Breaking into new cities with live comedy experts Berk’s Nest

Berk’s Nest began in 2012 as the brainchild of Katie Churchill and Phoebe Bourke, two veterans of the UK comedy scene who’d been producing shows for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Berk’s Nest would be a way for Katie and Phoebe to put on incredible shows from established and new comedians at Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.

Since the beginning, the most important thing for a Berk’s Nest show has always been a fresh and innovative take on live comedy. The team chooses to work with comedians who push boundaries, mix genres and surprise their audiences. In the last 11 years, they’ve produced 93 shows for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, including Richard Gadd’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Monkey See, Monkey Do (2016), which was lauded for its raw and thoughtful approach to discussing Gadd’s own sexual assault. 

The team also produced 2019 Best Newcomer Winner Catherine Cohen’s The Twist?… She’s Gorgeous, featuring a mix of cabaret-style live music, poetry and old Hollywood delivery – which went on to become her first Netflix special.

While being known for producing shows in Edinburgh, and later in London, the team at Berk’s Nest were looking to build their reputation across the UK. By producing artist tours that hit key UK cities where the company didn’t currently have a presence, they aimed to help their artists find new fans while growing their own business. Birmingham, Leeds, Brighton and Manchester were on the map as targets, and to gain new footholds and fans, they enlisted the help of DICE.

Fans on DICE are always looking for new comedians and venues to explore, so using cross-genre targeting, Berk’s Nest were able to easily attract fans and expose their artists to untapped demographics, reaching both live music and comedy audiences. Plus, using data from event Waiting Lists, the team had a good indication of demand in different areas, allowing them to book extra dates and readjust their marketing spend.

From 2021 to 2022, Berk’s Nest increased its ticket sales by six times through its partnership with DICE. The team have worked with comedic talent including Colin Hoult, Nick Mohammed and Olga Koch. The key data provided by DICE helps Berk’s Nest understand its audience and ticket demand in new cities, with ticket sales in cities outside of London increasing seven times between 2021 and 2022.

New fans have found Berk’s Nest thanks to cross-genre targeting, and fan loyalty has grown significantly: 50% of Berk’s Nest fans have bought at least two tickets to different events. As Berk’s Nest continues to grow across the UK, DICE is on hand to help with their plans: in 2022, the team started a monthly show at DICE partner venue The Clapham Grand – ‘Live at The Clapham Grand’ has seen popular UK comedians including James Acaster, Nish Kumar and Phil Wang perform. Berk’s Nest has now built a national reputation as a comedy tastemaker.

If you’re interested in working with DICE, get in touch.

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