SVOG Spotlight: Scamps Comedy Productions, Inc.
By Norman Eng, Public Affairs Specalist
Dave Rattigan started Scamps Comedy Productions, Inc. over 15 years ago as a small business he could run out of his home.
He produced shows and contracted talent for events; the business also provided lights, sound, staging, and marketing services for partners. Over the course of a year, Scamps Comedy would contract with roughly 80 freelancers, mostly comedians to put on shows at theaters and for charity events – with the goal to make you laugh!
As March was always a busy time of year, Rattigan remembered the pre-pandemic weekend of 2020 when he worked two great shows on Friday and Saturday.
“The crowd for the first show was more than 300 and the crowd for the second 170, both sellouts,” recalls Dave. “The next weekend, four of my five shows were cancelled and the one that wasn’t only drew 35 patrons.”
Entertainment industry hit hard
When the world shut down, the entertainment industry was deeply impacted. Comedians and entertainers of all forms could no longer perform; live event stakeholders, including tech crews, servers, managers and other staff that ran shows all went unemployed.
As the pandemic ran its course, Rattigan tried to adapt his company to the changing environment. Scamps Comedy pivoted by staging outside “parking lot” shows as a way to keep going. Comedians rotated multiple mics in with their shows and used mic covers for safety measures with their set – the beeping of car horns replaced applause. Some venues opened for reduced-seating shows, where 50 people sat in a 300-seat room for a “sellout” performance. A virtual show, “Zoom Comedy” was created where comedians could perform from their home.
Finding a way to make it through Covid
Rattigan also worked during the academic year as a college professor, where he managed to earn an income teaching online classes. This allowed him to get by without totally losing his entire income, but it also prevented him from qualifying for unemployment. Without assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Rattigan admits he would have had to tap into his retirement savings in order to pay rent and monthly expenses.
Rattigan had never applied for any loan outside of a home mortgage before Covid, so the assistance from Rosa Taormina, an advisor with the Small Business Development Center at Salem State University – along with many others in the resource provider community – was crucial. Taormina provided free guidance and counseling services leading to both the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan being approved.
Laugh it off
As a result of the new funding, the business was able to keep going – Rattigan used the capital to secure a series of events that kept his people employed including: an annual comedy festival in New Hampshire that had taken the year off because of Covid; a comedy show at a new venue in Boston; theater shows in Mansfield and Cape Cod; an event for New Year’s Eve; and upcoming shows at theaters in September and October.
Some theaters and other entertainment venues are still having staffing issues however – volunteers not coming back to previous roles as ushers and committee members. Patrons are still reluctant to attend indoor events, and with the variant spreading, there is a lot of uncertainty moving forward.
Unfortunately, the entertainment industry is not out of the woods yet – but one thing we can all try and do is laugh it off!