We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Connor Barnes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Connor thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I live in a county in Michigan with a population of about 36,000 people. Over the past 15 to 20 years, various entertainment options in our area have dwindled. There’s a lack of activities for younger people, and not enough is being done to capitalize on the tourism opportunities in Owosso. As a community, we’ve lost our roller skating rink and bowling alley, and I fear our movie theater might be next.
Five years ago, I founded Ugly Brothers Comedy with the mission to bring entertainment to Owosso that otherwise wouldn’t come here and to attract visitors to our town who might not have had a reason to visit. My ultimate goal is to encourage people within my community to spend money locally, rather than traveling to larger metropolitan areas for entertainment.
Connor, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My wife Charity and I run Ugly Brothers Comedy. We produce a monthly comedy show at a local bar, and so far, we’ve worked with around 300 comedians. We’ve collaborated with a local dispensary for sponsorship, and we’ve even managed to get some T-shirts made, which now hang in a local skate apparel store.
One of our proudest accomplishments is growing our regular audience from 4 to 10 attendees who try to make it to every show. Seeing them come back each month makes us really happy. We also sell merchandise, and it brings us immense joy to see people supporting us and wearing our brand.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Our social media presence has been an interesting journey with its share of ups and downs. Maintaining a consistent posting schedule, whether daily or weekly, has required incredible diligence. My biggest takeaway is that committing to the social media environment demands persistence and creativity.
We’ve had to come up with tricky and interesting posts to captivate our audience’s energy and encourage ticket purchases. One of our strategies includes publishing articles and interviews with comedians called “13 Questions: What’s Your Favorite Curse Word?” Additionally, we share clips from our shows and events to boost audience engagement.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Our shows are funded almost entirely by our audience. I try to use presale tickets to pay for acts ahead of time, but occasionally, I’ve made significant mistakes with timing and scheduling. One major lesson I’ve learned is to avoid scheduling comedy shows during major regional events, like the big college football rivalry games.
Despite these challenges, we’ve generated roughly $2,000 in ticket sales this year. However, I’m still about $400 behind on covering all the expenses for the year.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Uglybroscomedy.com
- Instagram: Uglybroscomedy
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/uglybroscomedy
Image Credits
Paragon Studios Michigan
Ugly Bros Comedy