Chris Rock Ticket Sales At Boston's Wilbur Theater Spike On Resale Sites After Will Smith's Oscar Slap
BOSTON (CBS) - It's the hottest ticket in town, if you can get ahold of one. It's Chris Rock's first performance since he was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars.
"The demand has just skyrocketed, and we've seen the secondary market just basically explode with activity," said Robert Tellia, Ace Ticket sales specialist.
Starting Wednesday night, the comedian is scheduled to perform six shows at the Wilbur Theatre as part of his 'Ego Death' World Tour. The Boston shows are sold out on Ticketmaster, and ticket resale websites like Ace Ticket are trying to keep up with the increased demand.
"We're seeing prices starting at basically just over double what they were this just over this past weekend so we do see that obviously it's the attention from Sunday night that he's drawn, no question," said Tellia.
TickPick Co-Founder and Co-CEO Brett Goldberg says the difference in prices before and after the Oscars is drastic.
"By the time we woke up Monday morning and we had looked at the sales data, we had sold more tickets since the Oscars than we had since the tour actually got announced in February," said Goldberg, adding, "and the cheapest listing that was available was $50 before the Oscars and now the cheapest listing is over $500 on TickPick."
Aubrey Collins from Portsmouth, Rhode Island has two tickets for the early show on Wednesday. He says he bought them Sunday night and is glad he acted fast. "Believe it or not, I was able to buy two tickets for $171," said Collins.
He briefly considered selling the tickets at a higher price, but for now, he's looking forward to seeing his favorite comedian, and of course, hearing any statements Rock may make relating to the Oscars incident.
"I definitely believe I have the hottest ticket in town and I'm so happy I decided to purchase tickets that night," said Collins.
His one regret? That he didn't purchase more.