Dave Chappelle on Monday announced six surprise shows this week in Denver — and they all sold out within the hour.
The swiftness with which the tickets were snagged shows just how popular the controversial comedian and performer still is. The six shows will take place at Comedy Works Denver and cell phones are strictly forbidden at each show, with two sets scheduled for Tuesday, two more on Wednesday, and two finales on Thursday. The no cell phones policy isn’t new for a live Chappelle show, as was covered by LAWeekly in 2016 and in 2017 by 9news.com in Denver.
The last fans saw Chappelle doing stand-up was on his latest of six Netflix specials, The Closer, released in 2021. According to the Denver Post, Chappelle has popped up “on and off to play surprise shows at Comedy Works — which also instantly sell out.”
In February, Netflix and Chappelle announced a new agreement in which Chappelle would executive produce and host a series of four specials called Chappelle’s Home Team. The first episode, featuring comedian Earthquake and titled Earthquake: Legendary, debuted on Netflix February 28.
Just this week he earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for his collaboration with Amir Sulaiman, titled 8:46.
Fans that weren’t able to get a seat to the live shows this week will hope to have a chance at tickets through the secondhand market, but that isn’t looking very likely with strict ticket rules and scalpers that “will not be tolerated or refunded.”
It’s clear that does Chappelle does not want any fuss or recording of the shows, as the policy states that every show is a “strict NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED show,” with the venue providing the all-caps emphasis.
It went on to state, “Please leave your phones in your cars or at home. Anyone who brings a cell phone will be required to place it in a locked pouch. Everyone is subject to a pat down. Anyone caught with a cell phone inside the venue will be immediately ejected and no refund given.”
Comedy Works Denver states in its ticket policy that “ONLY the ticket purchaser is allowed to pick up tickets at will call,” so it might not be so easy to get a ticket after all.
There is a list of stipulations on their website, including that “the entire party must be present when tickets are picked up. Once inside the building, you will NOT be allowed to go back outside. The entire party MUST proceed straight downstairs.”
They add, “Comedy Works will actively be looking for scalped tickets. DO NOT PURCHASE tickets from any other site. Scalpers will NOT be tolerated or refunded!”
As for the “no cell phones” policy, Chappelle spoke about it on Jimmy Kimmel Live also in 2017, according to 9news.com.
“There’s a lot of reasons,” he said. “One, it became a thing where I’d walk on stage, I’d see a sea of cellphones, so I knew that anything in the room, I was saying to everybody, whether they were in the room or not, which is not an empowering feeling as a comedian.
It’s like fight club rules apply: what I’m saying to you, I’m keeping to people in the room.”
Each ticket for the 21-and-up only shows sold for $156 each.
