Althouse: How Jerry Weintraub solved the problem of 5,000 unsold tickets to an Elvis concert.

May 12, 2010

How Jerry Weintraub solved the problem of 5,000 unsold tickets to an Elvis concert.

And the one thing Elvis could not tolerate was playing to an empty seat.

(Via Deadline Hollywood.)

16 comments:

Original Mike said...: Would someone please watch the video (it's 4 minutes long) so I can find out how Jerry Weintraub solved the problem of 5,000 unsold tickets to an Elvis concert?; 5/12/10, 1:42 PM
lemondog said...: As you expect :-O, he bribed chief of police to have his convicts unbolt and remove 5000 seats for the matinee and reattach for the evening performance.; 5/12/10, 2:02 PM
Original Mike said...: Thank you, lemondog.; 5/12/10, 2:04 PM
rhhardin said...: Podcast with Imus, go to WABC and go down to 4/30

The story of Furgeson fired.; 5/12/10, 2:14 PM
Dustin said...: I love stories like this. Even had a decent punchline.

For some reason, we don't have this kind of clever showman anymore. Conan and Leno and Gaga are pretty pathetic in comparison.; 5/12/10, 2:46 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I figured Weintraub would have bribed the police to have convicts and jailed prisoners fill the seats, but I suppose that would have been a bit risky for the show.

But why pay for prisoners, were they that much cheaper than a bus load of illegals...oh wait, no illegal immigration back then. Never mind.; 5/12/10, 3:35 PM
Rick Lee said...: I bought that book (Kindle version on my iPhone)last week... It's next on my reading list right after I finish "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee" by Sarah Silverman.; 5/12/10, 3:35 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Original Mike, the animation actually is kind of cool.; 5/12/10, 3:35 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Rick, maybe the same animator can do Silverman's book.; 5/12/10, 3:36 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: He bought 5,000 inflatable dolls and put wigs on them with makeup then smashed Elvis' contact lenses

He contacted the audience by radio blitz that there would be a simultaneous contest for best pet dressed up as a human. Free seats for the pets.

He contacted nursing homes and offered free tickets for caregivers plus one patient. Then sent buses to pick them up.

He contacted every ventriloquist in Miami and offered free tickets for everyone including one for each puppet.

He contacted the construction companies at Disney World which was just being built and offered free tickets.; 5/12/10, 4:02 PM
Mark Daniels said...: This is so cool!; 5/12/10, 4:05 PM
Mark Daniels said...: I mean the animated presentation of it is so cool.; 5/12/10, 4:06 PM
AllenS said...: For a while, I thought he was going to put 5,000 prisoners in the seats.; 5/12/10, 4:44 PM
Largo said...: FYI (and FWIW), the width of your embedded video is a tad excessive, eating up part of your blogroll, as rendered by my Firefox 3.5.9 I don't know if its the case with other browsers.; 5/13/10, 6:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Original Mike: "Would someone please watch the video (it's 4 minutes long) so I can find out how Jerry Weintraub solved the problem of 5,000 unsold tickets to an Elvis concert?"

That in a nutshell is why we are going to lose Self-Government in the USA. If someone is so indifferent that they won't spend 4 minutes to find the truth of a matter, they either will not spend the time to even send in an absentee ballot or will vote for someone who has them chanting the word "Change" over and over mindlessly.

Hey Original Mike, how do you know if lemondog told you the truth or not?; 5/13/10, 12:23 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Largo Thanks. I entered different dimensions and that worked to keep it in the right area for me in Safari and FireFox on a Mac, but it helps to know that doesn't always work.

These widescreen video with no smaller sizes offered are becoming a big problem.; 5/13/10, 2:37 PM