
150 acts and see which 50 stick.
We’re extremely selective and
we’ve passed on a lot of people,
which every agent has.
But more importantly, time
is money. There’s a lot of time
that goes into building an artist’s
career so we must be selective.
What’s your strategy
in building young talent?
A If it’s a young comic, the main
thrust is to try and build their
personal appearance career.
In addition to pursuing standup
appearances on TV, you start
introducing them to the clubs,
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AGENCY ROSTERS
colleges, corporate buyers (if appropriate) and
try to put them on as
an opening act for some
of your headliners.
One of the tools we
use is broadcast-quality
tape or DVD of their
performances to send
out and educate the
buyers. We also try to
get them into the major
comedy festivals when
they are ready. You try
to get your young faces
on these festivals because the development
and casting executives
attend these showcases,
not just personal
GERSH AGENCY Co-presidents David Gersh (L) and Bob
appearance buyers.
Gersh (R) grab a shot with Rick, who recently became a
When they are ready,
we try and get them TV company partner after nearly 10 years of service.
exposure. That usually
country and he’s doing great
starts with a standup spot on
business.
“The Tonight Show,” Letterman,
This is an artist that’s done
Comedy Central, etcetera.
the grind, been on the road and
The end game is to get them
put out his own DVDs and CDs.
constant exposure on a TV series
You can almost compare it to
and/or film. With a theatrical
independent bands that have
component in the equation,
grown their own core audience
it’s a much faster build. But
by constant touring and deliverthere are artists who’ve managed
ing high quality product to their
to grow in personal appearances
fans.
without TV or film exposure.
Any specific examples?
A One of the prime examples
who I happen to represent is
Brian Regan. He’s been touring
for years and years in the comedy
clubs. Brian does his normal variety TV and cable appearances
but doesn’t yet have a series.
He has topped out at the clubs
and was selling everything out
at a relatively high ticket price.
Because he was in such high
demand, we eventually took
him into the theatres. At the
end of 2004, we test-marketed
half a dozen theatres that all sold
out. This year, he’s doing about
40 theatres around the country.
Clear Channel and Robin Tate
are co-promoting most all of
the dates. We’re doing 1,000to 2,700-seat theatres around the
We hear there’s an interesting
story on how you met Dave
Chappelle?
A I was in Montreal about
12 years ago for the “Just For
Laughs” festival. I was walking
outside of the St. Denis Theatre
heading to a show and as I’m
walking up, I see about 25 people
standing in a circle.
So I walk up to see this young
guy doing standup on a five-foot
mound of dirt. Unbeknownst
to me, it was Dave Chappelle.
He was probably about 18 or 19.
I was running late for the show,
but I stood there for a couple of
minutes and watched. Then I had
to run off before he was finished.
He was hysterical. I don’t believe
he was part of the festival, I think
he was just hanging out.
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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
So I attended the festival for
the next two days and on the
last night, they threw a huge gala.
It was late at night and the band
that was performing decided to
take a break. At that moment, a
few of us – one of the organizers
of the festival and a buddy of
mine who is a publicist – decided
to jump up onstage and jam a
little bit.
We’re standing onstage, and
we realized we didn’t have a
singer. So we got on the microphone and said, “Hey, is there a
singer in the house?” Chappelle
happened to be in the front
row and he popped up onstage.
He looks at me and says, “Blues,
in A.” So we broke into a blues
tune and we were jamming for
about five minutes. The song
ended and he looked at me and
said, “Dave Chappelle,” and
I said, “Rick Greenstein,” and
we shook hands. So we met
performing onstage. It took me
about five more years of pursuing
him to sign him.
With your clients who’ve
had success in TV and film,
is it difficult to get them
touring again?
A It depends. Luckily, for most
of my clients, standup is part
of their heart and soul and they
want it to be a part of their career
for the long run. As TV and/or
film enter into their career, we
RICK’S BEEN KNOWN to pick up a guitar
every now and then. Here he is
jamming at the Avalon in Hollywood,
Calif., during Pollstar’s 2004 CIC.
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AGENCY ROSTERS
have to strategically incorporate
both aspects so they work in
unison. Most of them will come
back to it at some point either
sporadically with isolated dates
or with a tour.
Having said that, there are
many artists out there who did
standup early in their career
and once they achieved a certain
level of success as an actor, they
never have or will consider doing
standup again.
Certainly, if an artist is doing
a network TV series, they’re
typically in production 22 to 24
weeks out of the year. Their avails
are limited to hiatuses in the mid
spring to late summer or if they
want to work weekends during
production, that is viable as well.
With Jamie Foxx, once he
stopped doing TV and started
doing films, his avails for the
road became pretty limited.
He usually tours somewhere
between every three and four
years. But it’s not as frequent as
some other artists who want to
tour every 12 to 18 months.
Every year that Lopez has
had his show on the air, he’s taken
dates. They are either during his
hiatus in the spring/summer or
often times on weekends while
still in production.
How do you know when to
move from clubs to theatres?
A We have to have that sense
where we’re literally busting
at the seams at the club level.
But if you have a new series on
the air – say on Comedy Central
– and the show has been on for
a season and it’s getting great
press, then it’s probably time to
move into theatres.
And you still take that
transition conservatively; you
don’t go into 5,000-seat venues
right away unless it’s off the hook.
Most markets have good 1,000to 2,000-seat theatres, and you
go in and price it right.
The key here is to never lose
your core audience. You want to
bring them along and groom a
L-R: Jim Breuer, Robert Schimmel, CCE promoter Joel Peresman, Rick and
Dave Chappelle backstage at New York’s Theater at Madison Square Garden.
new audience as well. People
that are used to seeing your
client in an intimate 300-seat
comedy club paying $25 to $30
per aren’t quick to want to see
them in a 5,000-seater and pay
$50 to $60. So you initially go
in, do a nice small to mid-size
theatre and you keep the ticket
price $5 to $10 higher than
what the comedy club was,
if the economics allow.
What role do promoters play
in how you book your acts?
A It’s a huge role. I work very
closely with promoters. When
booking a show, we discuss
every pertinent detail: selecting
the right market and venue,
date to scaling, advertising,
on-sale strategy, how often
we return to the market, etcetera,
etcetera.
I’m very protective of our
acts. I want to make sure we’re
working with a promoter who
knows how to promote comedy,
and can reach that artist’s
audience. It’s also imperative
that they understand how I work.
We must work as a team to
increase our chances of success
for each and every play.
What are your feelings
on ticket prices for comedy?
A I like the fact that comedy
is still a reasonable ticket price
in comparison to many music
events. Going to a comedy
show is a different experience
than going to a two-hour
Rolling Stones concert. I don’t
think you’re going to see
many comedy shows escalating
into those $200 to $300 ticket
prices because that usually
goes into shows that have huge
production elements with huge
superstars that can command
that.
The bottom line is we’re still
competing for the same dollar,
so I like having a competitive
edge. Therefore, I generally
tend to keep the pricing a little
bit less than what a comparable
music act would charge.
Many of my clients – and I
respect this about them – are
very sensitive to the audience’s
needs, especially if you have
an artist that tends to have a
younger audience. If you charge
them $60 to $70 per ticket,
you’re going to start isolating
some of that audience.
Any general thoughts about
the current state of the
comedy biz?
A I think the state of the comedy
business is better than it’s ever
been. If you measure that by the
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
AGENCY ROSTERS
seen the urban comedy business
develop between Def Jam,
Kings of Comedy and several
other multi-act packages. That
wasn’t there 15 years ago.
Chappelle has established
a young, socially aware audience
thanks in part to the fans that
have discovered his show on
Comedy Central. Lopez has built
a huge business not solely but
firmly entrenched in the Latino
community.
Mitchell Haddad
sheer number of comedy clubs,
there may be an argument
against that. Fifteen years ago,
it seems like there were three
clubs in every city. But there are
several new clubs opening and
most of the established clubs
are maintaining solid business.
If you look at how many
acts are in Pollstar’s Top 50 tours,
a lot of them are comedians.
Fifteen years ago, at any given
time, you’d have maybe 3 or 4
artists that could do that – an
Eddie Murphy, Andrew Dice
Clay or Steve Martin. If you look
at who’s toured in the last 48
months – Lopez, Chappelle,
Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams,
Ellen DeGeneres, Kids In The
Hall, Garofalo, Kevin James,
etcetera – there’s more people
out there doing significant
business.
I also think the comedy
concert audience has been
groomed. They weren’t used
to seeing live comedians so
frequently 15 years ago. When
they went to a concert, 99.9
percent of the time it was music.
Now, there is so much diversity
among touring standups, and a
number of creative packages that
have been offered by all of the
agencies representing comedians
during the last 10 years. There is
something for everybody. We’ve
I heard your first concert
was Alan King.
A When people ask me what my
first concert was, I usually talk
about seeing Rick Derringer
who played at my elementary
auditorium when I was a kid. But
after thinking about it for this
interview, I realized that wasn’t
the first one. It was Alan King.
My parents used to go down
to Florida when I was a kid in
the late ’60s. We used to stay on
the strip, and I believe Alan was
performing at the Fontainebleau
Hotel. I got to know Alan in the
later part of his life and enjoyed
some pretty funny moments with
him.
Sounds like an omen.
A It really was because my
original focus was music. Like
GEORGE LOPEZ (center) celebrates seven sold-out shows at Los Angeles’ Universal
Amphiteatre with promoter Robin Tate, Rick, HoB’s Alex Hodges, manager
Ron Deblasio and BGP’s Geof Wills.
most agents, I’m a frustrated
musician. But I used to watch
SNL and comedians like Steve
Martin and Eddie Murphy. I was
also a huge Monty Python fan
all the way through junior high
and high school. My friends and
I used to be able to recite the
“Holy Grail” and “Life of Brian”
line for line. I’ve always loved
brilliant and outrageous comedy.
What’s it like working with
comedians on a daily basis?
Are they crazy?
A Every artist is different.
I love it. At the end of the day,
if they make me laugh then
I’m happy. That’s one of my
big parameters – they’ve got
to make me laugh, whether it
be just in talking with them
or seeing them live. When you
talk with a lot of these comics,
they’re just naturally funny
people. They think funny. But
in all, laughter is a wonderful
thing. I’m literally blessed to
have a career doing this.
Mitchell Peters
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