Comedian Louis C.K. is using the Internet to his advantage by selling tickets to his upcoming shows online, cutting out the ticket sales systems entirely. He’s also implementing a system to cancel scalped tickets. Each ticket will cost $45 after tax. He explains his vision this way:
By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I’ve cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price. To buy a ticket, you join NOTHING. Just use your credit card and buy the damn thing. opt in to the email list if you want, and you’ll only get emails from me.Also, you’ll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce. There are some other rules you may find annoying but they are meant to prevent someone who has no intention of seeing the show from buying the ticket and just flipping it for twice the price from a thousand miles away.
C.K. has already sold shows on his own website (inspiring others to follow suit) so this makes perfect sense. “Doing things this way means I’m making less than I would have made if I did a standard tour, using the usual very excellent but expensive ticketing service. In some cities I’ve had to play smaller venues and do more shows. But I like doing more shows and about a year ago I reached a place where I realized I am making enough money doing comedy so the next thing that interested me is bringing your price down,” C.K. wrote. “Either way, I still make a whole lot more than my grandfather who taught math and raised chickens in Michigan.”
You can buy tickets right here. Sadly NYC is already sold out, but I figure Louis C.K. will soon start selling personal audiences at his apartment in Manhattan for $60 where he tells your fortune like some mad-eyed Rasputin.