On Sunday night, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will take the stage at Prudential Center for a comedy show. A week from Friday, the trio of Jon Stewart, John Mulaney and Pete Davidson will do the same.
Is it all part of some SNL celebration tour? Don’t make us laugh.
Comedy acts in arenas, something few promoters would have considered just a few years ago, are now some of the hottest arena entertainment tickets around. This is serious stuff.
Comedians, once hesitant to play anything other than a club or theater, have had a different mindset in recent years, according to Sean Saadeh, the chief programming officer and head of entertainment for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
“We see a lot more artists willing to go into arenas,” he said. “That wasn’t always the case in years past. Comedians tended to like the clubs or an intimate theater setting, where they could see faces and reactions.”
There also was a concern about acoustics. After all, if they can’t hear you, they hate you.
That’s changed, too, Saadeh said.
“The technology is so good in arenas that these artists really want to go into the arena level – and we’ve been able to take full advantage of that,” he said.
The Prudential Center has played host to Sebastian Maniscalco, Jo Koy, Nate Bargatze, Bill Burr and many others in recent years. Its eagerness to welcome the genre has helped make the arena a must-play stop for comedy shows.
Saadeh said the Prudential Center attracts top acts for another reason: the fans.
“They love it here because the crowds are authentic — comedy resonates here,” he said. “I think the authenticity of the fan base is one of the differentiating factors of this marketplace.”
Saadah, a veteran of three decades in the industry, said the rise of comedic acts was something many didn’t see coming.
Now, he said, there’s no reason to believe it will ever go away.
“It’s almost like a natural progression,” he said. “Before, it would be like, ‘I’m playing comedy clubs, and my goal is to get into large theaters, like Seinfeld.’ Now, it’s, ‘How do we get to the arena level?’
“Sebastian Maniscalco is selling out 18,000-seat arenas across the United States, not just here. It’s incredible.”
