The audience needs to be able to see and hear the comedians on stage. There shouldn't be many other distractions in the room going on. The audience should probably be sitting in the dark a little bit so that they don't feel too self-conscious. If there's lots of space between the audience members and space between the audiences and the performers, that doesn't really work. It also makes a difference how you introduce the comedians on the stage and how you have them exit the stage.