# Patton Oswalt says he was offered a 'sacrilegious' amount of money to play a show, how much is that **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597 "2014-04-08T00:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/21 "2014-04-08T17:57:24Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > …For someone who likely spent years thankful for a $150 show, that’s a shit ton of money no matter how much he already has. > … This. But $150 is luxury! I just heard an Oswalt bit about a time in the late80s/early90s when he opened for a comedy magician where he got paid $20 instead of the $25 he was promised. Another comedian, Gabriel Iglacias, talks about a gig he got in Saudi Arabia for some royal. Without stating a number, he said he told his agent to ask for some similarly obscene amount they were sure nobody would go for. He was soon on a plane to Riyadh. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/22 "2014-04-08T17:58:51Z")
Casinos will often do things that are not necessarily aimed at making money in and of themselves, but are aimed at bringing people to the casino to lose money in other ways. If they lose money on the show, but make money when those audience members hit the tables, then that is a win. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/23 "2014-04-08T20:18:57Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > 30 pieces of silver. \ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/24 "2014-04-08T20:20:09Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > This. But $150 is luxury! I just heard an Oswalt bit about a time in the late80s/early90s when he opened for a comedy magician where he got paid $20 instead of the $25 he was promised. One of his best stories. An irate comedy magician! ---
**Author:** ![Mrs91](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mrs91](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs91)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/25 "2015-11-15T06:47:35Z")
No one has an estimate of how much he would have made initially for ratatouille? An fwiw net worth isn’t the same as cash flow… ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/26 "2015-11-15T11:39:12Z")
I watched the bit, [http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ye146j/stand-up-patton-oswalt–selling-out-at-a-casino-pt–1](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ye146j/stand-up-patton-oswalt--selling-out-at-a-casino-pt--1) [http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bnnci7/stand-up-patton-oswalt–selling-out-at-a-casino-pt–2](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/bnnci7/stand-up-patton-oswalt--selling-out-at-a-casino-pt--2) Based on his Twitter, the show was in Oct 2012. [https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/256989952745811968](https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/256989952745811968) I think he’s engaging a a bit of hyberbole in service of the bit, ie. they’re paying a lot of money, his room is nice, the patrons are trashy. [_ **Tulalip Resort Casino general manager Samuel Askew said Oswalt “took some poetic license with his pay.”** _](http://www.theheraldbusinessjournal.com/article/20140604/SCBJ02/140609805) I dunno, say it’s $50k. I found a reference to Wayne Brady at Tulalip in September and tickets were $45 and $55. He said 400 seats, but the venue they put big comics in is 1,200 seats, and it existed at the time. If they actually sell all the tickets (he said there were only 40 VIPs) at an average of $50, that’s $60k gross. If they papered half the house, it’s still $30k. Aside from that, 40 VIPs (lets say 20 players and their spouses) would easily generate $60k in gambling losses in a single night. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/27 "2015-11-15T15:22:03Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > $666,666? > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Perhaps. I just checked, Harvard says they are about 66k for tuition plus room & board for a year. If Oswalt is in the highest tax bracket that works out to roughly 100k pre-tax. I think we got it: it must cost $66,600. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/28 "2015-11-15T19:41:50Z")
Just a guess. But if the biggest Hollywood TV stars are paid more than one million dollars per 30 minute episode, I would guess that would be the ballpark figure. I seem to recall the stars of “Friends” and “Seinfeld” were paid that much near the end of their run. I could easily be mistaken about that number. Please feel free to correct me if I’ve got it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/29 "2015-11-15T20:11:38Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > > > $666,666? > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > Perhaps. I just checked, Harvard says they are about 66k for tuition plus room & board for a year. If Oswalt is in the highest tax bracket that works out to roughly 100k pre-tax. > > I think we got it: it must cost $66,600. I think you were whooshed. **Kamino Neko** was making a joke about the number of the Anti-Christ, or 666, which to some, is indeed a sacrilegious number. **Wesley Clark** wasn’t replying to him, but to **Lamia**. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/30 "2015-11-15T20:16:48Z")
For Patton Oswalt anything more than $1.79 is sacrilegious. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/31 "2015-11-15T22:10:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I think you were whooshed. **Kamino Neko** was making a joke about the number of the Anti-Christ, or 666, which to some, is indeed a sacrilegious number. > > **Wesley Clark** wasn’t replying to him, but to **Lamia**. The rare double whoosh. $66,600 also has the number of the beast in it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/32 "2015-11-15T22:24:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The rare double whoosh. $66,600 also has the number of the beast in it. I noticed that, but $666,666 just looks better. It’s symmetrical. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/33 "2015-11-15T22:31:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > For Patton Oswalt anything more than $1.79 is sacrilegious. And I was thinking that a payment greater than $5000 would be an abomination unto the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/34 "2015-11-15T22:39:55Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > And I was thinking that a payment greater than $5000 would be an abomination unto the Lord. Well, yeah to HIM. To us mere mortals its a bit less than that. And don’t even think of offering him a hot pocket as payment. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/35 "2015-11-16T19:07:51Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Just a guess. But if the biggest Hollywood TV stars are paid more than one million dollars per 30 minute episode, I would guess that would be the ballpark figure. > > I seem to recall the stars of “Friends” and “Seinfeld” were paid that much near the end of their run. > > I could easily be mistaken about that number. Please feel free to correct me if I’ve got it wrong. Completely different animals. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/36 "2015-11-16T20:17:14Z")
Yeah, my impression was that it was probably somewhere in the $50-100k range. Not a ton of money relative to Mr. Oswalt’s bank account, but a hell of a lot of money for one night’s work. Especially considering how he supposedly didn’t tell a single joke. The point was that he was paid several times what a normal set would earn him, and the audience was so smashed that he didn’t even use any material. > [@Marley23](#): > > One of his best stories. An irate comedy magician! That was a great bit. **OKAY?!?!?!** ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597/37 "2015-11-17T00:24:34Z")
I don’t know how much he was paid for the Star Wars filibuster, but IMHO not enough: Brian [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patton-oswalt-says-he-was-offered-a-sacrilegious-amount-of-money-to-play-a-show-how-much-is-that/685597.md?page=1)