Haha, When Tickets for His Seoul Concert Didn’t Sell, He Called on Yoo Jae-suk: “Get Tickets for My Show” (Radio Star)

Singer and entertainer Haha candidly mentioned on a TV show that ticket sales for his Seoul fan concert were falling short of expectations, turning the appearance into a promotional opportunity.

The August 19 episode of MBC’s variety show ‘Radio Star,’ episode 977, featured Hong Hye-geol, Haha, Park Young-jin, and Herkey Sivaseki as guests.

Haha announced that he would hold his first fan concert under his own name since his debut, with performances scheduled for Busan on August 22 and Seoul on September 13.

He confessed that only about 100 of the 1,200 seats remained for the Busan performance, but that roughly half the seats for the Seoul performance were still available as of the recording date, leaving even the agency surprised.

When it was explained that tickets cost 110,000 won, Kim Gu-ra pointed out that some audience members might find the price burdensome compared with other performances. In response, Haha explained that the show would feature lasers and heavy equipment, with Park Young-jin and Yang Sang-guk joining as MCs, as well as surprise guests.

However, Kim Gu-ra reiterated that while 110,000 won might be understandable if the MC were Yoo Jae-suk, audiences might feel it was expensive with Park Young-jin. Haha said he could not easily ask Yoo Jae-suk for help because it might appear that he was relying on Yoo Jae-suk’s name.

Haha stated that, despite his public recognition, his actual ticket-selling power and ability to draw a crowd were not particularly strong, adding that he considered himself truly popular only if more than 2,000 people could gather for him.

He also lamented that although he had many social media followers, the actual response fell short of expectations: even when he started a live broadcast, the number of viewers quickly dropped and there was little participation in the comments. During this discussion, he jokingly complained that it seemed only the production teams of ‘What Do You Do When You Play?’ and ‘Running Man’ were watching, making the studio laugh by suggesting that Yoo Jae-suk did not look after him very much.

Kim Gu-ra asked whether some of those who had booked tickets for the fan concert might be hoping for a surprise appearance by Yoo Jae-suk.

Haha said he would not confirm whether Yoo Jae-suk would appear, but added that a surprise guest was planned and that Yoo Jae-suk had purchased a ticket for the Seoul concert, heightening expectations. Ultimately, his promotion appeared to capitalize on his friendship with Yoo Jae-suk and elicited laughter from the studio.