Internal. Four drafts staged, nothing sent. Enter the passphrase.
Sean Collins — Send Board
7 August 2026 · 4 emails staged · NOTHING SENT · read, edit, then tell me to fire
Nothing on this board has gone anywhere. All four are drafted in your voice for you to send. Change anything you
want changed — it is quicker for me to redo a line than for you to live with a line you would not have written.
1 · Steve Lodge, Comedy Hall — the Tiverton contract Ready
To: laughs@comedyhall.co.uk
Subject: Re: Booking Sean Collins
Thread: replies to his 7 Aug 06:27 "Sorry - reattached."
The angle that makes this an easy conversation. Steve's own published standard terms are the same
template — and almost every awkward clause was added on top of them for this contract. So most of what
follows is "please go back to your own wording", not "please change your terms". That is a very
different ask, and a fair one.
Deliberately NOT in this email: the 15% merchandise — your instruction, and the contract is silent on it,
which suits us · the missing concession price — that is Steve's commercial call on a promoter date, so it belongs
in your phone conversation, not in a list of contract corrections.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for sending the contract over properly — got it this time.
I've had it read through carefully before I sign anything, and there's a
list of things I need to raise. I want to be straight with you about the
tone of this: none of it is me being difficult, and the deal itself is one
I'm happy with. Most of what's below is actually asking you to go back to
your own standard wording, because a fair few of these clauses read
differently in this version than they do in the terms on your website.
Taking them in order of how much they matter.
1. WHO THE CONTRACT IS WITH
It's made out to "Big Laugh Boutique". Big Laugh Boutique is a trading
name, not a company - so as it stands the agreement is with me personally
rather than with a business. Everything for this tour goes through:
SCJ Entertainment Ltd
Company number 06734322
37 Bury Crescent, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 3TZ
That's the same on all twelve dates, so it's not a Tiverton thing. Payment
goes to SCJ too.
2. THE INDEMNITY (CLAUSE 3.2)
At the moment I'd be covering you for any and all loss or liability, with
no upper limit, and it only runs one way. Three small changes and it's a
normal clause: cap my side at the fee I actually receive, make it mutual
so we each cover the other, and drop the words "whether criminal or civil"
- you can't validly promise to cover someone's criminal liability anyway.
3. "ANY BREACH" WIPES OUT THE WHOLE FEE (CLAUSE 4.2)
As written, any breach at all - however small, at any time, even after the
show - means you keep the entire fee. Getting artwork to you a day late
would technically do it. I'm sure that isn't the intention, which is why
I'd like it to say material breach, with seven days' written notice to put
it right, and you withholding only what you've actually lost.
4. WHAT THE 70% IS 70% OF
The contract doesn't say. It says "based on 311 potential ticket sales",
which is a full house rather than a number anyone gets paid on. Since your
box office runs through the Tourist Information Centre and the 0333 line,
there's a booking fee sitting in between, and nothing tells us which side
of it the split is worked out.
Could we define it as 70% of gross box office receipts before any booking
fee, card charge or agency commission - paid within seven days against
invoice, with a settlement statement showing tickets sold at each price,
comps issued and any deductions. Standard stuff, and it saves us both an
awkward conversation on the night.
5. VAT - THREE SEPARATE THINGS
- "70% plus VAT" has to come out. SCJ isn't VAT registered, so I can't add
VAT to an invoice.
- The £18 is inclusive of VAT, but the contract doesn't say whether my 70%
is worked out before or after VAT comes off. It's a £650 difference on
the night, so I'd rather it was written down than discovered.
While we're on it - is there actually VAT on these tickets? TCAT being a
community arts theatre, admission may well be exempt. You'll know better
than me.
- The cancellation fee has "+ VAT" on it. Your own published terms just say
£500. Could we use your version - as it stands I'd pay £600 and you'd
receive £500 plus reclaimable VAT, which isn't the even split it looks.
6. PRS IS IN THERE TWICE
Clause 5.1 has me obtaining and paying the PRS licence, and then the
payment definition takes "less PRS" off my 70% as well. It needs to be one
or the other. My suggestion is that it sits with you, as the promoter
running the room - a visiting act doesn't normally licence the music in
someone else's building - and that whatever it comes to is taken off the
gross before we split, with the figure shown on the settlement.
7. THE 90-MINUTE SHOW AND THE SUPPORT ACT
This is the one I most want to talk through, and it's probably a
conversation rather than an email.
Clause 3.1 has me delivering a 1.5 hour show "at the risk and reward of
the Entertainer at no additional cost or fee to the Club", clause 9.4 puts
all responsibility for any support act on me, and the front page describes
us as "Sean Collins plus support". None of that was in anything we'd
discussed, and none of it is in your published terms.
Sean does a straight hour. So the question is simply who books and pays
the opener. If it's you - which is the usual shape on a promoter date -
then those three lines just come out. If it's me, that's fine too, but the
support's fee needs to come off the gross before the 70/30 rather than out
of my share, and my liability for them capped at the fee.
Whichever way it lands, it needs changing in all three places, because
they each do the same job.
8. THE CANCELLATION CLAUSES (6.2 AND 6.3)
Both end with "in addition to any sums due pursuant to clause 3.2", and
3.2 is the indemnity - which only binds my side. So if I cancel I'd owe
£500 plus unlimited indemnity, and if you cancel you'd owe £500 and
nothing more. That cross-reference isn't in your published terms either,
so could we take it out of both and leave it as your own wording does.
9. NOTHING COVERS THINGS NEITHER OF US CONTROLS
There's no force majeure clause anywhere in the contract, and this date is
eighteen months away. As it reads now, if Sean is ill on 12 February I
lose the fee and pay you £500 plus VAT, because clause 6.2 says "for any
reason" and illness is a reason.
Could we add something straightforward: neither side liable and no
cancellation fee where it's illness, injury, bereavement, a government
restriction or the building closing - and both of us to try in good faith
to move the date rather than lose it.
SMALLER THINGS, ALL EASY
- Clause 4.6 says local promotion starts "upon delivery of artwork and
print". Happy to supply digital artwork eight weeks out; print I'd have
assumed sat your end on a promoter date. And there's no date attached to
it at the moment, so neither of us knows when I'd be late.
- Clause 5.3 makes me "responsible for national promotion", which has no
ceiling on it. Can we make it reasonable endeavours through our own
channels - which is what we'll be doing anyway - with no obligation to
buy advertising.
- Nothing limits comps or discounting your end. Since my fee is a share of
the box office, could we cap comps at ten and put any discounts or group
rates through me first, with everything shown on the settlement.
- It says the agreement is governed by "the laws of the United Kingdom".
There isn't one - it'd be England and Wales.
- Clause 9.1 refers to "the Period", which isn't defined anywhere.
- Clause 5 goes from 5.1 to 5.3. Was there a 5.2? Could you send a clean
renumbered version so I know what I'm signing.
- And one to add: that you can use Sean's name and the artwork to promote
the show, as supplied and unaltered, and that it stops after the date.
- Clause 9.3 stops me sub-contracting without your written consent, while
3.1 and 9.4 require me to bring a support act. If the support does end up
being mine, that consent needs writing in.
TO BE CLEAR ABOUT WHERE I AM
I want this date and I want to do it with you - the terms we agreed are
good, the room's right, and I'd like this to be the first of a lot. This
is just the paperwork not quite matching the conversation, which happens.
Send me a reissued version with those in and I'll sign it straight away.
And I'll pick up the monthly club nights on the phone.
All the best,
JR
John Robson
Big Laugh Boutique - Comedy Agency & Management
jr@biglaughboutique.com
+44 (0) 77780 55510
www.biglaughboutique.com
2 · Tom Stanimeros, Creatures — the ticketing answers Read the blocker first
🛑 I could not fill their form, and I want to be straight about why rather than hand you a guess.
Their ticketing form at forms.gle/rEx3RppYjTq9hjsi7requires a Google sign-in. I followed the
short link to the real address and the page returns HTTP 401 — "You must sign in to access this content."
I have no Google account and your standing rule is no Google sign-up for anything, so I cannot open it, cannot read
its questions, and cannot submit it.
That may well be why it has sat for ten days. It is worth knowing that this was never a case of nobody
getting round to it.
Two ways through, your pick: (a) You open the form yourself signed into a Google account and paste the answers below in. Fastest if you
have one. (b) Send Tom the email below — it gives him every answer in the body and asks him to either drop them in
himself or send a link that doesn't need a login. Costs nothing, and it moves today.
The answers — built from our records, not from their form
⚠️ Be aware of what this is. Because I cannot see their form, these are assembled from the fields Komedia
and The Stand asked for, plus everything Tom has told us. They will cover it, but the labels may not match
his exactly. I am not going to present a guess as if it were their form.
Field
Answer
Event title
Sean Collins — Good To Be Here
Date
Friday 29 January 2027
Slot
6:45–7:45pm (their fixed showcase slot)
Running time
60 minutes, no interval — per Tom, 7 Aug. Short support then straight into Sean, or Sean alone for the hour. Sean's preference — asked on his hub
Genre
Comedy / stand-up
Ticket price
£15 / £20 / £25 on their tiers (confirmed 29 Jul)
Capacity
~100, theatre-style
Ticketing platform
Skiddle (theirs) — selling all 100
External allocation
None. Declined 29 Jul
Age limit
16+ unless they state otherwise — please confirm their room's
John Robson · jr@biglaughboutique.com · +44 (0) 77780 55510
On-sale date
TBC — all twelve dates announce together. Not named to any venue
Artwork
To follow — ask what size and shape they need (three venues, three different specs so far)
Links
Socials only. ⛔ Not seancollinscomedy.com — it is down
Web copy
The 120-word blurb, as sent to Komedia
Accessibility
Ask them — ours to state on our own ticket page
To: Info@creaturescomedy.com
Subject: Re: Sean Collins - Friday 29 January
Hi Tom,
Thanks - that's exactly what I needed, and it makes the decision easy.
We'll run it as a straight hour with no interval and get started on time.
On the support: thanks for the offer, and I may well come back to you on
it, but we're likely to bring our own opener - we're using a local act in
each town on this run. I'll confirm once it's settled.
One practical thing. I've tried to fill your ticketing form in and it
wants a Google login, which I don't have. Rather than let it hold the
date up any longer, here's everything it's likely to be asking for -
either drop it straight in your end, or send me a version of the form
that doesn't need a sign-in and I'll do it properly.
Event title: Sean Collins - Good To Be Here
Date: Friday 29 January 2027
Slot: 6:45-7:45pm
Running time: 60 minutes, no interval
Genre: Comedy / stand-up
Ticket prices: £15 / £20 / £25 on your tiers
Capacity: c.100, theatre-style
Ticketing: Skiddle - all tickets through you
External allocation: none
Support: we'll be bringing our own, name to follow
Promoter: SCJ Entertainment Ltd (company no. 06734322)
37 Bury Crescent, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 3TZ
Contact: John Robson, jr@biglaughboutique.com,
+44 (0) 77780 55510
On sale: to be confirmed - we're announcing all the tour
dates on the same day, so I'll give you a date
before it happens rather than after
Links: socials - I'll send the handles with the artwork
Copy for the listing:
Canadian stand-up Sean Collins brings Good To Be Here to Creatures.
A road comic in the proper sense, Sean has spent his career working
clubs and theatres across Canada and the UK - and found a second
audience online, with over a million followers and 100,000,000 views
across his socials.
No gimmick, no theme, no slideshow. Just an hour of stand-up from
someone who has done it long enough to make it look easy - warm, fast,
and unsparing about family, life, getting older, and the small
indignities nobody else will admit to.
"The funniest person I've ever seen" - The Independent
"Expert comedy, done effortlessly" - The Scotsman
Three things back from you when you get a minute:
- What size and shape do you want the artwork? Every venue's asked for
something different so far, so I'd rather cut it right first time.
- What's the age limit in your room?
- And your accessibility wording - we're listing the whole tour
ourselves and I want to get each room's right.
Anything showing a price our end will carry "subject to venue booking
fee", since it varies room to room.
All the best,
JR
John Robson
Big Laugh Boutique - Comedy Agency & Management
jr@biglaughboutique.com
+44 (0) 77780 55510
www.biglaughboutique.com
3 · P Pub Comedy Club, Swansea — the one that never went Ready
To: Ppubcomedyclub@gmail.com
Subject: Sean Collins — Swansea, February 2027
Date sought: Sat 20 Feb 2027, or Fri 19 as fallback — opens a Welsh weekend
You were right to ask. You gave me this address on 21 July via Chris, it went straight into the venue
database — and nothing was ever sent to it. I checked the mailbox by recipient and by sender across All Mail:
no mail out, nothing back, no Swansea subject line anywhere. My own file still says "cold enquiry draft owed".
That is 17 days lost and it is mine, not yours.
⚠️ The one thing I cannot see is whether you went at them direct — Chris had told them to expect you, and a
call or a message would not show up in anything I can search. If you already spoke to them, bin this draft.
Deliberately not in it: any terms, any price, any date pressure. It is a cold approach through a mutual
friend — the only job is to open the door.
Hi,
Chris passed your details on a few weeks back and said he'd already
mentioned us to you. Apologies it's taken this long to actually write - I
had it down as sent and only realised today that it never went. Entirely
our end, and sorry for the silence after Chris had gone to the trouble.
We look after Sean Collins. He's a Canadian comic, thirty-odd years on the
circuit, and he's built a big following online - around a million across
the platforms - which is what tends to move tickets these days.
We're routing a UK run through late January and February 2027, and we'd
like to build a Welsh weekend into it. What we're after is Saturday 20
February in Swansea, with Cardiff the following night.
Would that be a date you'd consider? And if the Saturday is already
spoken for, Friday 19 February works for us just as well - we'd rather fit
round your room than ask you to move anything.
We're easy on shape - happy to work to however your night runs. We'd
supply artwork in whatever sizes you need, print, web and socials, and
we'd list the date through Sean's own site and socials as well.
One thing that would help us plan: is this your own regular club night, or
is it a room you hire out? Either suits us - it just changes how we'd
approach the marketing at our end.
And if February isn't right at all, we'd still be glad to be on your radar
for later in the year.
All the best,
JR
John Robson
Big Laugh Boutique - Comedy Agency & Management
jr@biglaughboutique.com
+44 (0) 77780 55510
www.biglaughboutique.com
4 · Aled Lloyd Rees, Wales Millennium Centre — Cardiff, moved to Sun 21 Feb Ready
To: spaces@wmc.org.uk
Cc: cabaret@wmc.org.uk
Subject: Sean Collins — Cabaret room, Sunday 21 February 2027
⭐ THE RESHAPE — your "over the weekend" call, and it fixes four things at once.The weekend of Fri 19 → Sun 21 Feb 2027 is completely empty on the run — it is the only dead patch left in
February. Putting Wales there instead of hanging it off the West Country gives us:
Swansea Sat 20 · Cardiff Sun 21 — a proper Welsh weekend, marketed as one, instead of a Sunday-and-Monday tail.
Valentine's Day disappears. Sun 14 Feb was the wrong night to ask an audience out to comedy.
Monday goes. Mon 15 Feb was the weakest night on the whole run — hardest sell of the week, fourth night on the bounce.
The West Country tightens to a clean Fri/Sat pair — Tiverton then Totnes — and the 130-mile Totnes→Cardiff Sunday hop vanishes.
The dead middle weekend of February gets filled, so the run reads as three clean weekends: West Country, Wales, then Brighton–London.
And it still respects WMC's constraint: the Cabaret room programmes Sundays, and the 21st is a Sunday.
The unknown that actually decides Swansea — and nobody has ever asked it. Cardiff and Swansea are only
about 40 miles apart. If P Pub is a room we hire, playing both on consecutive nights risks splitting
one south Wales audience across two rooms at our own cost. If it is their own regular club night, they carry
the room and their crowd, the overlap barely matters, and it is close to free money.
That single answer decides whether Swansea is worth doing at all — so I have put the question directly into
the Swansea mail above.
Still worth knowing: ⚠️ I have not verified WMC's availability on Sun 21 Feb, or that the Cabaret is
genuinely Sundays-only — the mail asks rather than assumes. And Fri 19 Feb stays free either way: Bristol sits
on the road between Devon and south Wales and has been silent on both routes since 16 July, so it is the natural
candidate to open that weekend and make it a three-nighter.
Hi Aled,
We look after Sean Collins and we're routing a UK run through late January
and February 2027. We'd like to ask about the Cabaret room for Sunday 21
February, closing a Welsh weekend with Swansea the night before.
We know the Cabaret programmes Sundays, so we've built the routing around
that rather than asking you to work around us.
One thing we'd genuinely value your view on before we pin it. We had
originally looked at Sunday 14 February, but that's Valentine's Day and it
felt like the wrong night to ask an audience out to a comedy show. The
21st looks the better bet to us - but you'll know your own room far better
than we do, so if you'd steer us back to the 14th, or to another Sunday
altogether, we'd rather take your read than push for the one that suits
our diary.
Whenever you get a chance, could you also let us know:
- Capacity as you'd seat it for stand-up
- Get-in, doors, show start
- Interval - whether you need one, and how long
- Stage curfew and venue curfew
- Whether you supply a support act or we bring our own
- Your age limit and accessibility wording for the room
That last one because we're listing the whole run ourselves and we want
each room's details right rather than generic.
We'll supply artwork in whatever sizes you need - print, web and socials -
and we'll list the date through Sean's own site and socials too.
All the best,
JR
John Robson
Big Laugh Boutique - Comedy Agency & Management
jr@biglaughboutique.com
+44 (0) 77780 55510
www.biglaughboutique.com
The tour-wide note you asked for
✅ Settled, and it applies to all twelve dates: every agreement is made to SCJ Entertainment Ltd
(co. 06734322, 37 Bury Crescent, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 3TZ), and every settlement is payable to SCJ.
⏳ Open: whether you or Sean raises the invoice. Written into the show database as an open item, not
guessed at. What follows from it, and it binds every date:
No contract names an individual as payee — it is SCJ.
No invoicing person is named to any venue until you settle it.
A venue asking "who do we pay?" gets SCJ Entertainment Ltd and nothing further.
This is a live gap at settlement rather than a paperwork detail — it decides who issues twelve invoices and who
chases them when they're late.