Michigan comedy booker’s open letter to stand-up comics

Jason Frey, the Michigan comedian who ran multiple stand-up comedy booking companies under fake names until a Detroit TV station caught up with him in a Thursday broadcast, sent out a letter Friday to all of the comedians who he had dealt with over the years via his Charter Talent email address.

Here it is, in full:

Hey everyone,

 

Well, where do we begin?  By now I’m sure you all have seen the newscast of me.

 

I’d like to start by thanking the many comedians who e mailed support.  That means a lot.  I’ve not met most of you in person yet we’ve talked via phone or e mail for years.

 

I hope that your direct dealings with us have been good.  Have mistakes been made in the past?  Sure.  Have we corrected issues and cut ties with certain sales agents? Yes. Those stories were from years back.  In fact some of those comedians have current upcoming dates on the books with us.  If you have an issue with a way you’ve been treated by Charter Talent e mail me and let’s discuss it.

 

Is this going to hurt me financially.  You bet it is.

 

Are other bookers loving this?  Totally.

 

Have I ever told a comedian you can’t work certain markets or bookers because of “territory” issues? Never.  I know this is a tough career.

 

Are there two sides to a story?  Most definitely.  But that’s neither here nor there.

 

Do I have agents, marketing person, and a partner? Yeah. The amount of marketing I’ve done has cost a ton and I didn’t have the capital alone nor did I know how to do it without the help of some people a lot smarter than me.  I couldn’t book that much stuff as a one man operation and be on the road as a comedian.

 

All I can ask is that you think about the times you’ve worked for us if you’ve been give a thorough itinerary, been paid what was promised, and I was easily to work with?

 

As most of you know Roger Paul was booking our nightclub/comedy club work.  That is still the case and Roger has been given copies of my “mass e mail list”.  Roger’s e mail is RogerPaul@RogerPaulinc.com

 

If you want to be off this list just click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this e mail.

 

You’re all on this e mail list because I know you’re good comedians.

 

Jason