Buchwald has moved to formalise its presence on the live circuit this week, launching a dedicated Live Events division and hiring touring agent Isaiah Jones. The development, disclosed on November 11, marks an intentional push into stages, tickets and in‑person experiences that sit alongside the agency’s work in film, TV, publishing and digital. Jones joins after more than nine years at United Talent Agency, where he helped steer comedy and creator tours.
Jones’ path into the role has been forged in the pressure cooker of touring. He rose through UTA’s live units, earning a promotion to comedy touring agent in 2022, a period when the post‑pandemic calendar roared back and routing demanded both data and instinct. Pollstar’s roll call of UTA promotions that year captured his elevation inside the touring ranks. Festival programmes, including Because They’re Funny in Washington, D.C., also tapped him to decode the business mechanics behind modern stand‑up and creator‑led shows. These are useful muscles for an agency intent on turning online fandom into seats filled and merch sold.
The live events move extends a two‑year expansion arc at Buchwald. In May, the firm opened a Creators division to service digital‑first talent, with executive Max Nagler promising “focused and bespoke representation for artists looking to reach the next level of their careers,” a line that reads like a mission statement for the new live play as well. Earlier in the year, Buchwald struck a sports alliance with agency CSE, widening its pipeline to athletes and broadcasters. The company, founded in 1977 and based in New York and Los Angeles, bills itself as full‑service across broadcast, film, TV, literary and more, and was advertising for comedy touring roles as recently as late August. “As Buchwald continues to grow, we are committed to building a leading … division that reflects the realities of today’s … landscape,” Co‑Head Ryan Martin and Chief Executive Julia Buchwald said in a separate hiring statement this year.
For artists, a formal live events desk can be the difference between a viral clip and a viable career. It is where touring strategy is drawn, where brand partners are aligned with venues, and where podcasts, comedians and creators test the strength of their communities in the real world. With Isaiah Jones in the trenches and a division now on the masthead, Buchwald is betting that audiences still want to gather, laugh and applaud, even in an attention economy that splinters by the hour. The weeks ahead will show how quickly that bet converts into routed tours, new signings and more agency skirmishes for the live dollar.
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