Women of Live Hall Of Fame: Judi Marmel

Founding Partner | Levity Live

“Judi showed me how to be fearless on a daily basis and to stand by my point of view. Her style of mentorship encourages you to jump into the action rather than passively observing, and that kind of experience pays dividends quickly.” – Rachel Helix, Manager and Producer at Levity Live Talent

WOL: 2020 & 2021 Cover Honoree | impact 50: 2020-2023

Levity Live Founding Partner Judi Marmel got her start just about as humbly as one can in comedy: as a “door girl” at a small club in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She parlayed that experience into booking and producing, then managing artists in addition to her day-to-day responsibilities.

Now she’s built upon that experience as a founding partner of Levity Live, serving audiences, artists and brands through its live exhibition, television production, artist management, branded entertainment, corporate training and digital marketing platforms.

Marmel is especially proud of what her company has accomplished in the area of artist management. Among its clients are Bert Kreischer, Jeff Dunham, Taylor Tomlinson, Fortune Feimster, Whitney Cummings and many others. And Marmel cites the “recent growth and strength of our management team here at Levity” as her most important highlight of the last year.

“We have had multiple comedy artists rank in Pollstar’s top-grossing tours and continued to place our clients in theatrical feature releases and both network and streaming series,” Marmel explains. “This past year, we’ve placed more female clients on record-breaking tours and TV and film projects than ever before, as well as promoted more female staff members.”

One of those is Rachel Helix, a talent manager and producer who earned a spot on Pollstar’s 2023 Women of Live list.

“Judi showed me how to be fearless on a daily basis and to stand by my point of view,” Helix tells Pollstar.

“Her style of mentorship encourages you to jump into the action rather than passively observing, and that kind of experience pays dividends quickly.”

One of Marmel’s latest success stories is that of Taylor Tomlinson, who is now the host of “After Midnight,” a late-night show that replaced “The Late Late Show” in mid-January.

That followed a stellar year on the road that landed Tomlinson on Pollstar’s Top 200 North American Tours chart for 2023, averaging 2,874 in ticket sales and gross of $175,310 per show.

In addition to Tomlinson, several of her artists occupied spots on that Top 200 chart, including Kreischer and Dunham.

“Two of the best live shows I attended last year were Taylor Tomlinson at Radio City Music Hall and Bert Kreischer’s Fully Loaded Festival at The Gorge Amphitheatre,” Marmel says. “It was very special to see these artists perform sold-out shows at two of the world’s most iconic venues.”

Marmel continues to pass down to mentees the lessons learned over her career, including the advice from those who came before her.

“Anything you can dream of for your career is possible if you work hard, treat people right and continue to dream big.”