Comic sells tour seats direct to fans

Louis CK is extending his ‘do-it-yourself’ approach to comedy by selling tickets to his next stand-up tour direct to fans,

The decision to cut out the middle man follows the success of his last live ‘DVD’, which he sold directly online as a $5 download, rather than using an established distributor.

Tickets for his upcoming tour will sell at its face value of $45, without any taxes or the additional fees charged by ticket giants such as Ticketmaster.

He says the price is cheaper than anyone's paid to see him in two years, and half the cost of most tickets from last year.

And CK adds that any tickets being sold on at above face value will be cancelled and ‘ this is something I intend to enforce’.

In an email to fans, he explains: ‘Making my shows affordable has always been my goal but two things have always worked against that. High ticket charges and ticket re-sellers marking up the prices.

‘Some ticketing services charge more than 40 per cent over the ticket price and, ironically, the lower I've made my ticket prices, the more scalpers have bought them up, so the more fans have paid for a lot of my tickets.

‘By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I've cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price.

’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… I still make a whole lot more than my grandfather who taught math and raised chickens in Michigan\

He added: ‘It was a real challenge to find venues around the country that could work with our exclusive ticketing service under these parameters. It means I'm playing in very new places. I really appreciate all of these theaters that are letting us give this a try.

‘Setting up this tour has been fascinating and difficult. This ticketing service is a brand new thing and I really fucking hope it works.’

CK has forged a DIY model across comedy. He writes, directs, stars in, executive produces and usually even edits his acclaimed FX sitcom Louie.

Published: 26 Jun 2012