Every now and then you hear about the Sultan of Alabazakazaaah paying 10 million for one performance by Hayzi Fantayzee – but I am interested in the more mundane, fist biting what-am-i-doing-with-my-life Corporate gig?

I was at a conference last week and there was a singer just mumblin’ away tastefully in the background. Nice bloke – but what a life. It was full room but nobody really paid attention to his lip trembling treatments of “Alleluia” or “Angels” – there was no Amanda Holden wiping away tears and beckoning the audience to stand up and applaud. But, as the singer reasoned to me later, “it’s a very good payday” and seemed happy.

On other occasions there has been the odd bit of live music from fairly well-known (here) NZ entertainers, happy to be background music in order to pay the rent.

In the world of comedy, I once sat through a Barry Cryer routine about pensions. Full of in-jokes and good-natured ribbing of senior execs of the insurance company running the event. It sounds appalling but Cryer is a genius so it was (and I mean this) a privilege to witness it.

At the other end of the scale, » Continue Reading.