the Whinery
A living Campaign
Hey! My name is Calvin Mattson and in 2026 I started a comedy and magic show at a wine bar in Minneapolis, MN. What began as a way for me to get more time on stage, quickly evolved into a project that would teach me about marketing, design, social media, and more. I am still constantly learning with this project, and will continue to update this page as it continues to grow. Although I have my small portfolio, this project is an example of my work in copy, design, marketing, and social.
The Beginning
I began looking for a venue where I could produce a comedy show in 2026. My previous show I produced ended in late 2025 due to the venue closing down and I missed having a project to work on. As I was looking for different potential venues in the Twin Cities, I stumbled upon a tiny little wine bar near where I live. Typically a music venue, it features an intimate 42 seat room with a raised stage — I immediately fell in love. I met with the owner and was given the space. We agreed that once a month the room would be converted into an intimate comedy club. And our very first show would be in three weeks. YIKES. That gave me less than a week to build up a brand image and begin getting word out.
The following words and images are the development of my designs, marketing techniques, and social media concepts that have resulted in a comedy show that sells out monthly
What’s in a name?
Do all comedy shows have a name? No. Do all good comedy shows have a name? I think so! I also may simply be someone who loves a clever name. I believe it gives the show a brand. An image. A clever name is more enticing than “Comedy at XYZ”. So… when it came to producing a show, the first thing I needed to do was come up with a good name. I spent some time writing in a notebook until I finally ended up with our winner.
Notebook of Names
A poster: The first Marketing Material
I believe all comedy shows should have a good poster. One that is unique, tells you about the show, and most importantly, is not AI generated. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is seeing the amount of AI posters being thrown around these days. With options like Canva, you really have no excuse to use AI. For The Whinery, I had a concept I knew I wanted, and pretty quickly threw together a concept poster.
The original poster design. Designed in Canva
You know the first time you create something for a new project, and you are blinded by excitement? That’s what happened with this first poster here. In retrospect, I am a bit embarrassed I used this design for more than one show. The concept was sort of what I was looking for, but the execution was just not there. It felt like most of things I hate in a poster: Generic, simple, and non-coherent. But hey, at least I didn’t use AI. I knew I needed something that better represented the show, but I didn’t quite know what.
the Wine Label Concept
Sometimes, creativity can strike in the most random of places. While walking around a wine and cheese shop, I noticed the bottles I gravitated towards featured drawn/painted designs. There was something so charming about those bottles that just screamed “classy” to me. I immediately realized that was the vibe for the poster and so I bought a bottle (for inspiration of course)! and rushed home to begin designing the new poster. I would like to begin that I have never claimed to know how to draw, but after some trial and error, I was able to put together something that at least didn’t overly offend the comedians on the show…
The first “label” concept poster. Drawn in procreate. Designed in Canva and Photoshop
Instead of simply having the comedians as the labels of the individual bottles, I wanted the entire poster to feel like it could be a label on some new aged bottle of cabernet. Something that would make you stop, even just for a minute, in the vast black-hole of comedy promotions. The poster solved a lot of the issues with the first design. It’s unique, memorable, and clean. As soon as we began using this poster design, I began to get a lot more engagement on social media, and the reservations more than doubled from previous months.
to Tagline or Not to Tagline, that is the question
Okay — I need to confess. I love a tagline. I spent time coming up with options for the show. You’ll see the final iteration in the original poster design: A Classy Show with Classless Comedy. However, when doing the rebranding of the show, I realized this tagline did more harm than good. The audience the venue caters to was a crowd that I found would be turned away by the idea of “classless comedy”. After drawing the new poster, I sat for awhile working on coming up with a new tagline. Eventually, I realized that visually the new poster conveys the vibe of the show better than any words could. in its place, simply “A monthly comedy show” serves a much better purpose in building a following for the show.
The Current Iteration
The next changes I wanted to make were giving the poster just a pop more color. I figured by adding just a bit more color on alternating lines it would be a bit easier to read from top to bottom. The current poster is below. As the show evolves, more changes may need to be made, but I am very happy with the current design. It is unique, shows the brand, and comics love it. I do not know why, but I have had multiple comics say they want to be on the show just to get their headshot drawn on the poster. So if you’re looking for someone who knows how to attract comedians — I’m your guy.
current whinery posters. drawn in procreate. designed on canva and photoshop
Social Media Marketing
While the poster is the most important part, social media is the way I have been able to get the show in front of audiences I may not be able to reach traditionally. Every month I have posted to my own personal social media, and currently am building up an Instagram page specifically for the show. The Instagram is a work in progress and as this living campaign develops, a majority of new marketing and design will be specifically for that page.
About 40% of the audiences for the show come from seeing social posts. I began running small Meta Ad campaigns to familiarize myself with the platform. While we did get some engagement, most of our audience has come from Tiktok videos I have made. Most recently, the one below resulted in over 5000 views and 70 saves.
Marketing video for tiktok, instagram reels, and facebook. Edited in Capcut. Shot on Osmo Pocket 3.
I also post a two-slide carousel most months on tiktok that have averaged a 10% conversion rate into reservations at shows. One thing I have learned with these is there is a specific time frame that they need to be posted. Less than one week and people may miss it. More than two weeks and people forget. I have found 12 days before the show has been my sweet spot for getting people interested, engaged, and securing reservations.
Examples of carousel slides for tiktok
I also began making physical flyers, adding large QR codes to draw attention and influence people to scan and make reservations. I found when physical posters have QR codes, our reservations increase by more than 20%.
qr poster design
For the future!
Just because the show is doing well doesn’t mean the creating should stop. In fact, it’s only a motivation to keep going. I currently am planning some fun projects to challenge myself both on social media and design. The following are projects I currently have in the works, or will be starting in upcoming months.
Stickers! Free to hand out at shows
“Come flyer the town with me” marketing video for social
A cinematic “evening of comedy at the Troubadour” for social media
Testimonial videos for social media
Organically growing the instagram to 100 followers
And many, many more…
As they are completed, they will be added to the list with a short write-up.