Never more shall you pay full price for a sub-par comedian. A comedy club in Spain is using tablets with facial recognition software to figure out how much to charge its customers. The future is now.


As with all really important advancements, this one was spurred on by taxes. The Barcelona club Teatreneu introduced this system after a tax on tickets were raised from 8% to 21%. After the raise was implemented by the Spanish government in 2012, Teatreneu partnered with the advertising agency The Cyranos McCann to install tablets on the back of each seat. The tablets register every time an audience member laughs or smiles. Each giggle costs .30 euros (38 cents), with a cap at 24 euros. Therefore, every laugh after the 80th is free!

And, to make sure that everyone knows how much you enjoyed the show, you can track your laughs on app that lets you pay the theater and share your laugh count on social media.


According to the BBC, other theaters all over Spain are copying the system. Which sounds great — the show's a bargain if you can immobilize your face first. Botox, anyone?

[CNBC]