A Friendly Reminder: AndyMartello.com is BRAND NEW!
If you haven't been there in awhile for a visit, or if you have never been there at all, please make sure to check out my main website, andymartello.com.
I have always been proud of my website since it truly did attract a lot of customers and was always very popular. Unfortunately, it got a little stale (updates not withstanding) after about 2005, when it was 5 years old. More unfortunate is the fact that I had neither the time nor the money to do a total overhaul.
In 2011 that all changed and a newer, streamlined, ultra-hip andymartello.com was born!
Please be certain to check out The Ultra-Lounge of the Internet and refer me to anyone looking for the best in comedic entertainment.
AGENTS: You can use www.BookAndy.com when referring clients. No contact information of any kind is there and you'll be cashing a commission check in no time.
Hard to believe, but the video of me spinning plates on WGN along with comedian/actor, Anthony Anderson is 100 away from hitting the 25,000 views mark on YouTube.
Sure, I know that in this age of viral videos and the like, 25,000 is no big deal. That being said, I'm mighty proud to say I have one of the most popular plate-spinning videos on YouTube. This particular appearance was a lot of fun as well as a great way to promote just how I can incorporate the plate-spinning routine into a different setting, teaching others how to spin on-site.
I've done this exact thing for some of the biggest companies in the world. Coca-Cola, Boeing, Harley-Davidson, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Bridgestone/Firestone and many others have brought me in as a consultant for on-the-spot training in proper time management, hitting home corporate message points using a permanent eye-catching visual aid. The plate-spinning act continues to surprise me in how it continues to keep me busy.
Please help take this video past the 25,000 mark by watching and sharing the video on your Facebook pages, your blog, or simply by emailing it to your friends. If you find you're having a problem coming up with a killer corporate presentation, then having this video in your mind can't hurt either.
Who knows? If enough people see this one video, perhaps my dream of spinning plates on the David Letterman show (with Dave spinning by my side) can finally come true!
As you know I am "The Last GREAT Plate-Spinner." I enjoy spinning plates for shows as well as in a corporate training seminars. I've spun plates on national television commercials. I've spun plates for major corporations. I've spun plates as the opening act for the wonderful Gladys Knight.
I recently did a search on You Tube for plate-spinners and it turns out that the 2nd most popular plate-spinning video happens to belong to yours truly! If enough people see this and share the link, perhaps we can change all that and make me #1. ;)
Here I am spinning plates on the WGN Morning News with comedian Anthony Anderson.
Watching that you can see that you don't have to be a professional plate-spinner to have fun at it. Keeping that in mind, here's my world famous PLATE SPINNING GAME from my soon-to-be-updated website.
Click to Play
This game was a viral hit long before there was such a thing. Within weeks of hitting the internet back in 2000, I was getting emails from people around the globe telling me how much fun they were having playing this silly game and how they were emailing the link to friends. This game made the office email circuit years before a You Tube or ANY talking baby videos!
Lastly, here's the aforementioned commercial I was in. This ad ran on nationally CNN, FOX News, & MSNBC and locally in specific Congressional Districts across the country. It landed me in the pages of the New Yoprk Times as well as several newspapers and magazines. It still draws a lot of attention, if not gives a great example as to just why anyone in the TV game gives ole Andy a call when they need top-quality plate-spinning talent!
Feel free to give me a call and book this plate-spinner for your next event. I'd be happy to do it for ya.
Andy Martello - Celebrating 25 Years of Corporate Entertainment at its Finest!
Andy Martello America's Premier Corporate Comedian & Entertainer!
Las Vegas headliner, Andy Martello, has been entertaining audiences across the country for 25 years.
Seen in national television commercials and on such programs as NBC's 'Last Comic Standing' & WGN's 'The Bozo Show', Andy's act is always in high demand.
He has opened for legendary singer, GLADYS KNIGHT and has even has performed for President George Bush (the original, NOT the sequel!)
Presently he can be seen headlining on historic Fremont St. at the Four Queens Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as part of the hilarious comedy magic team, SPIKE AND HAMMER.
A graduate of the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, Andy offers many fantastic programs for your special event, including the crowd favorite - the PLATE SPINNING act. This fast-paced piece of show-business history keeps both young and old on the edges of their seats.
His presentations are appropriate for all ages and his clever blend of stand-up comedy and vaudeville-style juggling makes every show a memorable one.
Here's a video of something I've been working on for the show I can't tell you much about. Since I have had nothing but blind faith that the move to Vegas would be the right thing to do and blind faith that the new act will be the reason Fate brought me here, it seems only fitting that a big part of the show will feature me blindfolded.
I've got an ad coming out in a free magazine that goes to several golf clubs/country clubs in the Vegas Valley. Great pricing on the ad and it runs for a full year in front of the people with the money to buy some quality entertainment. The guy selling me the ad used the selling point that the professional graphics department would be able to come up with a suitable ad based upon a visit to my website. Naturally I was doubtful. Generally when this sort of creation occurs, the folks have no real idea what to promote, especially since they are not entertainers and are most likely looking for photos to use instead of talking points that would make an impact. Just because you're in graphics or advertising doesn't mean you know jack about selling a comedy juggling act.
Here's the ad they came up with.
See what I mean? They didn't even get my phone number right.
Undeterred and more than capable of believing in my own abilities I tweaked the ad and sent them my concept. I based it upon their starting point and made it fit with my current promotional campaigns, something I knew they wouldn't be able to do without actually consulting me.
Here's the final version.
It may not be perfect but it is way better than the first version.
Yellow Book Report: Part Three: Cheap & Unrealistic
Earlier this week I made a comment about how the people who are using the Yellow Book to contact me are cheap and unrealistic. OK, I used stronger language but after some mystery reader named Ken showed up and said I made him "feel special". I altered the post a bit to prevent too many hurt feelings and MAYBE not turn away potential clients.
It is funny though. Every so often new people come in here and get huffy when they find a less than corporate Andy than you'd find at my main website. They're all warned in advance. Whether or not they choose to read and believe the warning is up to them.
Hurt feelings or not, it seems that the majority of the people that have been responding to my Yellow Book ad have some rather LOW budgets and some extremely unreal expectations.
I've had three more calls since the last post.
One reflects people who actually did want to plan in advance, but had literally no money to spend. I started with my already low rate for such an event and then, after finding out their budget was merely $85.00 (Seriously?) I agreed to take the event should they wish to book. I felt like a whore, but I wanted SOMEONE to book from the Yellow Pages ad. Even bringing my price down to the point where I was losing money to do the show didn't work.
One was a spur of the moment, "Gee, I've already spent a ton on this big party in the hills, yet I have no entertainment" kind of call. He wanted a full-on 45-minute show complete with the fire-eating, the plate-spinning and so on. I quoted my rate for such a show - well, my rate from about 5 years ago, and told him I'd be willing to work with his budget since it was so last minute (two days out from the big party he'd been planning for months).
The third was a last-minute planner & someone who read the ad and called to ask about something I don't even provide, a moon bounce for her yard. Embarrassed by her mistake she chose to inquire about my entertainment services which resulted in a total freak out at the very inexpensive price I quoted. I cost considerably less than a moon bounce if you're wondering.
Again I ask, if you are looking to spend about $50.00 or less for entertainment, why would you choose to call the guy with the biggest and prettiest ad in the Yellow Book? I'm not saying there aren't people in the Yellow Pages who will charge practically nothing for a ton of entertainment because clearly, there are those under-cutting jerks out there. I'm just saying that it doesn't take long to find out many of the cheap acts don't have my skill set nor my performance record and the fact I'm willing to come down in price so much should be as much of a selling point as having a Ringling Bros. trained, 23-year seasoned performer who has opened for Gladys Knight, been seen on national TV, and performed for the President & Congress.
With all due respect to Ken, it is I who should have the hurt feelings.
"Party Planning Service" Category: Four Calls, No Bookings
"Entertainment - Family" Category: Two Calls, No Bookings One "Moon Bounce" Request. WTF???
One day I'll find the right combination and get some bookings. At least the phone is ringing, right? Of course, none of this bodes well for the salesman next year when he tries to convince me to place another ad. Stay tuned.
If this were Chicago, I'd know I'd be getting called again soon from this company.
Since this is Las Vegas I have no idea if the "home run" I hit today at this corporate event will bring about any future work.
It was the second time I've worked for this company since being here in the Vegas Valley. The first time was the comedy club in Laughlin, which went extremely well and was full of high praise from audience members and casino workers alike. Taking all this into account, I have not been able to get re-booked there nor have I been able to get the guy at the agency to return a call, give a reason for not booking me again, etc. [SIGH!]
This gig was an excellent one for me. The audience loved me on stage and when strolling (no, really!) and the owner of the company that booked me was in attendance. All things considered I left happy to have waited so long for the event. Still and all, this being Vegas I have no idea how this will affect future bookings . I did two killer bookings awhile back for another company, they loved me and told me so, and...no subsequent calls. [DOUBLE SIGH!]
Perhaps when I can tell you about some of my other prospects all this will change. Until then...back to work (at two day jobs, promoting myself, and rehearsing for another gig).
I cannot be upset about getting three calls as a result of my Yellow Book ads since the 18th of May. It means people are indeed reading the ad and feeling inspired to call.
I can be a tad upset that nobody has booked any shows. I can be more upset that it seems that the people reading the Yellow Book are CHEAP!
Again, I received a call for a somewhat last minute graduation party show and [SIGH!] another birthday party. Both times I quoted a VERY reasonable price, especially when you consider that I have been doing this professionally for nearly 25 years and and that I am in one of the entertainment meccas of the world. Both times they were frightened away by the cost.
There are an estimated TWO MILLION PEOPLE living in Clark County, with about 600,000 in the city of Las Vegas alone. This is not a small town and the population & average salaries of the people here means this area falls well within the range of the measly sum I charge for a stinkin' birthday party. That being said, I am apparently too rich for the blood of the folks who care enough about their kids to spring for a party, but not enough to plan ahead longer than a week or so.
From now on I think I will try to find out what the person is looking to spend and then tell them what kind of show I can offer for that price. MAYBE that will generate some kind of interest or work. I've had some folks not even return the follow-up calls, presumably because they're too afraid to talk to the guy with the high price. I don't know.
What bugs the hell out of me is that people must know that Yellow Pages ads cost money. I can't assume everyone out there knows that they are actually pretty expensive since most people don't advertise in the phone book unless they have a business. Regardless, if you are looking to spend about $50.00 for entertainment, why would you choose to call the guy with the biggest and prettiest ad in the book. Even a moron would have to assume those ads are more expensive than the tiny ones and therefore, the act may charge more than others, right?
Ah well, at least the phone is ringing. For those keeping score...
"Party Planning Service" Category: Three Calls, No Bookings
"Entertainment - Family" Category: No Calls, No Bookings
I am assuming one of the calls came from the "party Planning Service" category since that's where the others came from. Of course I can't say for sure since this cheapo won't return my follow-up phone calls. Stay tuned.
Last Wednesday I received my very first response to my Yellow Book Yellow Pages ad. I can say it was my FIRST call because until this year I'd never even been in ANY town's Yellow Pages.
It was nice to get a response the same week the ad broke. It was rather encouraging, especially since I've been extremely depressed about my lack of entertainment work. My goal and subsequent streak of booking ONE event a month (to at least make me FEEL like I'm still an entertainer) will be coming to an end this month, unless something changes SOON!
The first call? [sigh]A birthday party...for a (get this) TWO YEAR OLD. Yep. Them pre-toddlers just LOVE comedians and jugglers.
When was this birthday party? [sigh] The very next day. Not that I wasn't available. I just knew the person would have NO budget. I quoted a VERY reasonable (extremely cheap) price for the event and hoped for the best.
The result? [sigh]"Oh. [pause] Really? [pause] Um...well I've got to call a few more people first, but I'll let you know. [CLICK]."
Still and all, it was a call in response to my ad. As the Mythbusters say, any result is a result.
I'm keeping tabs on how "successful these ads will be so when the salesman calls next year I can tell him why I will or will not be continuing my advertisement. So for those keeping score...
"Party Planning Service" Category: One Call, No Booking
"Entertainment - Family" Category: No Calls, No Bookings
Within this post are the proofs (shouldn't it be "prooves"?) from my very first Yellow Book Yellow Pages ads.
In the past I have stayed away from advertising in the Yellow Pages. For most folks in my business the ads seem to generate only the low-paying, family birthday parties and not the higher-paying corporate & theatre market shows that I strive to get. Therefore the relatively high cost for such an ad (and they CAN be quite expensive) hasn't been worth the expenditure. Sure, the occasional birthday party does pay the bills to some extent and I do offer a very affordable show for exactly these shows, but if you have the loftier goals you shouldn't put all your eggs into the wrong basket. Why the change this time around? Being a new member of the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has its privileges . Specifically, a $1000 voucher for an ad in the Greater Las Vegas edition of the Yellow Book. Now it becomes well worth trying. Since I am still quite new here and clearly NOT working full-time as an entertainer (yet!), any work is appreciated. Plus, with a fairly LOW-COST upgrade I made to the existing voucher I could better place the ad within the book AND get a second ad in another section. So I not only spend considerably less than I would have for a much smaller ad, but I get it out to more people and increase the potential of being hired by the better-paying clients. Essentially I am spending less than I would have for one tiny ad, when I am actually getting two big ones in the bigger book, and two different categories. Sometimes it it worth moving from "FREE" to "NOT FREE".
You can't place an ad in the Vegas Yellow Pages under the heading "Entertainers". Why? Because a nice comedian juggler like myself would be completely lost in the seemingly hundreds of pages worth of strippers and escorts. Seriously...check it out next time you're out here. I also wasn't going to place an ad in the "Magicians" category since I am not primarily a magician and that ad might attract some really cheap shows.
After careful consideration I chose two very specific listings. The first was the"Party Planning Service" category. The ads that were in there already reflected more of the types of clients I not only market to and work for, but seemed to be the place where an ad for a juggling comedian would stand out and attract some attention from potential clients. Good chance for more corporate shows and the like with this, the more artistic and certainly more visible ad.
Next, I chose the "Entertainment - Family" category. Knowing there would be rather a lot of the family shows asking anyway I chose to put a less aggressive, but equally informative ad there. That way some of the folks in the wealthier neighborhoods like Anthem or Summerlin can find me as well as the even more local places. If a show doesn't pay well (and everyone knows I am not all that expensive to begin with) I have some great people I can refer and keep my name in good graces with the community.
I'll be keeping track of just how effective these ads are and hopeful that I'll see a need to renew for next year. I don't believe I'll be in the online version of the Yellow Book, but I already have a killer website that gets a lot of attention and, of course, this blog manages to get the word out. ;)
The folks at Houdini's got me a couple of school shows. Very cool of them to do so. The owner of the company came to one of them and videotaped it for his website. He even offered to help me get more entertainment work, which is always appreciated.
That same day I got a few other calls. looks like the gigs at the Grand Canyon are back on and I'll be out there as soon as December 18th. More on that later.
I have even had some luck with an event planner in this area. Believe it or not, this one returns phone calls and e-mails. Maybe she never got the memo that people don't do that sort of thing here. In any event, I MAY have a gig through her in January. Keeping fingers crossed.
I also have a potentially BIG gig in the works. I can't say anything about it as I don't want to jinx it nor get my hopes up. I've sent the requested press kit and video. I am naturally assuming that it won't happen since they've not confirmed receipt of the kit, which usually means...you suck and we suck for even asking you in the first place. I am hopeful for a short time, nonetheless.
MILWAUKEE READERS! Watch me on PBS Channel 10 tonight at 7PM CST in "Samson: Then & Now"!
First off, my recent trip to West Virginia to open for the lovely and talented Gladys Knight was a most excellent trip. The show went very well. The check cleared. I met some great new performers. I made some promising contacts. I had a blast watching the legend mesmerize a crowd.
My nerves subsided rather quickly after arriving there as I got back into showbiz mode almost immediately. the on stage Andy did what he does best and everyone, including myself, seemed very happy with the performance.
I did not get to meet Gladys, but I was within "spitting distance" of her, which was fine with me. Truthfully, it was just an honor to work on the same stage as such a classy and established performer.
I did met her brother (and original Pip), "Bubba" Knight and he was a most entertaining fellow to be around. We had some great laughs before and after the show and I was very happy to have met him.
There's certainly more to the tale of my West Virginia excursion, but I'll force you to wait for the next podcast (Available soon. Get caught up NOW) to hear those details. Gotta leave the audience wanting more, right?
The powers that be at Houdini's have sent me to the higher volume store at The Venetian. Things at the MGM were getting "interesting" to say the least (and that's about all I'll say for now) and even though I'll miss the folks at the MGM, I am hopeful that the move down the strip will be somewhat shit-free. I'm reserving judgment for now. I was warned about quite a few things that could go on there and I tread cautiously. My first day there was fun and uneventful in the "piss off Andy" kind of way so that is good. We'll see what tomorrow will bring.
There are whispers about the store (or the owners) suddenly not being so receptive and flexible to my needs if gigs arise. I don't want that to happen as I would have to remind them that the entertainment thing is my "career" and the Houdini's thing is my "job". If they want all that to change they have to offer me way more than what they are now. I give them plenty of advance notice about my gigs. I always work hard and sell hard when I'm there (making them money). Plus, in most instances, all that is required is a minor schedule change, possibly my leaving a hour early (when there's still ample coverage at the store), or switching shifts with someone.
I swear, it is so ridiculous to think that I would have to encounter any of this kind of crap when the majority of people working at those stores are...entertainers. I mean, really...all of the day jobs I've had over the years (including the full-time retail management jobs at stores with TEN TIMES THE VOLUME OF THESE PLACES) are jobs I held while being an entertainer as well.
No crap to report at this time, but I'll keep you posted if something craptacular at the magic shop does come up.
Still working on getting an interview at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. Hoping to work in their office as well as an entertainer for them. Squeaky wheel tactics are needed I guess. Golfwidow and I recorded a new podcast and it should be up soon. We'll keep you posted.
This upcoming gig in West Virginia isn't too shabby. Click the photo to enlarge.
Near as I figure, if you only get ONE gig during the month of October it should be a big corporate gig that pays pretty well AND allows you the chance to open for a legend like Gladys Knight.
The ink is finally dry and the plane tickets have been purchased (by the client, of course) and I can now say that I've got one cool gig to announce.
This one won't exactly allow me the luxury of getting caught up financially, but it does bring me about 1/2 inch closer.
More importantly I have something good to add on to my marketing mailers to the numerous agencies and entertainment bureaus right now. The above image is actually a small flier going out along with a copy of my brochure. On the front of the envelope it mentions the upcoming gig and has a little slogan afterwards which reads, "Is Andy On Your Entertainment Roster? Request a Press Kit TODAY!"
Things like this actually do help somewhat when trying to break in with new companies. This not only shows that I am a bookable act, but I am also one worthy of some big accounts and high-dollar bookings (which means big commissions to the agents). Those companies who actually READ their incoming mail (sadly, most do not) may be that much more likely to book me when they see I've got a supporting appearance with a major headliner once they see this mailer.
Keeping fingers crossed it all works. I'm also hopeful to have a pleasant Random Celebrity Memory or Photo to share after it is all said and done.
Since so many of you enjoyed the video for hit single from my brother's band, PROGRESS REPORT, I thought I'd go ahead and become the last person on Earth to have an account on YouTube and upload something special for ya.
BEHOLD! This project was the last thing I worked on before my apartment was destroyed. I've only just now discovered a minor error that will be fixed before too long. That being said, this is a most excellent 4:40 promo for my act. I've been talking about making this for a LONG time and it is more than ready for your eyes. I'd have shown it to you much sooner, but you knoa...apartment disaster - move to Vegas - too damned tired.
I give you Andy Martello - A Comedian Who Happens to Juggle!
