Disgruntled fans walked out during stand-up comedian Carl Barron’s show on Friday night after they claimed they had been misled and inadvertently used as extras for his debut feature film.
Taking to the stand up comedian’s Facebook page, disgruntled patrons criticised Barron for charging $75 for tickets to the Friday night show, parts of which would be used in his upcoming movie Manny Lewis. They claim to have been mislead that the audience would be filling the role of extras for the film.
The Ticketmaster description of the event, posted to Facebook by one patron, reads, “How would you like to be part of Carl’s forthcoming Movie? That’s right, Carl is about to commence filming his movie Manny Lewis and here is your chance to be part of it.”
The evening was to feature 40 minutes of stand-up, a support act and a Q & A session, and then the shooting of movie scenes. “Carl will shoot scenes from his movie and you will get to be a part of it!,” continues the description. Still patrons were angered that the show’s price tag didn’t match their experience.
“What a shocker,” posted one patron “That was a scam tonight!! I paid $70 a ticket for my family to attend you as a stand up not to watch you rehearse for you movie and walk on off stage. First half was brilliant. The second half was a pathetic rip off.”
Barron’s manager Artie Laing told Fairfax Media he was disappointed some fans felt misled and would “work something out” in consultation with Barron in the next few days. “I don’t want people feeling like we don’t care, because we do,” Laing said. “Carl cares most about his audience.”
