OK, let's not beat around the bush, let's talk money. When reviewing comedy shows critics review the performance and try to keep everything else – the weather, their mood, the neighbour munching Cheesy Wotsits – out of their mind. But if a review is all about giving a punter an idea of whether they should go and see a show there is one thing a critic doesn't mention which is highly relevant. Ticket prices.
The only time I've written about this in the past was in 2012 when I saw Kevin Hart at the 02 Arena and the best tickets tipped the scales at £180. The previous year Seinfeld had charged £100 and a few years before that Jackie Mason had caused a flurry with pricey tickets for a Royal Opera House gig.
But by and large ticket prices go unmentioned by critics. This might partly be because we usually get free tickets and don't even notice the price. But the other night I saw the new circus show, Limbo, at the London Wonderground. I was not particularly impressed by the patchy acrobatics, but happened to look at the website as I was penning my review and saw that ticket prices started at £15. I thought to myself that the show only lasts 75 minutes, you won't have wasted your whole evening if you don't like it and I guess the price of three drinks is not a bad price to pay to see a mindbendingly flexible contortionist (pictured) and a muscular hand balancer alongside some iffy dancing and some sub-Tom Waits music.
Other recent gigs have also raised the spectre of value-for-money. Tickets for the recent C4 Comedy Gala at the O2 were £67.50, which sounds like lot, but when you factor in the line-up of around 20 comedians, that comes in at around three quid a pop, making it better value than a lot of local club gigs. Of course, you only get a quick snatch of each act, but it's not a bad way of seeing who you like – a bit like buying a tester pot of paint.
At a time when money is tight maybe critics should adjust their star ratings and not just rate the quality of the show but actually say what they would pay for tickets if they had to spend their own money. Me? I'd give generously to see Daniel Kitson, I'd certainly pay the going rate to see Al Murray or Josie Long. But I'd probably want Frankie Boyle to pay me to come to his gigs.
