With corporate end-of-year functions looming, some local comedians are getting ready to cash in. But first they'll need to impress fans at this year's inaugural Johannesburg International Comedy Festival.Tickets for the three-day event will dent the comedy connoisseur's pocket by no more than R250, but the top funny-men could be coining anywhere between R5,000 and R20,000 each.It seems the business of laughter is lucrative. It's possible that golden boy Trevor Noah's R3-million appearance fee could see South Africa's comedians starting their own #FeesMustRise movement.Noah will not be at the festival, which takes place from November 6 to 8 in Braamfontein and the Newtown precinct, but the local and international line-up will feature almost every local comedian and will include acts from France, UK, Zimbabwe, Malawi and US.Talent manager Kate Goliath, at Goliath & Goliath, explained that rates differ for club shows and corporate functions."Rates really depend on who the comedian is, but corporate events are really where comedians make their bread and butter."Comedians are considered a one-stop shop. They need to be the master of ceremonies, programme director and script-writer."It ends up being more cost-effective for companies to use comedians," she said.Industry insiders said local comedy heavyweights such as Eugene Khoza, David Kau, Loyiso Gola and Tumi Morake could elicit corporate giggles for around R45,000 a show.Jason Goliath, Mpho Popps and Kagiso Lediga's fees range around the R20,000-mark.Club rates differ. At The Box, a comedy club in Maboneng an open spot performs for free while the club pays R1000 for a headline act and R600 for a support act.Comedy clubs such as Parkers at Montecasino can pay as much as R2,000 for a headline act.Joe Parker, founder of Parkers, said: "The top guys who do corporate functions are like the engineers of the entertainment industry."For one event they can earn what most earn in a month."..