Howard and I love the comedy of Sebastian Maniscalco. His Netflix specials have brightened many a night when television is terrible and the Phillies aren't playing.
We found him quite by accident while surfing for something to watch, something to make us laugh. We've enjoyed his shows again and again, never mind we know most of the lines by heart.
So when I read that he was doing 10 shows at the Borgata in Atlantic City in November, I was on my computer first thing when tickets went on sale. A presale, it said, artist's presale. There was a code to enter to get what I assumed were reasonably priced tickets from Sebastian himself. For enthusiastic fans like me.
We're familiar with the Event Center at the Borgata from years of seeing Chicago there. So I knew where I wanted to look for good seats...not on the floor but in the first set of risers above everything but not so high up we couldn't see the performer.
That's where I went for tickets. Two of them. Section C, row H. Perfect location. Our Chicago tickets had been $88 a piece last we saw them. Affordable.
I almost fainted when the price came up...$235 each plus all the fees Ticketmaster tacks on! There were cheaper seats, of course, but one would need to rely on the Jumbtron to see the guy on the stage and that just doesn't cut it.
Now, I love Sebastian's humor. I'd love to see him in person. But $470 goes a long way toward making a mortgage payment, buys a lot of groceries and gas and helps with our vet bills for little Selma. In a few weeks, I'll be 81 and every dollar counts for something in our household.
But in reality, Sebastian's tickets aren't the only things that are becoming priced out of range. Oh yes, I know people point fingers and blame President Biden for the rising inflation numbers we read about.
Poppycock! No president is responsible for rising prices. Supply and demand, natural disasters, war, a myriad of things effect the costs of goods and services.
But too often ignored and not blamed enough is greed. Pure and simple greed.
Oil companies making record, staggeringly high profits off the backs of the motoring public. Manufacturers cutting the sizes of their goods (e.g. potato chip bags, cereal boxes, bathroom tissue rolls, even ice cream containers) and charging more for them. They try to excuse it away by pointing to higher freight costs and the demands for higher wages from employees. But the bottom line is: profit and good news for their shareholders.
Sebastian is a multi-multi-millionaire. The venues at which he entertains can easily pay him well and still give his audiences a reasonable price to see his shows. Regardless, he sells out almost every single one, so some folks somewhere are doing without something in order to pay for his tickets.
Like so many others, I'm resentful of the way anyone who can is gouging the rest of us who pay the price. A Hershey candy bar shouldn't cost $1.99 (and be smaller and thinner than it used to be). Is there an answer? If so, I don't know what it is, but we're eating less candy and watching reruns of Sebastian's specials. Borgata can keep its $470. We need it in our bank account.
