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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

TO THINK a comedian is overpaid at 17m a year

48 replies

picketywick · 15/01/2013 12:34

Michael Macca Or whateverh his name is. I like him but.............

OP posts:
NC78 · 15/01/2013 14:29

YABU Like others have said, people buy his DVDs etc and he gets the whatever the profit is! It's not like a set salary.

badguider · 15/01/2013 14:35

It would be a ridiculous salary if it was a salary but it's not, he is a business, so his business is making a £17M profit.. that is a lot, but it won't last - he'll have maybe another few years in him then he'll be yesterday's news.

InLoveWithDavidTennant · 15/01/2013 14:42

yabu! (and not just cause im a fan)

those are his earnings, yes... but its not his salary. next year he could earn £100. fair play to him i say. its a tough business

wannabedomesticgoddess · 15/01/2013 14:42

I agree with the posters so far.

However, I disagree with how much footballers get paid and after reading all these, Im wondering if its really any different.

MrsMelons · 15/01/2013 14:55

wannabe it is still the same kind of thing with footballers as people pay every week to go and watch them and spend a fortune on merchandise.

HOWEVER the team I support as long with many others are facing going out of business due to dodgy management and the need to compete with teams paying players 10's of thousands of pounds a week to keep in business. This affects 100's of normal people who are employed by these clubs. It is truly awful!

Just because a small minority of footballers behave badly it doesn't mean they don't deserve to be paid that much money. If the fans are paying then the footballers keep earning. There are some true professionals around (even footballers) but they do not make the headlines like people such as John Terry etc.

RedToothbrush · 15/01/2013 15:22

As a matter of interest, OP how much do you think a comedian SHOULD be paid?

Should this be a weekly salary?

And if they sell a shedload of DVDs or tickets over a particular threshold, should they have to give the rest to the treasury in tax?

We could even call it the Joke Tax.

So in effect, there would be no point in most of these comics doing half their tour or half their tv appearance as they'd just get hammered for tax and might as well sit at home once they hit their target for the year.

Or they could move abroad and make other people laugh. Or become car sale people or estate agents.

Meanwhile Britain looses its comic heritage and we all learn to live with a frown on our face and never laugh at anything apart from the latest cycle of repeats of 30 year old Two Ronnies Shows.

Yep. I think comedians are over paid too. YANBU.

Hang the lot of them.

P.S. OP His name is 'Michael McIntyre' so you can find his DVD online.

maddening · 15/01/2013 15:33

It's not a salary - he does dvd's, big stadium tours, tv etc - just like anyone else that hoiks an act around - he only gets paid as people buy his product.

maddening · 15/01/2013 15:35

Ps talking of burning out of material - peter kay needs to come up with some

CSIJanner · 15/01/2013 15:43

YABU

Michael McIntyre refused to do a paid gig for debit collectors and lost his 28K fee (because that's what people pay him!) as

CSIJanner · 15/01/2013 15:44

(drafted iPad) as he's been in debt with bills etc when struggling as a comedian. He's got 17million as people have paid that to see him. Simples

mumandboys123 · 15/01/2013 15:47

if his earnings offend you, don't contribute towards them by turning off the TV everytime he's on....he earns what he earns presumably because he sells books, DVDs and tickets to his shows. He'll also get some kind of payment for TV appearances and doing private shows, private appearances, that kind of thing. Most famous people have a limited 'shelf life'. It is worth raking it in whilst they can. I know I would!

MulledWineandScully · 15/01/2013 15:50

If you read his book you'll see he knows what it's like to have nothing and be in lots of debt. He took tons of risks that obviously paid off. Good luck to him I say, I hope he enjoys spending it. It's only what footballers, actors etc earn after all (possibly less, I don't know), but he gives me a lot more joy than they do!

lashingsofbingeinghere · 15/01/2013 16:41

Yes, OP. He earns too much. Let's put an EU joke quota on him and if he exceeds it he gets a heavy penalty (6 months hard labour grading oddly-shaped vegetables.)

Assuming he pays tax rather than salting it away offshore, he is earning the Treasury much needed revenue. Where's the harm?

abitcoldupnorth · 16/01/2013 11:55

I was just calculating my tax for last year so bunged in Mike Mac's income instead.

If that's net, and he's not got it offshore, he'd be paying £8.8m in tax Shock

But I bet he has plenty of expenses to deduct, etc etc.

BabeRuthless · 16/01/2013 12:23

It's what he's worth as a brand. It's not like he's got 17m sat in his bank account.

FreePeaceSweet · 16/01/2013 12:41

As my Irish Uncle Phil would say 'Fair Fucks to him'. Thats a compliment. I met Michael when I was working at the Lowry. He is the loveliest and most down to earth celebrity I have met. I also met Peter Kay once (this will out me but meh) in a lift at the hospital when I was in labour. Through a teeth gritting contraction I was like "You look like... Has anyone ever told you... You're PETER KAY!" :o He was absolutely lovely and gave me a big hug and kiss. He also offered to take us for a brew but I had a more pressing appointment to attend to. His wife had just given birth and he looked like he was floating on air. Everytime I read about how he never speaks to his fans, is rude and standoffish etc etc I think 'Yeah! Right...'

FreePeaceSweet · 17/01/2013 13:10

Funny enough there was a documentary on about comedians and money. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pz9pn/Funny_Business_Gags_to_Riches/

fancyabakeoff · 17/01/2013 13:24

Mrs Melon's

Footballer's do not deserve to paid the huge amounts they get paid and the excuse that if fans are paying to see them then its ok is frankly, ridiculous especially considering that most premier league football teams are actually in the red!

Merchandise and tickets are so expensive BECAUSE the footballer's have to paid obscene amounts of money for kicking a ball around a green field to feed people's tribe mentality.

The excuses for footballer's wages by fans are some of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard in my life. One woman I spoke to said that they should be paid huge amounts because they had to keep fit! LOL

MrsMelons · 17/01/2013 15:57

fancy I did actually make that point re the financial issue! I also did not actually say they deserve to get paid that much. I mostly agree with what you say but if the clubs are in the black and can afford to pay footballers high wages I don't see an issue with it as each to their own re whether they support football or not. I still believe the management are completely at fault - I have seen this first hand.

People do not have to go and watch football matches and people do not have to go and watch Michael McIntyre. I have done both but I have a limit on how much I would and could pay of course.

wannabedomesticgoddess · 17/01/2013 16:48

I think my unease at footballers pay probably does come from the difference in price to support teams as opposed to buy a dvd or go see a show.

Michael McIntyre might have made 17m but surely that isnt his personal pay?

Whereas footballers are being paid £100,000 per week and for what? Staying healthy is what we all should be doing anyway. So they go to the gym, watch what they eat etc, soldiers are away from their families for months on end, putting their lives at risk and getting paid a pittance.

Its disgusting. It really is.

WilsonFrickett · 17/01/2013 17:35

I went to one of his shows in Glasgow. 20,000 people, all who had paid at least £35 or so per ticket. Oh and the tickets sold out 18 months before the gig so that money had been sitting in his account all that time. Minimal set, crew, etc. otoh he also did a gig in a tiny wee theatre in Dunfermline as part of the same tour...

He's not my cup of tea (ticket was a gift) but no-one forces people to buy tickets/DVDs, so YABU.

wannabedomesticgoddess · 17/01/2013 17:43

I think you would be surprised at how many people even a comedians tour requires.

hackmum · 17/01/2013 19:15

Well, I don't find Michael McIntyre remotely funny, but as he's not actively doing anyone any harm, then I suppose if people want to part with their money to see him, that's up to them. There was a piece in the guardian today about corporate gigs, and apparently MM can command something like £25k for 20 mins. (Can't find the article online, but that was roughly the amount.) I suppose we could have a discussion about why corporates are able to waste such vast quantities of money when people can't afford to buy food, but that is a whole other argument and possibly best not started.

I also don't have any objection to footballers earning huge amounts of money, if that's what their clubs want to give them. If you accept the basic principle, ie we live in a capitalist society that operates according to market forces, then I don't see how you could object. Unlike police officers, nurses etc, footballers aren't paid out of public money.

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