Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Kazanjian-Amory.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kyle. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I graduated from the University of Redlands with a degree in Accounting and set off to work as a forensic accountant in Orange County. I hated accounting so much and felt really out of place in that work environment.
Outside of work, I started writing stand up comedy and eventually mustered up the courage to do an open mic while I was living in Orange County. I did three minutes, and it was really, really bad. I got one or two chuckles, but that was good enough for me to keep me hooked! After doing some more open mics in OC, I worked it out to transfer to my company’s office in LA so I could perform more frequently.
I worked 9-6 Monday – Friday, and then after work, I would go to shows or perform at open mics. I eventually started producing my own shows to get more stage time and meet more comics. In March 2017, I proposed the idea of Don’t Tell Comedy to a couple of comics I had become friends with. They were on board, and we started looking for locations for our first show.
The premise of the show, which hasn’t changed, is “Secret Comedians, Secret Locations, BYOB!” Audiences who come to a Don’t Tell show never know who they are going to see and they don’t know the location until noon on the day of the show when we send out an email! Our shows take place in untraditional settings where you’d never expect a comedy show to take place. We started mostly in backyards and living rooms.
Since then we have done shows on a steamship, at the top of Sears Tower in Chicago, in yoga studios, clothing stores, an old church, and many more bizarre venues! We had some success early on, selling out all our shows (with free tickets). I remember having 250 RSVPs for our third show, and we could only accommodate 50 people. Luckily only 60 people showed, and we crammed everyone in.
After that, I wanted to start charging for tickets, mainly because it would help us control capacity and I thought it would mean people would be much more likely to show up. It worked. Even when charging people $10 for tickets, we were selling out. I left my job in July of 2017 when we only had weekly shows going on in LA.
I really thought we were on to something and my plan was to work as hard as I could from July – December, relying on savings to tide me over, to see if I could make this work. If it didn’t work out, I thought it would be, at the very least, a pivot out of accounting. By the end of the year, we were doing really well in LA and had tested out Don’t Tell Comedy in San Francisco, and it took off!
When it worked in San Francisco, it gave me the confidence that Don’t Tell would work in any city with a solid comedy scene. I drove up to Seattle and Portland, and the shows did great up there. My business partner flew to Chicago, and it did great there too! I went home to Boston and NYC for Thanksgiving and did back to back shows in those cities, and they were incredible.
I have slept on so many couches along the way (and in my car). What has taken Don’t Tell Comedy to the next level is all the people who are passionate about Don’t Tell Comedy in other cities who run the shows each and every week. I have been so impressed by what our city leads have done, and each in their own unique way.
In 2017 we produced 35 shows in two cities. In 2018, we produced 352 shows in 27 cities. The growth has been exponential and has far exceeded my expectations. Our tagline since the beginning has been “Comedy’s Worst Kept Secret.” We want people to know about us, and we are very ironic with our marketing.
We have had interest from huge brands to partner with us, but we love keeping Don’t Tell Comedy grassroots and want to maintain our DIY feel. We are very much a community, and that’s the atmosphere we want to create at each show. We are a network of comedians and comedy lovers who love putting together memorable experiences and making people laugh! This is so much better than accounting!
Has it been a smooth road?
Absolutely not! It was very difficult to go home for Thanksgiving in 2017 and explain to my entire family that I left a good paying job to start a pop up comedy show in Los Angeles that just started charging for tickets. A lot of people thought I was making a huge mistake. A lot of times, mainly after looking at my bank statements, I thought I was making a huge mistake as well! The internal battle of wondering if I made the right decision or not has been one of the toughest parts of doing what I am doing. I am lucky to be at the point now where I feel like I could not have made a better decision in starting Don’t Tell Comedy, and am so happy doing something that I’m excited about every day.
Managing the ups and downs of running a business is a constant battle. I am very lucky to be working with great people who care deeply about what we are doing and enable us to keep moving quickly and in the right direction.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Secret Comedians | Secret Locations | BYOB!
Don’t Tell Comedy is a secret pop up comedy show that takes place in unique and untraditional settings. We are an affordable alternative to the comedy clubs with no two-drink minimum (our shows are BYOB!).
I am most proud of our reputation in the comedy community and with our fans. We want both the performers and audience to be equally as excited for the show. Being a respected show by comics is extremely important to us.
As of February 2019, I believe we are the largest producer of live comedy shows by number of cities. We are currently producing shows in about 30 cities with more being added on very soon. The Improv is one of the best clubs in the country, and I think they have around 25 locations.
Our business operates with such a light frame and is very network driven. Since we are not a brick and mortar business, we can move really fast. We work with comedians we trust who know how to run great comedy shows. We are one or two texts away from starting up a show in any big city in the US, which is so exciting to think about!
We set up Don’t Tell Comedy in Omaha because a comic from Chicago who had done our show there moved to Omaha and reached out to us. He came highly recommended from our Chicago lead, so we talked on the phone and then set up our first show. The process of setting up a new city takes about two weeks.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Don’t Tell Comedy would not have grown this quickly if we started anywhere else. Los Angeles is home to some of the best comedians in the world, some of which have been on our shows!
The weather in LA also made it possible to host shows outdoors. One of the pictures that was taken at a rooftop show in DTLA is still our go-to photo we use for marketing!
Pricing:
- Tickets to our LA shows are $15 for GA tickets. In other cities, it’s $20 for GA!
- BYOB so you don’t have to pay $8 for a terrible beer!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.donttellcomedy.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/donttellcomedty
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/donttellcomedy
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/donttellcomedy
Image Credit:
Marcus Russell Price – IG: @MarcusRussellPrice
Michaela Sullivan – IG: @MichaelaSully
Matt Misisco – IG: @MattMisiscoStudios
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
