That’s right. Scalpers selling free tickets. Because the face value is zero, we can’t even give you an accurate percentage of the markup. After all, what’s 800 percent of zero?

Leno announced “Jay’s Comedy Stimulus Plan” during the March 9 taping and airing of the late-night talk show, saying that anyone who’s unemployed is welcome at the free show, scheduled for April 7 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons.

One week later, on the day the Palace handed out tickets, and ended up scheduling a second show for April 8, Leno said on the Tonight Show:

“Oh, and here’s something that annoys me. I look on eBay today. I see four tickets to my show for sale for $800. You’re out of your mind to pay $800 to see me. I wouldn’t pay. My mother wouldn’t pay $800 to see me.”

Leno told his TV and studio audiences that he wanted eBay to take down the ticket listings.

“I would like to ask the people on eBay to take the tickets down. There’s nothing for sale here. It’s just totally free. This is what the President wanted: Us to … kind of help one another.”

Apparently, Leno’s plea did not fall on deaf ears. As of this morning, no listings for the free shows were posted on eBay, reports The Detroit News. Meanwhile, over at Craig’s List, people were offering to swap tickets for another night.

“So they listened,” said Palace spokesman Jeff Corey. “National TV is pretty good to get the word out.”

For The Detroit News article, click here.

For The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno, click here.