Between transportation, sky-high rent and basic living expenses, it can sometimes be hard to find spare cash for something fun to do during the evenings or weekends, especially in London. With the average price of a pint in the big city at £3.92 and something as trivial as a cinema ticket costing at least £10 for an adult, theatre and live shows seem like an absolute luxury!
(You may have seen my previous post about saving money on socialising using Mystery Shopping. I’m updating you on living on a budget here!)
Well… I am here to let you in on a secret. There’s a whole pile of live shows being watched in the bigger cities in the UK for nothing. Diddly squat. FREE!! And they’re available for anyone with an email address.
These are television recordings. That’s right: all those live TV recordings that you see evening after evening with live studio audiences are being watched for free. Chat shows, comedy panel shows, talent shows. All free! And quite easy to get hold of, too!
This is something I found while I was in university but put on pause and forgot about while I was traveling. I’ve recently re-discovered them and gosh I am enjoying getting out of the house to see comedians (who might usually sell tickets to gigs for upwards of £30) for nothing.
In the last three or so weeks since I’ve started applying for these tickets again, I’ve seen The “Jonathan Ross Show”, “Adam Hill’s Last Leg”, “Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled” and more. I’ve even been able to see a recording of “David Mitchell’s Unbelievable Truth” which is a radio show. I have more bookings coming up in the next fortnight and haven’t paid a penny!
There IS a catch. The companies who provide these tickets are, obviously, paid to fill those seats and so they often massively over-capacitate for the studio which means the queues for these shows often start an hour or more before the doors open and, if you’re too far down the line, you face a very real chance of not getting in. One can’t exactly grumble for this when the tickets were free anyway. It also seems to be the case that you can apply for ‘Priority Seats’ at a similar show if you collar an employee on the night. This might not be a risk you’re willing to take, though, if you’re looking at paying a fair chunk for your night out on transport, baby-sitting costs etc.
If, though, you fancy giving a shot, the process is very simple. All you have to do is register with one or more of the websites I’ve listed below (these are the three websites I’ve been using recently and have, in my opinion, some very good shows on offer!) and apply for tickets to shows that interest you! That’s it! This is no guarantee of a ticket; you’ll be contacted closer to the time of the show to let you know if you’ve been successful and be issued with an e-ticket!
That’s it! Please leave a comment if you sign up and have any free-viewing experiences! Happy viewing!
Live with a smile 
One thought on “How To Watch Shows In London For Absolutely Nothing”