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March 29, 2024, 07:59:38 AM

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Daniel Kitson 2020

Started by buntyman, March 15, 2020, 12:32:16 PM

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Quisby

Either Kitson failed to tell the ticketing company what was likely to happen when they went on sale, or the ticket company completely misrepresented the resilience of their setup. It's no big thing really but I did waste a couple of hours today when I could have been getting on with other more important tasks*

* Looking at the Glinner thread and staring into space.

Small Man Big Horse

Here you go:

Well.

This has gone badly. An example, you might say, of getting it wrong.

It's safe to say that the Citizen Ticket website has not been able to handle the spike in traffic generated by people wanting tickets. Obviously this is hugely frustrating for all concerned. I know a good number of you have spent a good whack of time trying to buy tickets, I myself have spent a good whack of time setting the shows up and the people at Citizen Ticket have spent a good whack of time trying to alter their systems in order to fix it all.

So firstly, there are still lots and lots of tickets available. Obviously, I'm as frustrated by people not being able to buy those tickets as the people who are currently unable to buy the tickets but to clarify, this problem has not been caused by the capping of ticket numbers – there are plenty of tickets available, there's nearly 1000 a day, for a week and there are still plenty available – it has been caused by the ticketing site being unable to handle the traffic, crashing in a variety of ways and meaning that people have been unable to access the tickets.

There's been some quite spicy nuggets of criticism heading my way, to be honest. So, to clarify, the idea of capping the ticket numbers is not contrayism designed to serve my ego or make any of you jump through hoops, or apparently, in one remarkable case to lose a job. The idea is to create a model for raising money and making work that is both exciting and sustainable. . It's genuinely not meant to irritate you. The idea is to create a way of releasing work on a fairly regular basis over the coming months that is flexible and sustainable and robust enough to consistently support a couple of charities with something close to a steady and reliable income. Also the cap will change according to the event,  there could be late night work in progress stuff for a hundred people or a more substantial run of something finished or, indeed a one off show with a large capacity but the whole point is that it can and will be repeated.

Also, crucially, these capped shows aren't the only way that things will be released, they'll be on Vimeo and Bandcamp as well, like the other stuff already on my website.

These Gregory Church screenings are meant to be an exciting bit of fun.

Obviously today has been the opposite of that for most people involved.

So.

This is what we're going to do.



1 -  The shows have come off sale on the Citizen Ticket site.

2 – Those of you who managed to buy tickets will still have those tickets to the shows you booked for.

3 – I will set the shows up on a different ticketing platform over the next 36 hours

4 – I will send another email on Sunday with the details of how to buy tickets.

5 -  The shows will go ahead as planned, next week.



I hope that's clear.

Sorry again for all the wasted time and frustrated desire and for inadvertently ruining your Friday. I'll be in touch on Sunday with more details but now I need to get back to the edit of the film.  To give me enough tie to render it, export and upload it for the screenings. I'm currently trying to colour match some footage of me stuttering spectacularly.

Remarkable stuff. 

Sorry again and GOODBYE FOREVER

Daniel

mjwilson

Managed to get a ticket just as that email turned up.

amputeeporn

Just the first email explaining how this would work was a pain in the arse - but I could have set my watch by the follow-up acknowledging it turned into a cluster fuck. God love him for everything, but fuck me, man, ease up.

buntyman

Good to hear he's got various other shows lined up to put out too.

Le Tourbillon

I always feel conflicted about his approach to releasing his work. Ultimately it's his to do with as he wants and if he prefers a smaller audience and more intimate venues then it's for him to decide. That said, I love his stuff and don't live near anywhere he ever plays so it's frustrating that I've got no way to enjoy what he does.

With an internet release limiting the number of people who can see it does seem wilfully contrary - even if it's a charity thing I guess you could structure it as a time-limited release or split the proceeds up as you want, rather than having a hard limit on people who can watch.

Peru

It's in keeping with the stupid jumping-through-hoops business of getting tickets for his Edinburgh shows in recent years (different site if I recall). Between 2004-2012 I saw Kitson numerous times and was always excited to see what he did next. As he got more well-known all this nonsense with tickets got steadily more and more difficult to navigate. I've no idea what drives this exceptionalism but I simply can't be bothered any more. Good friends have said similar. It's a shame.

sconies

Quote from: Le Tourbillon on May 16, 2020, 10:06:44 AM
I always feel conflicted about his approach to releasing his work. Ultimately it's his to do with as he wants and if he prefers a smaller audience and more intimate venues then it's for him to decide. That said, I love his stuff and don't live near anywhere he ever plays so it's frustrating that I've got no way to enjoy what he does.

With an internet release limiting the number of people who can see it does seem wilfully contrary - even if it's a charity thing I guess you could structure it as a time-limited release or split the proceeds up as you want, rather than having a hard limit on people who can watch.

One thing that might be worth noting is that it's also very expensive to host streams like this once you get to a certain number of viewers. Zoom, for example, jumps a lot once you exceed 400. It could also lead to a destabilisation of the stream. Not saying that's the reasoning behind it but would be amiss not to recognise it. It's always been a one-man show and there are technological limits if you're not a corporate entity. The man ain't Netflix.

PhyterJet

Quote from: sconies on May 17, 2020, 01:42:09 AM
One thing that might be worth noting is that it's also very expensive to host streams like this once you get to a certain number of viewers. Zoom, for example, jumps a lot once you exceed 400. It could also lead to a destabilisation of the stream. Not saying that's the reasoning behind it but would be amiss not to recognise it. It's always been a one-man show and there are technological limits if you're not a corporate entity. The man ain't Netflix.

The big streaming platforms like Youtube or Twitch have few technical limitations, but I suspect Dan will use some inferior streaming platform that will break under pressure

sconies

Quote from: PhyterJet on May 17, 2020, 02:32:51 AM
The big streaming platforms like Youtube or Twitch have few technical limitations, but I suspect Dan will use some inferior streaming platform that will break under pressure

That is true – but I'm not sure how they work with a paywall/if you have the ability to have one? Definitely fine for a free event.

It's all murky/new territory. I actually work in the live comedy industry and we've been testing out different platforms recently.

The one reason I'd be inclined to think that they won't break under pressure is the limited capacity.

Small Man Big Horse

Here's the latest Kitson email:

QuoteOkey doke.

If you're interested in the screenings of The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church please do me a sweet, sweet, solid and read this whole email before clicking on anything.

So, if for reasons related to spam filters or lack of interest you haven't received the previous emails towards the end of last week and remain unaware of the kerfuffle, you can get fully up to date by reading back over the last few posts on the NEWS* page of my website. 

But in brief, I put tickets for some screenings of an old show on sale, the ticketing site (in spite of a warning, I might add, actually**) underestimated the scale and voracity of the DK2000 marketplace™ and the site crashed in a very unseemly fashion for a few hours until we took the shows off sale on Friday night in order to find a solution.

That much you possibly already know but from here on in, it's fresh info.

The ticketing site, Citizen Ticket, got in touch on Friday night. Apologising a lot for the debacle, quite graciously expressing regret and embarrassment and essentially asking for the opportunity to sort it all out. They had plans to work through the weekend, implement changes and perform some "load tests"*** through Saturday night and Sunday morning and were basically very keen to finish the job. 

Now, without wanting to flap my dangler about, the DK2000 marketplace ™  has, over the years, caused various, pretty large scale, venues and organisations to collapse temporarily under a relatively brief but pretty hefty spike of traffic. Those venues and organisations have then taken steps and made changes and been able to cope afterwards.

I am aware that Citizen Ticket doesn't look like the slickest of websites, and primarily seems to be populated by online life drawing classes but there is a lot that I like about them as a  platform. Their booking fee is pretty low for ticket buyers. They pay out very speedily, so the money can get to where it needs to be within days. I, personally, can instantly confirm OR DENY refund requests. Ticket holders can transfer their tickets to other people. There's something about planting trees. They've worked through the weekend to get on to of this particular shtorm****.

So – we are going to try again.

They've not only increased the capacity of the site and will have people monitoring the traffic in real time but they've also put a queueing thing in place – like at the supermarket websites – you'll get a place in the queue, you'll be told how many people are in front of you and whether there are still tickets left. You'll be able to have that window open on your browser whilst continuing to work in a separate browser window and when it's your turn it will, apparently, make a little noise and then you'll have five minutes to proceed into the site.

Once you're in the site, you can take you time.

So – in terms of what tickets are left – there are some left for the London shows. LOADS left for the Australia shows and the US shows were never activated on Friday so all those tickets are still available.

It is VERY likely that the London shows will sell out way before the others do, if indeed they do. So, I would remind you that you can watch any of the shows from any location, which is to say – You can watch the 9pm Australia shows in the UK at noon. Should that suit you.

I would also take this chance to reiterate that these shows are not your only chance to see this show. I may well screen it again in this way for the Tobacco Factory Theatre in the not too distant future and I will certainly release it through Vimeo at some point, I imagine. Pretty much anyone who wants to see it will get a chance to see it. And there will be a number of releases of other work in the coming months, both old and new, digital and (I think) physical.

Finally, if you'll forgive me for repeating myself, I'd just like to say again that this way of releasing shows (capped screenings with tickets released at a specific time) isn't the product of my contraryist egotism*****. It is, I genuinely believe, a practical and exciting model for releasing work in a way that is flexible and sustainable at a time when almost every existing model of making stuff, is buggerooed******.

I know that having a specific time creates a kerfuffle but having a specific time seems fairer to me than having tickets go on sale before half the mailing list has opened the email or even got out of bed.

Right.

All that being said.

Tickets will go back on sale on Monday 18th May at 9am Local time.

Which is to say, Melbourne shows will go on sale at 9am Melbourne Time, UK shows at 9am UK time and New York shows will go on sale at 9am New York time.

9 am Monday morning seemed best to me, because that way you can have a queuing window open whilst you work rather than sitting by your computer for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Here is the link, you'll need.

https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/events/daniel-kitson/

So, we go again*******

Obviously if it goes wrong again, you'd be well within your rights to unsubscribe instantly, burn your DK2000 Marketplace ™ tracksuit and spend up to an hour wishing me ill. But fingers crossed, that can be avoided. Genuinely, thanks for bearing with it all, I reckon we'll get there. I've just today exported the final edit of the show and it's pretty nice, I think.

GOODBYE FOREVER

Daniel

*It's news about me, not the actual news. Ther's better places for that.
** Actually. Okay?
***Not a Euphemism, apparently.
****A useful new contraction of an apposite phrase in order to bypass spam filters.
*****Good name for a band.
******High end theatre lingo.
*******Nothing bad ever happened to anyone after they used this phrase in public.

I've still not received any confirmation emails from the site but if I log in to it it says I have one, so fingers crossed it will work okay on the night.

olliebean

Good to have confirmation that it will be on Vimeo at some point. I'll always pick VOD over the old broadcast-in-a-fixed-timeslot model.

holyzombiejesus

Just got one for Thursday night. That was easy.

colsimpson

I got tickets the other day, and I have the email, but they haven't taken the money out of my bank... Did this happen to anybody else?

Timothy

Tickets for the 14PM show today! Gonna let you all know how it was re: streaming and buffering.

cakeinmilk

Well the first Melbourne showing has got a little cocked up.

The intro was just Daniel coming in to frame for a bit not saying anything on Vimeo for 32 seconds and then thankfully there's a backup link to the whole show on a different Vimeo URL.

And you get a different video password from Daniel and from citizenticket. All in all a bit confusing.

hummingofevil

Quote from: Timothy on May 18, 2020, 09:12:32 AM
Tickets for the 14PM show today! Gonna let you all know how it was re: streaming and buffering.

If you mean the Melborne show it is starting now.

Timothy

Watching now :)

Its 1PM here now... messed up the time (indeed almost hour later) but just in time for the show.

hummingofevil

Great stuff that. He noted in into that there will be Vimeo link up for 24 hours once show has finished. I really enjoyed it.

Timothy

It worked perfectly and the show was beautiful. Really really good.

buntyman

Good to hear it works properly. So is Kitson doing a live intro to each screening? His body clock is going to be effed.

hummingofevil

My bad. Deleted. I think he is yes.

Glyn

Glad to hear it works. Does anyone know if you can you cast from the player on a mobile by any chance ?

sconies

Quote from: Glyn on May 19, 2020, 09:17:42 PM
Glad to hear it works. Does anyone know if you can you cast from the player on a mobile by any chance ?

If you download the Vimeo app and cast it via that you should be fine.

holyzombiejesus

#144
.

Small Man Big Horse

I really enjoyed that and in the end it was worth the website fuckery, though hopefully when he does this again in the future it'll be a bit more stable. I preferred It's Always Right Now but this was another fascinating portrait of a person's life, and my only complaint is that the ending's a bit abrupt, it's by no means a bad ending I just wish he'd left a few seconds silence to let it breathe, rather than go "Well that's it, bye" (or words along those lines).

Mr Faineant

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 21, 2020, 11:05:39 PM
I really enjoyed that and in the end it was worth the website fuckery, though hopefully when he does this again in the future it'll be a bit more stable. I preferred It's Always Right Now but this was another fascinating portrait of a person's life, and my only complaint is that the ending's a bit abrupt, it's by no means a bad ending I just wish he'd left a few seconds silence to let it breathe, rather than go "Well that's it, bye" (or words along those lines).

SPOILER ALERT!

holyzombiejesus

Those that watched last night, did DK send a link so you could watch again (or something)? We've got a ticket for tonight but would prefer to watch tomorrow evening. What was his intro like?

PhyterJet

For one of the Melbourne shows a few days ago, he had one prepared joke that there's 200 people watching live, or one mental man with 200 screens. He talked about the circumstances of the filming and why he initially decided not to release it, he explained how the live stream works, he explained how the backup video worked, and that the hinge on his glasses had broken

Glyn

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on May 22, 2020, 02:07:13 PM
Those that watched last night, did DK send a link so you could watch again (or something)? We've got a ticket for tonight but would prefer to watch tomorrow evening. What was his intro like?
There's a link to watch a 'non-live' stream but I think it said yesterday that it is only active for 8 hours. Just checked mine from last night and it and it still works at the moment  but may not last till the following evening I'm afraid.I switched to that link after his intro as you can pause it.

The intro yesterday was just a 15mins setup and quick anecdote, funny but by no means essential to the show.