El Mago Pop - Odd Ticket Situation

[ArbonneMom24]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 2:06pm

Updated On: 8/30/23 at 02:06 PM

[yyys]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 2:10pm

It looks like a scam....did you have to put any of your billing info (credit card, etc).??

[ArbonneMom24]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 2:19pm

Hello there!

I didn't I only had to put in my name and email in the form, after I put it in the form I received this email.

 

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 2:26pm

Sorry about the ticketing headache.

May I ask what the other 2 shows were that you attended in the past?

[ArbonneMom24]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 2:32pm

Hello there!

Thank you! The two shows I have seen are The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:03pm

I’m supposed to go to the 2 PM show tomorrow, but I’m gonna be in the city this afternoon. I’ll swing by the box office and verify my tickets.

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:16pm

Interesting part is on your ticket it states the ticket price is $287. If it were truly free and from the box office, it would have stated $0.00 or COMP.

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:24pm

Wick3 said: "Interesting part is on your ticket it states the ticket price is $287. If it were truly free and from the box office, it would have stated $0.00 or COMP."

Not necessarily. During the last few days of AIN’T NO MO, the tickets they gave away at the box office had the face value printed on it. But I have a value printed on my tickets and they look like screenshots of Google Wallet tabs

[ArbonneMom24]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:25pm

Hello there!

Interesting! I had no idea. I gave no credit card information (I just double checked my accounts), I just filled out a form and got an email confirmation and the tickets were just a PDF sent.

[Justin Longo]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:26pm

This is really bizarre. I don't know what the scam would be if they didn't ask for any info, so maybe it was an extreme case of miscommunication between the show's team and the box office?? I also wonder what the house staff would have done had you gotten your ticket scanned before the people who paid.

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:29pm

I thought those 'buyout' performances from Aint No Mo were paid for by Will and Jada Smith? In that case, then yes it would have the price printed on that free ticket.

My understand is the OP got a free/comp ticket.

[BugsOmaha]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:34pm

Fwiw I got comp tix to Once Upon A One More Time a few weeks ago and they had their values printed on them ($199)

[JSquared2]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 3:39pm

Sounds like just a phishing scam of some sort.

[ArbonneMom24]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 4:05pm

Maybe? But giving out other people's tickets to just get my email feels odd...  But maybe it's something I'm not understanding...

[BugsOmaha]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 4:15pm

I got 2 free tix to this show via a similar Instagram ad, and the form to claim the tickets was on the official El Mago Pop website so I highly doubt this was a scam of some sorts. Will report back if I have a similar issue scanning my tickets.

[dangeresque49]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 5:21pm

Given that this el mago pop dude steals tricks I wouldn't be surprised at all about shady ticketing. Try to pump the crowds with free tickets and then take the money when someone shows up and is actually willing to pay that much. He won't be on Broadway long enough for anyone to really care. 

This guy just uses a bunch of audience plants in his show anyways. He's a hack with good marketing.

[expectingtheworst]

Posted: 8/21/23 at 8:07pm

this may be a crazy idea but with all the info floating around on Reddit about the plants and scams, I do have to think…

Could the show have purchased a bunch of tickets to make the theatre look full/sold out? Then they put out this free ticket ad and just send those tickets to people?

My guess is that they are incredibly unorganized and that’s why these double ticketing things happen.

Idk it may be crazy… but I mean anything is possible with bway these days

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 3:56pm

I went this afternoon for the 2pm show.

- The free tickets my friend and I had worked fine. 

- It was hard to understand him at times, because does talk a mile a minute. The majority of the audience was definitely Spanish-speaking. Lots of kids and families (expected for 2pm on a Tuesday in summer). 

- As for the rumors of “plants”, hard to tell in a dark theatre, but I did see quite a few people go into the stage door who didn’t look affiliated with the show, only to have them come out and join the line. 

- Contrary to appearances on Telecharge, large swaths of the orchestra were EMPTY, giving credence to the theory of  someone buying up the tickets and giving them away.

- There was about maybe 50 minutes of magic and about 30 minutes of self-aggrandizement disguised as storytelling and videos, including a very extensive curtain call that felt unearned.

- Good God - the amount of confetti and pyrotechnics feels like a fire hazard waiting to happen.

Overall, it was a nice diversion that is NOT for the discerning or budget-conscious theatregoer. He also does stagedoor and zig-zags down the barricades and signs/pictures with everyone.

 

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 4:11pm

That’s good your free ticket scanned ok!
When I saw the show the other day, the person he picked with the drivers license was a female sitting in orchestra and she had a license from Colorado. I’m not sure if she is a plant or not but she looked like a complete stranger to me.

I’m in awe by what he did on the Today show. 
 

[ardiem]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 4:54pm

What's the story with the tickets for this? Telecharge shows virtually sold-out shows the whole run, with the tickets that do remain being obscenely-priced ($240 rear orchestra, $371 premium). I personally find it hard to believe these are legitimately sold out and suspect that blocks have been pre-purchased and are being distributed through all sorts of weird channels we're hearing about in this thread.

So, how can I get in on that? (lol)

I'd love to see a short, mindless magic show but not at the prices they're asking. Asi Wind is worth it, but I can't justify this.

 

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 6:45pm

Also, spoiler alert

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

His “levitation” act is really just some high class wire aerial work. I thought he was actually doing something legit until I saw a spider-silk thin wire twitch under the lights as he was being lowered into the orb. 

My friend that I went with, who is a gymnast, aerialist, and contortionist as a side gig, was enamored that I didn’t have the heart to tell him. 

 

[Ensemble1692729508]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 7:42pm

Apparently those tickets are all sold to Spaniards but due to an airline strike over there a lot of them can’t get here. It’s a huge bummer for them. Nothing shady going on there just a lot of disappointed fans.

[Theater3232]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 8:03pm

Good to hear 1 person's free ticket scanned today, but it's horrible that 3 separate free ticket orders weren't working the other day (per an earlier post here).  Will be interesting to hear the report back from BugsOmaha.

[expectingtheworst]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 8:10pm

Ensemble1692729508 said: "Apparently those tickets are all sold to Spaniards but due to an airline strike over there a lot of them can’t get here. It’s a huge bummer for them. Nothing shady going on there just a lot of disappointed fans."

Can you explain how you know the tickets were sold to Spaniards? And why you created an account today just today to defend the scammy things going on with the show. 

Also by a quick google search, there was an airline strike earlier this summer but it seems to have ended now.. Additionally, if the airline strike was SO BIG - how could the show have gotten here?

Finally, if there was an airline strike wouldn't people get refunds? not giving away free tickets they can't use to random people on the street and thru ads etc. 

[Ensemble1692729508]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 9:21pm

Yeah I just joined. I have a friend that works on the show and that’s what he told me. I didn’t know the strike was over though. Just reporting what I heard. He said it wasn’t all the airlines just one in particular which would explain why some made it and some didn’t. Idk. Can you post a link to what you read about the strike? I’d be interested to read it.