Update 7/30/2012: In a move that will come as small surprise to fans of the pioneering comedian, FX has announced Louis C.K.'s hit show, "Louie," will be picked up for a fourth season.
While "Louie's" ratings have been consistently strong for its past three seasons, the recent media attention surrounding C.K. probably didn't hurt his chances at renewal. Besides making such headline-grabbing decisions as eschewing the secondary ticket market in favor of selling tickets directly from his website, just this past week C.K. garnered a whopping seven Emmy nods for his various T.V. projects.
The nominations include Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series,
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Louie," and Outstanding Special Class Programs, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, and Outstanding Picture-Editing for his comedy special, "Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theatre."
Although C.K. recently admitted such a high volume of recognition made him "feel a little selfish," it seems neither fans nor critics would accuse him of being anything worse than one of 2012's top entertainers.
Original Post
Louis C.K. is doing it for the fans. That's the comedian's rationale for bypassing Ticketmaster, selling tickets for his upcoming 2012 tour exclusively through his personal website instead. Tickets for every show in the 39-city tour will be sold for a flat rate of $45. The star of FX's "Louie" announced his decision to go retail rogue via an open email to fans Monday, explaining: "By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I've cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price." Claiming he's always wanted to make his shows more affordable, C.K. also stated any tickets sold or scalped for more than the standard $45 fee would not be accepted.
Read more about C.K. and the secondary market.
"I'm trying something new," C.K. allowed. Below, a look at where fans of the novel comedian can catch (and thank) him live:
Louis C.K. Tour Dates 2012
| Date | City | State | Venue |
| 10/3/12 | Cleveland | OH | Severance Hall (Early show) |
| 10/3/12 | Cleveland | OH | Severance Hall (Late show) |
| 10/4/12 | Minneapolis | MN | Minneapolis Convention Center |
| 10/5/12 | Minneapolis | MN | Minneapolis Convention Center |
| 10/6/12 | St. Louis | MO | Fox Theatre |
| 10/10/12 | Milwaukee | WI | Riverside Theater |
| 10/11/12 | Milwaukee | WI | Riverside Theater |
| 10/12/12 | Detroit | MI | The Masonic Temple |
| 10/17/12 | Savannah | GA | Savannah Civic Center |
| 10/18/12 | Tulsa | OK | The Brady Theater |
| 10/19/12 | Houston | TX | Jesse H. Jones Hall |
| 10/20/12 | Dallas | TX | Majestic Theatre (Early show) |
| 10/20/12 | Dallas | TX | Majestic Theatre (Late show) |
| 10/24/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Early show) |
| 10/24/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Late show) |
| 10/25/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Early show) |
| 10/25/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Late show) |
| 10/26/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Early show) |
| 10/26/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Late show) |
| 10/27/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Early show) |
| 10/27/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Late show) |
| 10/28/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Early show) |
| 10/28/12 | New York | NY | New York City Center (Late show) |
| 11/7/12 | Portland | ME | Merrill Auditorium |
| 11/8/12 | Hartford | CT | Bushnell Center for the Arts |
| 11/9/12 | Chicago | IL | Chicago Symphony Center (Early show) |
| 11/9/12 | Chicago | IL | Chicago Symphony Center (Late show) |
| 11/14/12 | San Francisco | CA | Davies Symphony Hall (Early show) |
| 11/14/12 | San Francisco | CA | Davies Symphony Hall (Late show) |
| 11/15/12 | San Francisco | CA | Davies Symphony Hall (Early show) |
| 11/15/12 | San Francisco | CA | Davies Symphony Hall (Late show) |
| 11/28/12 | Fort Lauderdale | FL | Broward Center for the Performing Arts |
| 11/29/12 | Tampa | FL | David A. Straz, Jr. Center |
| 11/30/12 | Athens | GA | The Classic Center |
| 12/13/12 | Austin | TX | Austin City Limits Live (Early show) |
| 12/13/12 | Austin | TX | Austin City Limits Live (Late show) |
| 12/14/12 | Austin | TX | Austin City Limits Live (Early show) |
| 12/14/12 | Austin | TX | Austin City Limits Live (Late show) |
| 12/15/12 | Denver | CO | The Colorado Convention Center |
| 12/20/12 | Seattle | WA | Paramount Theater (Early show) |
| 12/20/12 | Seattle | WA | Paramount Theater (Late show) |
| 12/21/12 | Seattle | WA | Paramount Theater (Early show) |
| 12/21/12 | Seattle | WA | Paramount Theater (Late show) |
| 12/22/12 | Phoenix | AZ | Celebrity Theatre |
| 12/31/12 | Baltimore | MD | Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall |
| 1/3/13 | Boston | MA | Boston Symphony Hall |
| 1/4/13 | Boston | MA | Boston Symphony Hall |
| 1/5/13 | Boston | MA | Boston Symphony Hall |
| 2/1/13 | Washington | DC | The JFK Center (Early show) |
| 2/1/13 | Washington | DC | The JFK Center (Late show) |
Louis C.K. Tour and the Secondary Market
In light of the restrictions C.K. has imposed on the resale of tickets to this new tour, we were curious whether or not the threat of ticket invalidation has put a damper on secondary market activity. It appears that so far, C.K.'s measures are keeping the volume of tickets listed on secondary markets low – though the few tickets that are listed on online secondary markets are posted at an average price of $203.66
Across all 52 announced shows on C.K.'s tour, there are only 122 tickets listed on major online secondary markets – an average of just slightly over 2 tickets listed per show. Many major secondary ticketing websites – including StubHub – are offering no listings at all and are not providing a means for individual sellers to list Louis C.K. tickets for sale.
In brief, it appears the restrictions on these tour tickets are, by and large, keeping tickets off secondary market sites.
