Join the Paul F. Tompkins 300!

Paul F. Tompkins is a fantastic stand-up comedian whose credits include HBO’s “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” “Anchorman,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Comedy Central Presents,” “Weeds,” “The Sarah Silverman Program,” and “Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins.” His latest CD “Freak Wharf” immediately went to the top of the iTunes comedy charts. Here is a video of Paul’s standup, where he describes a Christmas party he threw at his house:

Funny, yes? Yes!

Here’s something interesting about Paul. He’s booking shows outside of traditional comedy clubs ONLY if 300 people in that town COMMIT to buying tickets BEFORE he books a date in a venue. Let’s let him explain:

Paul F. Tompkins wrote..

This past August, I went to Atlanta to record an hour-long special for Comedy Central. As I was doing my most personal material to date, I wanted to perform it in an intimate setting, and the 74-seat Laughing Skull Lounge seemed perfect! I would perform two shows a night for four nights, using different camera angles for each performance; everything would be covered, but there would still be room enough for seventy-four audience members.

The only problem was, it looked like I wasn’t actually going to have an audience. Ticket sales were less than robust. Twelve people a show was a little too intimate.

I jumped on Twitter. I asked for help. “SPREAD THE WORD,” I hollered. “I NEED TO FILL THIS TINY THEATER. TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY PEOPLE OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT SHOWS.” I went on: “PLEASE TELL ME THERE ARE THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE THAT WANT TO COME SEE ME IN THIS CITY.”

Friends, fans, fanfriends and friendfans alike were kind enough to retweet this message over and over. I got my three hundred. The shows went well! The special airs this spring and the DVD comes out shortly after.

But something… else came out of that craziness. In the midst of my campaign to rally the people of Atlanta, I got a tweet that asked, “Why don’t you come to Toronto?”

Well, this was the absolute last thing I wanted to hear. Not helpful! I wrote back, through the finger equivalent of clenched teeth, “You get three hundred people to say they’ll come see me in Toronto and I’ll go to Toronto.”

So this enterprising young man, comedian Bob Kerr, started a Facebook group pithily entitled, “Bring Paul F. Tompkins to Toronto!” He asked for people to join the group if they were committed to seeing me perform. He asked that folks not join for “support,” that they not join just because they like joining groups, but that they only join if they were serious about wanting to come see me live in Toronto. Bob said, “You should only join if you’re actually going to be there.”

Within a few weeks, the group’s ranks had swelled to 305. I checked it out. It seemed legit! I booked a show.

A couple months later, I was in Toronto, performing two sold out shows on a Sunday night for two smart, respectful, appreciative audiences. These people didn’t come to “party.” They came to see a show. It was a magical night for me.

And it tasted like more.

I’ve become fed up with the comedy club system for reasons that would cause you to self-murder should I elaborate. I don’t want that to happen. I have long thought, There’s got to be a better way than this. But I had no idea what that way could be until my experience in Toronto.

So here it is: you provide the audience, I’ll provide the show.

If you can, as Bob Kerr did in Toronto, get 300 people to commit to seeing a show in a small theater or nightclub, I will book a show in your city. We will have a good time. Together! I will give you an excellent show. We will have FUN.

If you have suggestions of venues to play, all the better! I am looking for small theaters or nightclubs, civilized places where people can sit down like human beings instead of standing around like veal. People should never stand for comedy. It’s absurd. You stand for music because you might dance. You’re not going to start dancing at a comedy show, are you? If yes, go get a CAT scan.

I believe this system can work. It’s going to take some time, I’m sure, and there will no doubt be kinks that need ironing out. But eventually, I have faith that this model will be successful. My experience in Toronto showed me that the Internet is more than message board anger and pornbot SPAM! If we want it to, it can bring people together! THAT IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE REASONS IT WAS CREATED!

If you’d like to start one of these groups, here’s what you do:

1. Do a quick search and see if there’s already a group for your city (or one that’s close enough, lazy). It gets confusing. For me, and then for you. Next thing you know, the world is confused and chaos reigns and it’s like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or Evelyn Waugh’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Check out this TOMPKINS 300 Map, created by my pal Eric Cunningham.

2. Take a look at the Toronto group that started it all. Make that your template. It worked once! Result speaks for itself! Call it “I Wanna See Paul F. Tompkins In…” Keeping it uniform makes it easily searchable. Also, I love a Facebook group in uniform!

3. Make me an admin of the group, so I can update everyone when there’s news of a venue and a date. Or maybe I just wanna feel what it’s like to have all that power, I don’t know. There’s a lot of psychology at play here.

4. Be the person that makes sure that people are committed! Stress that joining the group means coming to the show, not just supporting he idea of a show. Ieas of shows are nice, but you can’t see them except in your imagination. And also I don’t get paid.

5. Tweet me (I’m @PFTompkins) and/or message me on Facebook (here I am) with the link, and include the hashtag #tompkins300. Then I will spread the word across all my social networking sites!

6. Wait. And see. Me! Do comedy. In your town.

I would very much like to make your acquaintance. Together we can make this happen!

Got it? Great. Here we go:

IF you are willing to COMMIT TO BUY TICKETS to see Paul F. Tompkins in Nashville, then join this Facebook group. IF you want to “support” this cause without ACTUALLY GOING TO THE SHOW, just share the link with your friends but DO NOT JOIN the group. This group is for people COMMITTING TO BUYING ACTUAL TICKETS. thanks!