Laughter may be the best medicine for a variety of ills, but for one UAE company, it has proved beneficial to its bottomline.
The Laughter Factory, the country's popular comedy club, celebrates 10 years this month. Established in 1998 by Factory Productions, it was an ambitious gamble at the time. Company directors Gail Clough and Duncan Jones invested Dh80,000 in launching the brand, not knowing if this venture would take off or bomb. Today, Laughter Factory is their flagship company, recording Dh1 million gross profits in 2007.
From two shows in Dubai 10 years ago, the Laughter Factory now hosts nine gigs each month in cities across the GCC, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama, Doha and Riyadh, making it the most successful comedy club in the region.
Typically, its events attract 400 people each. These are mainly expatriates between the ages of 24 and 50, with a high disposable income.
As comedy is increasingly being recognised as a powerful marketing vehicle, some of the world's leading consumer companies – banks, drinks, clothing, entertainment and airlines are using live comedy as an effective platform to promote their brands, among them African and Eastern and Fosters.
Jones and Clough openly admit that the comedy club was created for purely selfish reasons. "We are both life-long fans of comedy, and 10 years ago there were no regular comedy nights here in Dubai. I wanted to laugh more. Even then, Dubai was a pretty stressful place, and we all need an outlet, an escape from everyday life," says Jones. In the nineties, he says, entertainment in the city was either bad television or equally bad cabaret-style singers in dull venues.
"The Laughter Factory was set-up to brighten up the dull landscape. It was an instant hit," he says. From the very beginning, he says, the event boasted sell-out shows at The Hyatt Regency and Dubai Country Club. The good word spread, events in Abu Dhabi soon followed, and as regional demand rose by word of mouth, regular events across the Gulf were established. "It is not surprising that we have a loyal following in the GCC. Everyone likes having a good laugh. We all need a release and what better way to do this than to laugh? Medical science proves the positive health benefits of laughter. I see our club as a monthly prescription for happiness. It's the ultimate feel-good factor," says Jones.
Looking back, he says the big difference over the past decade has been the change in audience profile. The club started off catering to older Brit expats who were looking for an alternative outlet for their boredom. Today, he says, it attracts people from all countries, including the Subcontinent, Europe and Arabia.
Nor is the audience restricted to older expatriates any more. "Young people enjoy intelligent humour and these days we see a lot of young people at our shows," says Jones.
Part of the brand's success comes from its efforts to organise events at different venues around a city, he says, taking the event to people, rather than having audiences come to it.
"We go where our audiences are, especially in a city like Dubai where traffic can be a big hindrance. So we organise several shows from Deira to Bur Dubai to Sheikh Zayed Road to the Green Community. In Bahrain and Doha we have two different venues in each city to ensure people do not need to go out of their way to catch our shows," he says.
Despite not having a fixed venue, Jones feels Laughter Factory gigs serve as a platform for regulars to socialise, discuss the acts on stage and jointly anticipate upcoming shows. "In fact, Laughter Factory can safely stake its claim as the official comedy club in the region."
As the popularity of the brand grew over the years, the demand for regular and high quality entertainment also grew. In 2000, Laughter Factory signed an exclusive working partnership with The Comedy Store, London, (known as the launch pad for the careers of French and Saunders, The Young ones, Eddie Izzard and Jack Dee).
This move catapulted the local company into the international arena and provided them a platform to import world-class international acts to perform in the Gulf.
So far, the Comedy Store has delivered an A-list of comics that reads like a Who's Who of the genre.
But what of talent back home? Why is it so hard to see a home-grown comic take to the stage and say rude things about us? Jones says his team has been trying to find local talent in the Gulf but so far it has not been very successful.
A few weeks ago, he lets on, the company sent out an e-mail to thousands of people in the region inviting aspiring stand-up comedians to audition and join the club.
They received only three responses.
"I am meeting a Bahraini stand-up comedian later this month, about whom I have heard rave reviews. Maybe he will be our first GCC talent we can export to the world," says a hopeful Jones.
"What's strange is that not too many people are excited about taking the stand. I think people are scared. Being a stand-up comedian is the hardest job in the world. You have to be intelligent, witty and know where to draw the line," he says.
"But in all our years in this business, we have never had an incident where any of our comedians have said anything to insult our audience. You have to remember, our comedians are global performers. They are also very intelligent human beings, the big difference is they see life in a different way; they are not here to create problems. They know their job is to add a dose of humour… to make people laugh," says Jones.