He writes, he edits, he directs, he produces, he acts, he does stand-up, he answers fans’ questions (and hilariously insults them) on Twitter. And now, Louis C.K. has gone into the ticket selling business — not because he’s trying to make money, but because he wants to avoid scalpers and surcharge-gouging ticketing services. Fans who want to see his upcoming comedy tour will pay a flat fee of $45 — including all taxes and fees — at C.K.’s website. “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% 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,” he writes. “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.”
Pretty excellent plan, right? Of course, plenty of performers (mostly musicians) have protested ticketing services over the years — most prominently Pearl Jam, who have clearly returned to Ticketmaster — but very few have actually cared enough about their fans to subvert the system entirely, taking on the headache of negotiating with individual venues instead of just complaining. Ladies and gentlemen, is there anything Louis C.K. can’t do?