*Has Dave Chappelle lost his umpf?
The comedian had a hard time getting through his show in Austin, Texas Tuesday night because hecklers couldn’t help but interrupt the guy.
Chappelle booked the show only hours before the actual show time at the Paramount. Tickets sold out within minutes.
Since leaving the “Chappelle Show” in 2006, he’s stayed out of the spotlight and only performing in unpublicized events in big cities like New York and L.A.
Over the weekend, he performed in Dallas and received the respect any great comedian deserves. But in Austin, it was another story.
Comedian Paul Varghese opened the show and specifically asked the audience not to heckle Chappelle, citing his antics last year when he refused to tell jokes in Miami after being heckled and videotaped by fans.
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Upon arriving to the stage, the headliner couldn’t help but notice someone on the front row recording him, and even made comment that the reason he stopped doing shows is because fans seemed entitled to record his standup.
That’s when it all started. Audience members began to yell at Chappelle, making rude comments. But this time, it didn’t stop the performance. He somehow made it part of his fuel to keep going.
Laugh Spin, a comedy review website wrote …
Because Dave acknowledged the hecklers, but didn’t take the “iron fist” approach some comedians tend to take with hecklers to shut them down, the show spiraled and the crowd got the wrong idea that Dave (not to mention the polite majority of the audience who were just there to see a set from the comedian) welcomed an audience participation aspect to the show.
Sources from the crowd had different opinions on the show. Some claimed to have been disappointed by the show before the heckling began, saying Chappelle didn’t seem to have much material planned, leaned on crowd work and didn’t deliver a set with enough momentum to hold their attention. Others were just fine with Dave’s set and blame the few members of the crowd who heckled the comedian to have thrown the show off. Either way, though, you know how we feel. It’s never, ever cool to heckle a comedian.
Hmm, wish we could get our hands on that video.
Okay, exactly what city was the heckled show in? The story starts saying Chappelle had a “hard time getting through his show in Austin, TX because of hecklers.
But the further into the story, after stating that Chappelle did a fine show in Dallas, the story goes on to say “But in HOUSTON, it was another story.” This news item then goes into describing Chappelle being heckled at during his performance and other issues. Austin, TX is never mentioned again.
So was the troubled show in AUSTIN, the state capitol, or was it in HOUSTON, which is over 150 miles away?
Seems to me that the events created a perfect storm for the heckling.
Comedian Paul Varghese opened the show and specifically asked the audience not to heckle Chappelle, citing his antics last year when he refused to tell jokes in Miami after being heckled and videotaped by fans.
WTF?!
Was this done intentionally to rile up likely hecklers?
Why the fuck would you try to talk down to folks who paid to see the show like that?
Maybe Paul Varghese wanted to ruin Dave’s act.
Although EUR mentioned that “the headliner couldn’t help but notice someone on the front row recording him,” they failed to mention that “the headliner confiscated the recording device.”
Most audience members take exception to a member of their fraternity being treated in this manner by a performer or event staff.
This was the last straw for likely hecklers.
As reported by Austin 360, the show was first sidetracked when Chappelle noticed an audience member in the front row recording his set. The comedian confiscated the recording device and remarked that fans’ entitlement to record his shows was part of the reason he largely stopped performing stand-up.
That back-and-forth set off a chain reaction of many audience members yelling at Chappelle while he was onstage.”
Dave should know better by now. He knows how it feels to be heckled by some asshole for no reason. But he should also know that the audience will push back if they feel they are not being treated with respect.
You don’t want to talk down to them or take their phone. Did they even ask the person to stop recording before grabbing his shit?
Ok, I see the error in the story was corrected. It was Austin, not Houston. Thanks for changing that EURweb!