December 31, 2014
(UPDATE - 1/8) It was announced yesterday that Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk Radio is going to become a lat-night TC show on the National Geographic Channel. The show will begin to air this April and taped in front of a live studio audience at the Hayden Planetarium in New York. The only other information is that the guests will be “pretty spectacular”.
When you think about the hottest tickets in town, normally sporting events, concerts, or special limited-time events come to mind. Rarely, if ever, would you consider an astrophysicist on a speaking tour as part of that grouping. But bucking that trend is Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos host and Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.
Tickets to his speaking engagement across the country currently average $147 each on TicketIQ, based on overwhelming demand and limited ticketing inventory. The least expensive get-in price for any of his tour stops before May is $77. Not bad for a scientist!
[embedit cf="HTML1"]
The buzz about Tyson, who also hosts the popular StarTalk Radio podcast, has been holding strong for months. Back in August an article on Motherboard detailed the rising prices of Tyson’s shows on the secondary market, and that momentum continues with his shows into the summer of 2015. Tyson’s educational and informative yet engaging and relatable speaking style has satisfied the hordes of young and vocal science fans, continuing the tradition of Carl Sagan and Bill Nye, among others. Tyson’s StarTalk Live shows feature a panel that he moderates featuring two comedians and two other scientists that focus on specific scientific topics, ranging from climate change, evolution, privatization of space, and exploration of the universe.
He is approaching three million Twitter followers and has Youtube clips with millions of views. His fans can’t get enough of his self-described “cosmic brain droppings,” and the national media has caught on, making him a magazine cover man and national star wildly beyond the scope of a normal educator.
As an example of his immense popularity leading to increasingly high ticket prices, we can compare his January 27 show at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago to the Bulls vs. Heat game in the United Center just two days prior on Sunday, January 25. The Bulls vs. Heat game sees average ticket prices of $252, with a get-in price of $64, and prices have risen 4% this week. Comparatively, Tyson’s tickets on a Tuesday night average $212 per ticket, with a minimum price of $90 and a weekly rise of 60% in ticket prices on the secondary market!
To see what all the fuss is about, take a look below at Tyson’s upcoming show schedule, and get a taste of what you might be in for at one of his shows by watching the following YouTube clips.
Keep looking up!
