Survey identifies average stand-up fan

They are among the findings the findings of a survey of more than 1,200 visitors to the Stand comedy club in Edinburgh.

In what may be a blow to comedians’ egos, more than five out of six people (84 per cent) said it didn’t matter which acts were on the bill, they just came for a night out.

The findings of the six-week survey could be of use to other clubs trying to determine their audience make-up, and how to attract new customers.

At The Stand, the audience is split almost exactly evenly between men and women, at 49.5 and 50.5 per cent respectively.

The club also found is a direct relationship between age and cost – the cheaper the show, the younger the audience. Although it could also be related to the fact cheaper nights are earlier in the week, where younger people are also more willing to go out.

More than half the club’s audience on an average night are at the venue for the first time. Word of mouth was by far the most effective way of promoting the club, followed by the internet, which proved to be more successful than traditional advertising and listings in attracting audiences.

Stand director Tommy Sheppard said: ‘In many ways this research backs up our instincts, but it’s always useful to have hard information on who your audience is. And there are some things that surprised us. We didn’t expect one person in every eight to be from outside the UK.’

The club also compiled some less rigorous statistics. Venue manager Kenny O’Brien said that over the nine years the club has been in its York Place venue, seven pairs of underpants have been found abandoned in the toilets.

He said: ‘That means we can say for sure that at least 0.0014 per cent of our audience have laughed so hard they have literally shat themselves.’

Published: 25 Apr 2007