The management company that represents local comedians including Aaron Chen (ABC TV's Fisk) and Sam Campbell (Taskmaster UK) has gone into administration, leaving dozens without representation — and, in some cases, owed money — four months before Australia's leading comedy festival kicks off.

ABC Arts understands that on November 28 the director of Sydney-based management company The Junkyard, Craig Ivanoff, called some of his clients to tell them the company was insolvent and closing down, citing poor financial management. ABC Arts has contacted Ivanoff for comment.

On December 2, The Junkyard and Ivanoff's production company, West Street Sports, appointed liquidator Andrew Spring from Jirsch Sutherland Insolvency Solutions to wind up both businesses and report to creditors. Both companies have ceased trading and the liquidator will notify creditors within 10 business days, as required by law.

"One of the liquidator's key focuses is on identifying and securing any assets," Spring told ABC Arts.

"It's still early days in the investigations into the reasons for the failure of the companies and the true creditors' positions (i.e. number and names of creditors and amounts owed). We are waiting to get access to the companies' files/records and for the directors to provide the respective creditors' lists."

Melbourne comedian Greg Larsen — best known for starring alongside Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald in The Tourist — left his manager of five years to join The Junkyard just last month.

"[Ivanoff] basically said that he could help me earn more money; he could help me get projects up," Larsen says.

"Because he said he could make those things happen, I decided not to do a full run of all the festivals next year. And now I've missed deadlines for festivals.

"Now, I have no management, and I've missed out on a lot of work because of the changeover, and also because he promised me things that now aren't going to happen."

Registrations for next year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) closed on November 20, less than a fortnight before The Junkyard became insolvent.

The Junkyard had an "artist-first" business model, funding specials and trips to comedy festivals — including Edinburgh Fringe — for comedians up-front. Ivanoff told one comedian he had personally taken on losses of $800,000 over seven years of operation.

Comedians like Chen and Campbell are some of the highest sellers at comedy festivals around the country, with Chen winning People's Choice for most tickets sold at the 2024 MICF.

In financial strife

The Junkyard is understood by ABC Arts to have continued to sign new artists like Larsen — sometimes poaching them from competitors — even as its financial troubles grew, with some comedians raising concerns with Ivanoff.

When Melbourne comedian Scout Boxall raised their concerns with Ivanoff, they say he told them he "felt energised and more than capable of handling the workload".

"He never projected anything other than total confidence in Junkyard's ability to stay afloat," Boxall says.

But that confidence may have been misguided.

"I find it hard to believe ... that he didn't know when he signed me that his business was in serious trouble," Larsen says.

But he stresses he was "pretty lucky" compared to other comedians on The Junkyard's roster.

"I didn't lose any money with him. The timing was terrible. I probably wouldn't have left my old agent if he hadn't promised me the world. So, I've lost potential work and all the rest of it, but I haven't lost money, but I can't say the same for others."

Boxall is owed more than $3,000 for a gig in Adelaide last month. On Instagram, Melbourne comedian Lewis Garnham, who also only recently joined Junkyard, revealed Ivanoff had not spoken to him yet and had not paid him for his work at both Melbourne and Edinburgh Fringe festivals. 

"It's hard out there for artists, and if you've got a band or something that you like, buy a ticket to their show if it's within your means, because it's brutal," Garnham said on Instagram.

Sydney comedian Andrew Hamilton also took to Instagram to say had been "hit pretty hard" by the company going insolvent, and had lost all the money from his national tour earlier this year.

"I am not going to be too hard on my former management," he wrote. "They spread themselves too thin trying to support their people, and stuffed up the numbers. Never attribute to malice what can be reasonably attributed to stupidity."

Other acts impacted by the company folding include people working with West Street Sports, Ivanoff's production company.

Earlier this year, the company was awarded $400,000 in funding — $200,000 from the ABC, and $200,000 from Screen Australia — for a Fresh Blood pilot by comedians Danielle Walker and Lauren Bonner, due for release next year.

A Screen Australia spokesperson said: "Screen Australia is aware that West Street Sports is under external administration. We are in discussions with the affected parties to determine next steps, in accordance with our internal processes."

An ABC spokesperson said: "The ABC is aware of the situation and we're in conversations with the relevant parties."

The impact on the scene

Emerging comedians who spoke to ABC Arts for this story expressed their gratitude that Ivanoff and The Junkyard invested in their careers early on.

"Junkyard was a champion of more independent and alternative artists who don't fit within the Australian comedy commercial landscape," Boxall says. "Without Junkyard's backing, I wouldn't be where I am now."

But while comedians appreciated the role of The Junkyard in their careers, the company folding has ramifications for their rapidly approaching touring schedules, with Perth Fringe World set to kick off in a little over a month, before Adelaide Fringe and the major capital city comedy festivals.

While at first Boxall worried they might have to cancel their scheduled Adelaide Fringe season, they were able to scrape together enough money to pay for flights and an independent producer.

"The entire comedy community has been so supportive," they say. "I've been on the phone to different producers, festival staff, venues and bookers and everyone's doing whatever they can to keep our festival seasons afloat next year."

The Junkyard folding comes at a time when it is extremely difficult to make a sustainable career from live comedy in Australia, with the costs of accommodation, travel, venue and ticketing fees rising, while fees for shows are stagnant.

"Before I moved over to Junkyard, I was questioning, 'Is it financially viable for me to continue doing live comedy?'" Larsen says. "I get people in and I sell tickets, but I only get a small portion of the money from the sales.

"Unfortunately, I trusted Craig, and he said, 'Oh, don't worry. I can make that better for you. I can make it so that you can keep more of what you earn'.

"It just felt like the ultimate slap in the face when artists are already struggling to get paid."