Berkeley Rep Blog

Previous entry: The impact of Agony
Next entry: Ruined opens, Wozniak cries, and more news

How did Mike make out?

posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Mar 1, 2011
in Our shows

Judging by Facebook and Twitter, a lot of people who saw The Last Cargo Cult are dying to know how Mike Daisey made out. We not only kept track of Mike’s “financial experiment,” but also jotted down amusing audience reactions -- and some surprising things we found in the bowl.

Drum roll, please! Mike ended the run with a $1,169 and half cent profit. Yes, someone contributed half a penny on closing night.

Here are some choice audience reactions as they entered the theatre:

“Oh my God, I got a dollar!”

“Ten bucks? Dad, I got ten bucks!”

"No thanks. I don't need it."

“Cool. Now I can get a cookie.”

“Oh. Did I drop this?”

“I get $5 and he gets $1? I like this!”

“How do I have to humiliate myself to keep this?”

“There’s a small hole in this dollar. I bet that’s significant.”

When handed a $10, a confused woman kept repeating, “But parking was only $5.”

A wife got $100 while her husband got $1. She said, “Relax, it isn’t real.”

A woman who received $100 spent preshow examining it for flaws.

A woman stood her ground until the moneyhandler gave her $5 instead of $1.

When a wife got a $1 and her husband got a $5, she said, “I am not giving this back! This is blatantly unfair.”

“Why don’t I just give it to the homeless man outside?” (She refused the money and went into the theatre slightly peeved.)

And more than once, some $100 bills were used at the concessions counter. Hmmm.

And, some amusing objects made their way into the bowl as well:

$1s in shreds, ripped, and folded.

A $2 bill.

A $5 folded into an intricate swan.

Two women left their phone numbers for Mike.

Two Metro cards for the New York City subway.

A business card for a stand-up comedienne.

A business card for a store called Strange Cargo with the motto “Loot and booty.”

Thanks to everyone who saw The Last Cargo Cult! Especially if you saw The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs as well. (Hey, did you know Wozniak came to see the show? Well, that’s a different blog post….)

Photo of Mike Daisey by kevinberne.com