...at least in the US

America's comedy club industry is worth £200million after bouncing back from the recession.

Dozens of venues across the country closed from 2007; but now business is back on the rise according to new research from business analysts IBISWorld.

They say the industry turned the corner in 2011, when revenues grew rather than contracted for the first time in years.

The industry is now worth $315.1million, they say, and forecast revenue to grow by an average of 1.8 per cent over each of the next five years to $344.6million in 2020. That compares to a 1.3 per cent a year growth over the previous five years.

However margins are relatively narrow, with that income converting into just £12.3million of profit, or four per cent of income. And that is spread out over 932 businesses, meaning an average profit of just over $13,000 each.

Selling alcohol is the biggest source of income (39 per cent) followed by admission charges (33 per cent). And it predicts that the revenue from drink sales, per customer, to start declining from 2018.

It concludes that although the barriers to entry for anyone wanting to set up a club are low, competition is fierce.

IBISWorld has not conducted similar research in the UK, but here is a snapshot of their findings in the US:

© IBISWorld Ltd

Published: 22 Oct 2015