Comments on: Robin Williams Live: What a concept

By: frank miler

frank miler — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:41:01 +0000

I saw Mort Sahl at the Hungry I in 1956 San Fran. Only Robin can top the awe of that time!

By: Jim Flynn

Jim Flynn — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:44:30 +0000

Went to the show on Thursday night. I last saw Williams twice during his 2002 tour.

Williams was very good. A couple of clunker bits, but many that really worked. What really impressed me is that all of the material was new.

Sadly the Acme Comedy club was a disappointment. The seating isn’t great as you get farther back. What really made is poor was the constant parade of cocktail waitresses up and down the isle (along with patrons visting the restroom from all the adult beverages). We found it hard to lock into the show like we did at the Guthrie in 2002.

The only other person I have seen who can control a room as well as Williams was Don Rickles. That is a tall compliment.

By: George

George — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:17:08 +0000

My wife was fortunate enough to get us 4 tickets by calling. It took her 24 minutes of dialing (and our redial button was broken). Her poor fingers!
The show was superb. Williams kept the energy level in the room at a manic high for about 99% of the show. He has a true talent. Even when he as doing true improv, with a couple jokes going nowhere, he kept the audience completely mesmerized and at the edge of their seats.
It as a performance we will never forget!

PS: I did not see any scalpers. I think most of the people who bought their tickets kept them. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:39:14 +0000

I second the two ticket limit, scalpers still have a way to sell on ebay as long they show up to claim tix in person.

I had same problem, 2 tix in my basket but checkout failed more than once. One hour after start time, I got a msg on site that said “Onsale will be rescheduled”. I still tried online off and on for 4 hours, not trusting any of the information. Phone went straight to voicemail for 4 hrs too. If it sold out in half an hour, how come they couldn’t even change the message on their phone to let people know? I am more upset about time wasted than not getting tickets because I knew the odd were against me. I just wanted one fair shot.

Julie

By: Neal Justin

Neal Justin — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:24:54 +0000

I like DUDE’s idea of a two-ticket limit. I’m really not sure how ACME could have done a better job, considering Robin Williams’ folks had strict rules. I mean, keep in mind that the club couldn’t sell tickets until 10 a.m. Monday. Keep in mind there were NO freebies, not even for seats Williams’ has reserved. And keep in mind that Acme only has so many employees. Don’t think they are making a bath on this. Remember, all the money is going to charity (although the food and bar sales must be awfully nice).
I originally thought they would have people camp outside for tickets, but that creates its own problems, especially in with the unpredictable Minnesota weather.
I did not see a lot of scalpers and such outside. In fact, everything seemed very, very civil and smooth.

By: DUDE

DUDE — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:06:00 +0000

While I was definitely one of the frustrated ones constantly dialing and refreshing the web site (and did NOT get tickets), I think they did it as fairly as they could and have done a decent job getting the tickets in the hands of people who would use them, not scalpers.

It’s an unprecedented event for Acme, so I give them kudos for handling it well. I’ve spoken with them several times since they sold out and they’ve been very polite and as helpful as possible.

Only suggestion I’d have would be to impose a two-ticket limit.

By: Max

Max — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:21:33 +0000

Yea the ticket system (phone and internet) was a joke. They had to know the DEMAND would be thru the roof for these 3 nights.

I’d be willing to bet most of the tickets were “back doored”.

Anybody go to the show last night? Were there scalpers/brokers moving tickets for the event outside? How was the show? Worth flying to Vegas for in a couple weeks at the MGM?

By: CCK

CCK — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:00:24 +0000

I sure would love to have seen this show, but since Acme and the ticket seller they use are a complete mess, we were unable to get tickets. They obviously weren’t prepared for the demand, as the website site had a complete fit on Monday morning. At one point we had tickets ready to be bought, but their site died again before the transaction went through. And Acme’s representatives were no help at all, giving my wife an rude attitude when she called, and not responding to my contact. Hopefully if they ever get something this big again, they can come up with a better way of handling demand. Glad to hear Louis is having a good time while his long time customers are not.