What shows do we give as Christmas gifts in Quebec? Humor, humor, humor. Fred Pellerin. The Acadian music group Salebarbes, and humor. The Tuxedo ticketing software, which manages approximately 50% of tickets sold in Quebec, observed its sales from 1er November to December 31, only for its presenters of multidisciplinary shows. Conclusion ? Humor continues its undisputed reign, notes Tuxedo, totaling 45% of sales.
The 15 artists who generated the most ticket sales during this period are 80% comedians. Surprise at the top of the tops: the salacious horticulturist Marthe Laverdière is the queen, with a solid lead over number two, Mike Ward, and Laurent Paquin, who comes next.
“Is it a positive bias in promotion which means that, believing that humor sells more, we promote it more? Or given equal promotion, would humor still emerge victorious? » asks Tuxedo through Turbine, its business data analysis tool.
Songs still do well as a discipline, with 27% of sales, we read in this data. “As always, the song comes after the humor,” summarizes Mathieu Bergeron, president of Tuxedo, “but with many more shows offered this year. This means that there were a lot fewer people in the theaters for these shows-there. »
And song shows cost more than comedy shows, where we very, very often see a single person on a bare stage, behind a microphone. “We are already seeing a trend towards reducing shows of song, to produce more intimate formulas, shows shorter,” explains Mr. Bergeron.
In third place among the disciplines comes theater, driven upwards by The idiots’ dinner (Monarque productions), with 10% of sales. The other best sellers in theater are the two Quebec adaptations There were ten of them (The Human Comedy and Productions Martin Leclerc) and Silence is turned ! (Théâtre Gilles-Vigneault, Encore Spectacle and Just for Laughs), followed by Symphorian (ComediHa! and Productions Martin Leclerc) and Verdict (Double Agents). ” Except for Verdict, we are in comedy, observes Mr. Bergeron, and always in accessible and popular theater. »
Music (jazz, classical) is close behind, at 9% of sales. And follow the varieties (4%), the spoken arts, propelled by Fred Pellerin (3%). In the queue are the circus (1%) and dance (0.8%).
“All disciplines combined, certain artists remain in the top 15 for a second year in a row,” indicates the analysis. These are Fred Pellerin, Boucar Diouf, Christine Morency, Salebarbes and the show The idiots’ dinner.
How to vary the pleasures?
The predominance of the success of comedy shows, then song shows, can be seen year after year in the data from multidisciplinary presenters in Quebec. What can other arts do? How to make spectators like something else?
Silence on the line. Loooong silence. “It’s stupid… It’s like having a display of meat and fish and people who don’t want fish. What are you doing as a salesman at this time? » said Mr. Bergeron while thinking.
“There is a principle which says that you cannot force someone to come see a show that he doesn’t want to see. We know this, because we know that “filling” the room does not work. Even if you give tickets, because you have to travel, pay a babysitter, go to the venue, if people don’t want to come, they don’t come. »
The man who manages online ticketing software continues his thought. “Education, perhaps? I really believe that this must happen upstream… Ah! There’s one thing we know: during COVID, artistic risk-taking was really stronger among broadcasters. Financial compensation at the box office has helped broadcasters to try new things without being afraid of losing too much money. »
“The broadcaster is in a complex ecosystem: if he uses too much humor, or just that, he is not respecting his mission; if it doesn’t do enough, it’s not profitable enough. Because yes, among multidisciplinary people, humor ends up financing dance. But the model needs to be rethought,” maintains the president.
Inflation effects
“In total, 2023 will have been a good year, with cumulative sales well above those of 2019. That said, we are also slightly below the sales of 2022. Could it simply be the post-pandemic frenzy that has calmed down or the shadow of a looming trend? » we read again.
Speaking out loud, Mathieu Bergeron is not so worried about the possibility of decline. “The buyer of show tickets buys on average 1.4 tickets per year. It’s $100 for a household per year: it’s not a lot. » “In a context of inflation or recession, the leisure expenses that we first seek to cut are recurring expenses – and we see what is currently happening in restaurants… – or major expenses, such as travel, For example. »