Glossary
Plain-English definitions of ticketing, venue and maths terms you might encounter around the Come Fry With Me tour.
Ticketing terms
- Presale
- A ticket sale that opens before the general public can buy, usually with an access code or membership. The Come Fry With Me presale was 23 September 2026 via Ticketmaster.
- General sale
- When tickets become available to everyone, without a code. General sale for this tour was 25 September 2026.
- Face value
- The original price printed on or set for a ticket, before any markup. Legitimate resale platforms such as Twickets only allow sales at or below face value.
- Resale
- Selling a ticket you have already bought to someone else. Official resale (through the original seller) is safest. Unofficial resale at inflated prices carries risk.
- Secondary market
- Platforms where tickets are resold, sometimes at prices above face value. Official resale routes (e.g. Ticketmaster resale, Twickets) are safer than unofficial secondary sellers.
- Restricted view
- A seat where part of the stage may be blocked by a pillar, barrier or railing. Usually labelled on the seating plan and priced lower.
- Booking fee
- A charge added by the ticket seller at checkout, on top of the face value. It may include a service fee, a venue facility fee and an order processing fee.
- E-ticket (electronic ticket)
- A ticket delivered electronically, usually as a barcode or QR code in an app or email. Most Come Fry With Me tickets are e-tickets via the Ticketmaster app.
- Mobile entry
- Entering a venue using a barcode or QR code displayed on your phone screen, scanned at the door.
- Will call / box office collection
- Collecting physical tickets at the venue's box office before the show, usually with ID and your order reference.
- Returns
- Tickets that have been returned to the seller and made available again, often close to the show date. Check the seller's page if your date initially shows as unavailable.
- Ticket transfer
- Sending a ticket electronically to another person's account. Where enabled, this is usually free and done through the seller's app.
- Companion ticket (access ticket)
- A free or discounted ticket for a carer or personal assistant accompanying a disabled visitor. Contact the venue's access team to arrange one.
Venue terms
- Stalls
- The ground-floor seating area in a theatre, closest to the stage. Also called the orchestra in some venues.
- Circle (dress circle / grand circle)
- The upper tier(s) of seating in a theatre. The dress circle is usually the first level above the stalls; the grand circle (or upper circle) is above that.
- Balcony
- The highest tier of seating in a theatre, furthest from the stage. Views and legroom vary.
- Doors
- The time the venue opens to allow the audience in, which is before the show start time. For example, Newcastle lists doors at 18:30 with the show at 19:30.
- Curfew
- The latest time a show can run until, set by the venue's licence. Newcastle's curfew is 23:00.
- Latecomer policy
- A venue's rules on when and how late arrivals are admitted. You may be asked to wait in the foyer for a suitable break in the performance.
- Cloakroom
- A facility at the venue where you can leave coats and small bags. Not all venues have one, and the Eventim Apollo does not accept large bags even in the cloakroom.
- Seating plan
- A diagram showing the layout of seats in the venue, available on the seller's website. Use it to check for restricted views and choose your preferred area.
Accessibility terms
- BSL (British Sign Language)
- Some performances are BSL-interpreted. Check the venue's accessibility page for BSL-interpreted dates.
- Captioned performance
- A performance with text displayed on a screen showing the dialogue and sound effects. Not all tours offer captioned dates.
- Audio-described performance
- A performance with a live or recorded narration of the visual elements, delivered via headset. Check the venue for availability.
- Relaxed performance
- A show with adjustments such as lower sound levels, gentler lighting and a relaxed attitude to noise and movement. Designed for audiences who benefit from a less intense environment.
- Hearing loop (induction loop)
- A system installed in a venue that transmits sound directly to hearing aids set to the T (telecoil) setting. Many UK theatres have one.
- Changing Places toilet
- A fully accessible toilet with a height-adjustable changing bench and hoist, designed for people who need more space and equipment than a standard accessible toilet.
- Assistance dog
- A trained dog that supports a disabled person. Assistance dogs are generally welcome at all venues on the tour; notify the venue in advance.
Maths and science terms
- Algorithm
- A set of step-by-step instructions for solving a problem. In everyday life, algorithms sort search results, set prices and recommend content. Hannah Fry's Hello World is about algorithms.
- Probability
- A number between 0 (impossible) and 1 (certain) that describes how likely something is to happen. Central to the Come Fry With Me theme of chance.
- Expected value
- The average outcome you would expect if you repeated a random experiment many times. It is calculated by multiplying each outcome by its probability and adding them up.
- Monty Hall problem
- A probability puzzle: you pick one of three doors, the host opens a losing door, and you are asked whether to switch. Switching wins two-thirds of the time. Try our Monty Hall simulator.
- Birthday paradox
- The surprising result that in a group of just 23 people, there is a better than 50% chance two share a birthday. Try our birthday paradox calculator.
- Optimal stopping (37% rule)
- A strategy for making the best choice from a sequence: reject the first 37% of options, then choose the next one that is better than all you have seen. Fry applies it to dating in The Mathematics of Love.
- Game theory
- The study of strategic decisions where the best choice depends on what others do. The Prisoner's Dilemma is the classic example.
- Prisoner's Dilemma
- A game theory scenario where two people are better off cooperating, but each has an individual incentive to betray the other. It illustrates why cooperation can be hard even when it benefits everyone.
- Bayes' theorem
- A formula for updating the probability of something being true as new evidence arrives. It is central to medical testing, spam filters and many AI systems.
- Standard deviation
- A measure of how spread out a set of numbers is from the average. A small standard deviation means values cluster around the mean.
- Regression to the mean
- The tendency for extreme results to be followed by more typical ones. A very lucky streak is likely to be followed by average performance, not more luck.
- Correlation vs causation
- Two things happening together (correlation) does not mean one causes the other. A classic source of misunderstanding in statistics and news headlines.
- Law of large numbers
- The principle that as you repeat an experiment more times, the average result gets closer to the true probability. A coin flipped 10 times might not be 50/50, but flip it 10,000 times and it will be close.
- Data science
- The field of extracting knowledge from large datasets using statistics, algorithms and computing. Hannah Fry's work at UCL modelled urban data from crime to transport.
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Systems that learn from data rather than following hand-coded rules. AI can recognise faces, translate languages and play games, but inherits biases from its training data.