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Ever wanted to see a sold out show? Want to pay face value or less? Here is the solution: The magic finger. This trick was taught to me one evening as four of us were waiting outside of a venue in Eugene, Or, trying to get into a Mat Kearny concert. The lady at the ticket booth told us to hold up the “magic finger” and we will inevitably get into any sold out show. Ironically enough, it did not work that night. The lady ended up just taking our cash and letting us in without tickets. However, it has worked for every other show I have tried. I have never paid more than face, sometimes getting in for free.

So what is the magic finger? It’s simple, just hold up your index finger pointing at the sky. Also helps to mutter that you are looking for one ticket.

The psychology behind the magic finger is pretty straight forward. There always are people at shows that have tickets they do not need. This is why scalpers exist. Scalpers will find these people, often by holding a sign saying they need tickets, and offer them a little more then nothing for their extra tickets. The person with the extra thinks that they are just going to have to eat the face value, so they take whatever they can get for it. The scalper then resells to people trying to get in at a substantial premium. There is a certian percentage of the attendees that will have extra tickets, so the more people attending, the more extra tickets there will be. For that reason, the larger the show the more extra tickets there will be.

As a magic finger user you just have to hold your finger up, let people know you are looking for a ticket (to see the show, not to resell), and good things will happen. It has never failed. Some of the shows that I have gotten into using this technique include: Panic! At the disco (in Times Square, paid face), Bloc Party (face value), Oregon/UoO Civil War (2 x free!), and many others. I’ve given up on buying tickets a head of time. Just go, bring no more cash then you want to pay, hold up the finger, and you’ll get in.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 25th, 2006 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Personal.