8 ms·

How Dave Chappelle Is Creating a “No-Phone Zone” for His Chicago Shows

39 points by fudgy73 11y ago

eps 11y ago
Won't work, not for stopping leaks. Moreover, by asking people to put their phone under a lock, the venue implies that they view every attendee as a thief. That sure as hell won't go down well with some and they will find a way to record and post to YouTube purely out of spite.
- toyg 11y ago
  That might be, but it changes the game for security guards. You go from "17,000 people trying to film" to "a few dozen troublemakers trying to film", which is actually manageable.
  - ceejayoz 11y ago
    Now it's 17,000 people you have to try and get your anti-cellphone device back from. Given that they have some sort of proximity sensor and powered lock, they can't afford to lose hundreds/thousands a night to people who forget to turn them in.
    - toyg 11y ago
      At scale (which is what you have very quickly, considering each shows brings huge numbers), those sensors get cheap enough that you just factor them in even at 0% return rates. They won't cost more than $20 each; put half the cost on tickets and half on losses and you're good. To operations the size of Chappelle's, good-quality leaked video is worth millions. Besides, why would they lose so many? Like 3d glasses, the novelty goes away very quickly.
- j2kun 11y ago
  We already assume every airline customer is a terrorist, so this isn't that big of a stretch.
- tptacek 11y ago
  As the article says, Mumford & Sons and Hannibal Burress have already been using the system. It should be easy for you to show that people have leaked videos from shows where the pouches were used.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    That would only prove that it haven't happened yet, not that it can't happen, and with the motivations the parent describes.
- iamsohungry 11y ago
  As a viewer of live shows, if this decreases my chance of having my view blocked by some asshole who has decided to view the whole show through a grainy 3x5in window instead of experiencing life, I'm all for it. When I go to this sort of thing, I try not to bring my phone anyway.
rahimnathwani 11y ago
1) Looks like a submarine. 2) Someone who wants to record the show could easily do it even with these checks. I expect there's another motive. 3) Dave Chappelle has had some difficulty with audience interaction in the past, and this may be a way to keep the audience more focused on the material and performer, increasing their enjoyment of the show. I hope he's as funny as he used to be.
- EvanPlaice 11y ago
  2. Raising the barrier of entry will disincentivize most people from doing it. I've had close friends try to show me crappy recordings of live music shows on their mobile phone. No thank you, next time send an invite so I can see it live. 3. Audience interaction is probably a lot more difficult when every numbskull with a smartphone is simultaneously trying to record the show. Short story, enjoy the damn show and stop trying to rebroadcast crap quality copies of the real thing. I recently had the privilege of seeing Bill Burr live at a crappy little venue. The show was even better than I imagined, with tons of new material. 10/10 I'd pony up the cash to see him next time he's in town.
brandonmenc 11y ago
I went to a Prince concert a couple years ago that had a "no phones" policy announced ahead of time. At first I thought, "bummer," and although I would love to have pics from that night, I think audience participation was much higher than it would've been if everyone had their phones out. This pouch would've been great, because I had to leave my phone in the office a half mile away as I walked to the venue.
- iamsohungry 11y ago
  > At first I thought, "bummer," and although I would love to have pics from that night Honestly, when I hear this, I think, "Why?" You want block the views of the people behind you and watch Prince on a 3x5in screen when he's physically right in front of you just so you have some grainy, poorly-lit photos of your own instead of looking at the professional photos of Prince that are available online? It harms the experience of other fans. It harms your own experience. It harms the performer's bottom line. There's literally no upside to this. Practice some immediacy.
  - brandonmenc 11y ago
    I usually only take one or two photos when I'm at a concert, specifically to put on Instagram to show my friends, "hey I'm at a Prince concert right now!" But the person just taking a video of the entire show? Agree, lame. I do think most people place a higher value on photos they took themselves - that much is obvious.
    - iamsohungry 11y ago
      > I do think most people place a higher value on photos they took themselves - that much is obvious. That's true, but it seems absurd to me to place a higher value on a photo than the experience itself.
      - brandonmenc 11y ago
        People don't place a higher value on the photo than the experience. They would like to have the photo in addition to the experience, typically so that they can remember it. Sure, you can look at a professional photograph of Times Square, but it's probably not going to help you remember the time when you were there. And you can't point to it and later and say, "hey grandkids, try to imagine me standing here but really young!" It's bizarre to me that you don't understand this. It's also strange that you think spending time taking a photo would cause you to somehow "miss" the experience - which, I guess would be true if the experience were a one-time only event that lasted a few seconds - but spending five minutes snapping a few photos at a two hour concert is not going to "ruin" anything.
DarkTree 11y ago
I was just listening to an Episode of the Nerdist podcast featuring Aziz Ansari today and he talked about the issue of people taking pictures or filming his live material and leaking it to the public. He said he had no issue with people recording material that is already public, but that it really stinks when new material is leaked because it waters down the humor for future attendees of his shows. To combat this, at the beginning of his shows, he asks everyone to take out their phones/cameras and stands there while they take pictures of him. Then he nicely asks them to not use their phones/cameras during the rest of the show. Obviously this doesn't stop everyone but I think it's a pretty low-cost, high reward option.
- justifier 11y ago
  a counter argument.. i went to a ucb monday night, aziz was on the ticket which is what prompted the memory, and i understand comedians do free shows, or favourite haunts, to work material i once saw mitch hedberg do a 10$ show nearly from a notepad and made it part of the joke, taking notes on audience reaction then noting the reaction to the notes at the ucb show there was a comedian i was unaware i was familiar with named josh fadem, he did a bit on werner herzog pitching a hidden camera show that i laughed over for three comedians after fadem's set i wanted to remember the nuance of the bit and scoured the internet but was unable to find anything substantial, i did find this(o) early in development version of the joke but it pales in comparison to the complexity and construction of the one i saw him do live i really wish someone had a phone on him that night (o) https://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/WernerHerzogsRealityShow https://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/WernerHerzogsRealityShow
  - DarkTree 11y ago
    And then you think of the thousands upon thousands of years humans have experienced very special, nuanced moments without any way of reliving them. Sometimes you just have to appreciate experiencing it in the moment.
    - justifier 11y ago
      note i said i wish someone had a phone on him, selfishly relieving myself of the burden i used to do an open mic circuit and the coolest thing i saw at a bar was an mc with a tech bent that upon agreement would pipe the mic through recording software as well as the pa and then automated a conversion and upload system where you, or any visitor, could go to the bar's website and download your set in high quality mp3 i'm very appreciative of the experience i lament being unable to share it with you
jrockway 11y ago
Ah, starting an arms race, eh. A GoPro under your shirt (poking out between the buttons) would work fine if you aren't even trying, and there are plenty of more stealthy solutions that a visit to Amazon and $10 will get you. My first thought was "I almost want to go to his show and leak the video". But then I realized, that's probably exactly what he wants. Free publicity for announcing this scheme. Free publicity when the video leaks. Free publicity when Twitter discusses it. Free publicity when he "gets mad". Free publicity as analysts analyze what it all means. Brilliant. I haven't heard from Dave Chappelle in years, but here he is on the front page of a startup-oriented news site. Also good marketing from that startup that makes the pouches.
- iamsohungry 11y ago
  > Ah, starting an arms race, eh. A GoPro under your shirt (poking out between the buttons) would work fine if you aren't even trying, and there are plenty of more stealthy solutions that a visit to Amazon and $10 will get you. Eh, at least that doesn't block my view when I'm standing behind you.
- stanleydrew 11y ago
  Ah, but you're only focusing on one part of the value proposition for Dave. Even if video leaks, he's at least ensured he has a 100% engaged audience not chatting or checking Instagram or commenting on HN or whatever.
  - jrockway 11y ago
    But if it doesn't block RF people are still receiving incoming calls and texts with ridiculous ringtones, which has got to be annoying, even to professionals.
    - ars 11y ago
      And they can't even stop the ringer, since their phone is locked up.
- deleted 11y ago
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slyall 11y ago
I can see somebody's phone starts ringing or otherwise making a noise and they can't get to it to turn it off. I play chess and phones are banned from events (they sometimes have metal detectors at the door of large tournaments). Which causes a problem if you don't have a nearby car or hotel room to leave them in. Although recently they have tweaked the rules to allow phones to be in your bag (turned off).
- enobrev 11y ago
  They explicitly ask you to make sure it's on silent before they put it in the bag and hand it back. Of course there could easily be mistakes, but there were not at last night's show.
datashovel 11y ago
I've thought about this problem before, and came to a different (though perhaps inferior) solution. Why not broadcast the material via wifi directly to the audience's devices, and have audience listening with headphones? What if audience member doesn't own a device? There would be spare devices at box office that would be provided / rented. It would certainly change the ambiance of the performance since the acoustics of the venue wouldn't be heard, but it wouldn't prevent people from (for example) hearing the laughter of the crowd around them. I think if the app was designed right, it could possibly stop people from recording. Not that it would technically be possible to prevent people from recording, but since you control the stream of data to the device you can embed "watermarks" in real time during the performance. So if someone did try to record it would be theoretically possible to trace back to precisely which user / device was responsible for leaking the performance. EDIT: On second thought, perhaps it would be safe enough to allow the user to retain a copy (with watermarks included), accessible via the app they used to listen to the performance live.
- 67726e 11y ago
  I'm not dropping $60 to sit in a theater with a bunch of strangers, pay $10 for a Miller Lite so I can watch Dave Chapelle on my phone... That said I'm not sure just how much of a point there is to this. I saw Chapelle a year or so back, and he was very agro about calling out people using phones (even to just check a text message) and having them tossed out. That really ruined the show, not the interruption itself but his jackass attitude. It's like media companies fighting new technology, adapt or die. Contrast this with Weird Al where he embraces phones and goes through the venue taking selfies.
  - datashovel 11y ago
    Oh, not watch, but listen. That's not to say you couldn't push a video to each user's account as well, but I'm saying the only thing that would change about (at least in this case a comedian's performance) is you would hear the performer crystal clear and wouldn't have to worry about distractions nearby. The audio of the performance would be broadcast directly to your phone and heard through your headphones. And why not, you could even add back the acoustic effects into the stream so people still feel like they're listening to the performance in a big hall (or wherever the venue might be). EDIT: And I think the solution doesn't necessarily fight back against new technology. Rather I think this embraces new technology. Sure it does take steps to protect the content, but that's only because these days it's so easy for anyone with a phone to distribute live shows in pretty much real time if they want to. If comedy becomes a lost art and is no longer interesting to people as a form of entertainment then perhaps another form of entertainment will take its place. But if that doesn't happen I can't see how a popular form of entertainment can "adapt" into something that is "different than it used to be" in order to prevent piracy. I already think artists have more or less warmed up to the idea that they need to incorporate more live shows into their regimen to make a living at it. But then all of a sudden it's easy to pirate that content as well. It certainly feels like a problem that needs to be addressed. Before long if recorded entertainment isn't making any money, and now live entertainment can't be expected to make any money, what's left besides looking in the classifieds for something else entirely?
monochromatic 11y ago
... and anybody with a pocket knife can defeat the purpose.
Animats 11y ago
This is much better than phone jammers, which some venues tried about a decade ago. The FCC and telcos have been reasonably successful at stopping that.[1] Many (most?) cell phone sites now detect and report interference, so jammers get noticed quickly.[2] The company that does this will probably lose a few percent of their cases per use, but, like 3D glasses, most people will return them at the drop-off bins. [1] https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps-equipment-against-law https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps... [2] http://www.tbo.com/news/business/fcc-seffner-man-was-using-cell-phone-jammer-20140429/ http://www.tbo.com/news/business/fcc-seffner-man-was-using-c...
- deleted 11y ago
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- enobrev 11y ago
  It's not easy to get the pouches off. It's a pretty strong magnet - I'm assuming as strong as the retail stores use to avoid theft. I certainly couldn't pull it apart myself, though it comes off in a snap if you have the opposing magnet - of which they had plenty at the exit - which made getting our phones back far more efficient than I'd expected.
  - Animats 11y ago
    Oh, that's how it works. From the info on their web site, it looks like it's something that's controlled by some signal at the venue, and unlocks automatically when you leave the controlled area.[1] Yonder's site says "If at any point attendees need to use their phones, they simply step outside of the phone-free zone to unlock the case." [1] http://overyondr.com/ http://overyondr.com/
enobrev 11y ago
I was at the [fantastic] show last night. The team handling the Yondr pouches were friendly and efficient. It's weird to have your phone in your pocket without being able to use it. Akin to a dead battery, but bigger. I'd been concerned that it was going to take forever to leave the venue because we had to line up to get our phones out of the pouches, but they were also friendly and perfectly efficient on the way out. I'd say it didn't add any more time than getting a 21+ wristband on the way in, and even quicker while leaving. The show was absolutely more enjoyable. I don't personally care if people check their phones and record live shows, but I absolutely despise when my view is obstructed by someone waving their device around trying to get a shot. I'm here to watch a relatively expensive live show, not watch other people record it. As a potential downside, the opening comedian hadn't showed up, which left us sitting and watching / listening to the DJ for 2 hours before Dave Chapelle hit the stage. The DJ did an excellent job keeping the crowd entertained, but there were a few lulls where I would have loved to pop into HN or Reddit or something since it was literally idle time. Sure, there was plenty of interaction, chatting, some dancing, and other fun with people around us. And maybe there was more than there would have been otherwise. But I still felt a bit like I was being punished. I know perfectly well how to balance being social with staring at a screen, and I'd rather not have that option taken from me. There were three times in that two hours that a quick google or calendar lookup would have enlightened rather than hindered the moment. Who knows the consequence for someone who is "on-call"? I haven't been on call in a few years, but I'd hate to have to miss a great show because of it. All in all, I'd say it was well implemented and an interesting exercise that might be a bit hard to swallow depending on the show, the venue, and our various communication needs. I was happy to do it for one of my all-time favorite comedians. It's not likely I would have participated for a smaller show. Edit: sidebar - in the article it says... Simply leave the designated zone (and head, say, to the lobby bar), and, as you move past several strategically placed stations, the pouches can now magically be unlocked. We had to go to the tables at the exit (or to the downstairs bar outside of the venue) for them to release the locks with a big magnet akin to the anti-theft contraptions at retail clothing stores. Maybe they just used those because it's a much smaller venue, or maybe the "designated zone" isn't prime-time yet.
justifier 11y ago
one in which comedians can breathe a little bit easier knowing their bluest material won't wind up online before last call "bluest" has to be the best word to describe my feelings about this effort walt whitman made a legacy from releasing 'blue' material, perhaps most notable in his second addition of leaves of grass which he affectionately called 'my blue book'(o) it was the edition that he carried in his pocket to do edits and addendums this fear of showing development is odd to me and seemingly harmful to future generations mathematicians are often teased for it, being accused of hiding mountains of failures while presenting discoveries, seemingly conjured like magicians expression is hard work(i), why would anyone additionally expel one's limited effort to make it appear easy? (o) http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/index.html http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/image... i was only able to find a paid link: 1.99$ from amazon video even if you're a prime subscriber; season 1 episode 11, froot loops for dinner, follows a comedian working material like a comedian (i) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CJNQVA/ref=atv_feed_catalog?tag=ovgapsearch-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CJNQVA/ref=atv_feed_cat...
- karmelapple 11y ago
  Note: "blue" doesn't mean new or in development, but rather dirty, ribald, or adult. http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/bluehumor.htm http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/bluehumor.htm
  - justifier 11y ago
    ha! my bad.. i did think it odd that another color was attributed to a work i always heard refered to as 'green' my ignorance revealed my bias still, why hide your material even if it's blue? it's still your material ..or is the argument we need to protect the children?
    - slyall 11y ago
      Because the comedian will be testing out new jokes that will often push boundaries. Say he tells a joke about race. If he gets a bad reaction from the small crowd then he just won't use the joke again or rework it. He moves onto the next joke in the set. If somebody is recording the show then that offensive joke will get put onto youtube and the headlines will be "XYZ tells racist joke".
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EvanPlaice 11y ago
How about we collectively make it socially acceptable to punch people who hold up their phone blocking the view in the back of the head. Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
- EvanPlaice 11y ago
  Or... not... The point being. I don't see it as socially acceptable for audience members to ruin the experience for others because they feel entitled to record/distribute their viewing experience. A lot of people act as though, 'if isn't posted on facebook/twitter/etc' it didn't happen. I personally think the opposite, I'd rather devote my energy to being present in the moment with the people around me. Endlessly sharing de-values the experience for me personally. Maybe there's a compromise. Offer an option for people who attend events to promote their public personal. Create like a public/press box where they can do as they like without taking away from the experience of others.

39 points by fudgy73 11y ago

eps 11y ago

Won't work, not for stopping leaks. Moreover, by asking people to put their phone under a lock, the venue implies that they view every attendee as a thief. That sure as hell won't go down well with some and they will find a way to record and post to YouTube purely out of spite.

toyg 11y ago
That might be, but it changes the game for security guards. You go from "17,000 people trying to film" to "a few dozen troublemakers trying to film", which is actually manageable.
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  Now it's 17,000 people you have to try and get your anti-cellphone device back from. Given that they have some sort of proximity sensor and powered lock, they can't afford to lose hundreds/thousands a night to people who forget to turn them in.
  - toyg 11y ago
    At scale (which is what you have very quickly, considering each shows brings huge numbers), those sensors get cheap enough that you just factor them in even at 0% return rates. They won't cost more than $20 each; put half the cost on tickets and half on losses and you're good. To operations the size of Chappelle's, good-quality leaked video is worth millions. Besides, why would they lose so many? Like 3d glasses, the novelty goes away very quickly.
j2kun 11y ago
We already assume every airline customer is a terrorist, so this isn't that big of a stretch.
tptacek 11y ago
As the article says, Mumford & Sons and Hannibal Burress have already been using the system. It should be easy for you to show that people have leaked videos from shows where the pouches were used.
- coldtea 11y ago
  That would only prove that it haven't happened yet, not that it can't happen, and with the motivations the parent describes.
iamsohungry 11y ago
As a viewer of live shows, if this decreases my chance of having my view blocked by some asshole who has decided to view the whole show through a grainy 3x5in window instead of experiencing life, I'm all for it. When I go to this sort of thing, I try not to bring my phone anyway.

rahimnathwani 11y ago

1) Looks like a submarine. 2) Someone who wants to record the show could easily do it even with these checks. I expect there's another motive. 3) Dave Chappelle has had some difficulty with audience interaction in the past, and this may be a way to keep the audience more focused on the material and performer, increasing their enjoyment of the show. I hope he's as funny as he used to be.

EvanPlaice 11y ago
2. Raising the barrier of entry will disincentivize most people from doing it. I've had close friends try to show me crappy recordings of live music shows on their mobile phone. No thank you, next time send an invite so I can see it live. 3. Audience interaction is probably a lot more difficult when every numbskull with a smartphone is simultaneously trying to record the show. Short story, enjoy the damn show and stop trying to rebroadcast crap quality copies of the real thing. I recently had the privilege of seeing Bill Burr live at a crappy little venue. The show was even better than I imagined, with tons of new material. 10/10 I'd pony up the cash to see him next time he's in town.

brandonmenc 11y ago

I went to a Prince concert a couple years ago that had a "no phones" policy announced ahead of time. At first I thought, "bummer," and although I would love to have pics from that night, I think audience participation was much higher than it would've been if everyone had their phones out. This pouch would've been great, because I had to leave my phone in the office a half mile away as I walked to the venue.

iamsohungry 11y ago
> At first I thought, "bummer," and although I would love to have pics from that night Honestly, when I hear this, I think, "Why?" You want block the views of the people behind you and watch Prince on a 3x5in screen when he's physically right in front of you just so you have some grainy, poorly-lit photos of your own instead of looking at the professional photos of Prince that are available online? It harms the experience of other fans. It harms your own experience. It harms the performer's bottom line. There's literally no upside to this. Practice some immediacy.
- brandonmenc 11y ago
  I usually only take one or two photos when I'm at a concert, specifically to put on Instagram to show my friends, "hey I'm at a Prince concert right now!" But the person just taking a video of the entire show? Agree, lame. I do think most people place a higher value on photos they took themselves - that much is obvious.
  - iamsohungry 11y ago
    > I do think most people place a higher value on photos they took themselves - that much is obvious. That's true, but it seems absurd to me to place a higher value on a photo than the experience itself.
    - brandonmenc 11y ago
      People don't place a higher value on the photo than the experience. They would like to have the photo in addition to the experience, typically so that they can remember it. Sure, you can look at a professional photograph of Times Square, but it's probably not going to help you remember the time when you were there. And you can't point to it and later and say, "hey grandkids, try to imagine me standing here but really young!" It's bizarre to me that you don't understand this. It's also strange that you think spending time taking a photo would cause you to somehow "miss" the experience - which, I guess would be true if the experience were a one-time only event that lasted a few seconds - but spending five minutes snapping a few photos at a two hour concert is not going to "ruin" anything.

DarkTree 11y ago

I was just listening to an Episode of the Nerdist podcast featuring Aziz Ansari today and he talked about the issue of people taking pictures or filming his live material and leaking it to the public. He said he had no issue with people recording material that is already public, but that it really stinks when new material is leaked because it waters down the humor for future attendees of his shows. To combat this, at the beginning of his shows, he asks everyone to take out their phones/cameras and stands there while they take pictures of him. Then he nicely asks them to not use their phones/cameras during the rest of the show. Obviously this doesn't stop everyone but I think it's a pretty low-cost, high reward option.

justifier 11y ago
a counter argument.. i went to a ucb monday night, aziz was on the ticket which is what prompted the memory, and i understand comedians do free shows, or favourite haunts, to work material i once saw mitch hedberg do a 10$ show nearly from a notepad and made it part of the joke, taking notes on audience reaction then noting the reaction to the notes at the ucb show there was a comedian i was unaware i was familiar with named josh fadem, he did a bit on werner herzog pitching a hidden camera show that i laughed over for three comedians after fadem's set i wanted to remember the nuance of the bit and scoured the internet but was unable to find anything substantial, i did find this(o) early in development version of the joke but it pales in comparison to the complexity and construction of the one i saw him do live i really wish someone had a phone on him that night (o) https://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/WernerHerzogsRealityShow https://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/WernerHerzogsRealityShow
- DarkTree 11y ago
  And then you think of the thousands upon thousands of years humans have experienced very special, nuanced moments without any way of reliving them. Sometimes you just have to appreciate experiencing it in the moment.
  - justifier 11y ago
    note i said i wish someone had a phone on him, selfishly relieving myself of the burden i used to do an open mic circuit and the coolest thing i saw at a bar was an mc with a tech bent that upon agreement would pipe the mic through recording software as well as the pa and then automated a conversion and upload system where you, or any visitor, could go to the bar's website and download your set in high quality mp3 i'm very appreciative of the experience i lament being unable to share it with you

jrockway 11y ago

Ah, starting an arms race, eh. A GoPro under your shirt (poking out between the buttons) would work fine if you aren't even trying, and there are plenty of more stealthy solutions that a visit to Amazon and $10 will get you. My first thought was "I almost want to go to his show and leak the video". But then I realized, that's probably exactly what he wants. Free publicity for announcing this scheme. Free publicity when the video leaks. Free publicity when Twitter discusses it. Free publicity when he "gets mad". Free publicity as analysts analyze what it all means. Brilliant. I haven't heard from Dave Chappelle in years, but here he is on the front page of a startup-oriented news site. Also good marketing from that startup that makes the pouches.

iamsohungry 11y ago
> Ah, starting an arms race, eh. A GoPro under your shirt (poking out between the buttons) would work fine if you aren't even trying, and there are plenty of more stealthy solutions that a visit to Amazon and $10 will get you. Eh, at least that doesn't block my view when I'm standing behind you.
stanleydrew 11y ago
Ah, but you're only focusing on one part of the value proposition for Dave. Even if video leaks, he's at least ensured he has a 100% engaged audience not chatting or checking Instagram or commenting on HN or whatever.
- jrockway 11y ago
  But if it doesn't block RF people are still receiving incoming calls and texts with ridiculous ringtones, which has got to be annoying, even to professionals.
  - ars 11y ago
    And they can't even stop the ringer, since their phone is locked up.
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slyall 11y ago

I can see somebody's phone starts ringing or otherwise making a noise and they can't get to it to turn it off. I play chess and phones are banned from events (they sometimes have metal detectors at the door of large tournaments). Which causes a problem if you don't have a nearby car or hotel room to leave them in. Although recently they have tweaked the rules to allow phones to be in your bag (turned off).

enobrev 11y ago
They explicitly ask you to make sure it's on silent before they put it in the bag and hand it back. Of course there could easily be mistakes, but there were not at last night's show.

datashovel 11y ago

I've thought about this problem before, and came to a different (though perhaps inferior) solution. Why not broadcast the material via wifi directly to the audience's devices, and have audience listening with headphones? What if audience member doesn't own a device? There would be spare devices at box office that would be provided / rented. It would certainly change the ambiance of the performance since the acoustics of the venue wouldn't be heard, but it wouldn't prevent people from (for example) hearing the laughter of the crowd around them. I think if the app was designed right, it could possibly stop people from recording. Not that it would technically be possible to prevent people from recording, but since you control the stream of data to the device you can embed "watermarks" in real time during the performance. So if someone did try to record it would be theoretically possible to trace back to precisely which user / device was responsible for leaking the performance. EDIT: On second thought, perhaps it would be safe enough to allow the user to retain a copy (with watermarks included), accessible via the app they used to listen to the performance live.

67726e 11y ago
I'm not dropping $60 to sit in a theater with a bunch of strangers, pay $10 for a Miller Lite so I can watch Dave Chapelle on my phone... That said I'm not sure just how much of a point there is to this. I saw Chapelle a year or so back, and he was very agro about calling out people using phones (even to just check a text message) and having them tossed out. That really ruined the show, not the interruption itself but his jackass attitude. It's like media companies fighting new technology, adapt or die. Contrast this with Weird Al where he embraces phones and goes through the venue taking selfies.
- datashovel 11y ago
  Oh, not watch, but listen. That's not to say you couldn't push a video to each user's account as well, but I'm saying the only thing that would change about (at least in this case a comedian's performance) is you would hear the performer crystal clear and wouldn't have to worry about distractions nearby. The audio of the performance would be broadcast directly to your phone and heard through your headphones. And why not, you could even add back the acoustic effects into the stream so people still feel like they're listening to the performance in a big hall (or wherever the venue might be). EDIT: And I think the solution doesn't necessarily fight back against new technology. Rather I think this embraces new technology. Sure it does take steps to protect the content, but that's only because these days it's so easy for anyone with a phone to distribute live shows in pretty much real time if they want to. If comedy becomes a lost art and is no longer interesting to people as a form of entertainment then perhaps another form of entertainment will take its place. But if that doesn't happen I can't see how a popular form of entertainment can "adapt" into something that is "different than it used to be" in order to prevent piracy. I already think artists have more or less warmed up to the idea that they need to incorporate more live shows into their regimen to make a living at it. But then all of a sudden it's easy to pirate that content as well. It certainly feels like a problem that needs to be addressed. Before long if recorded entertainment isn't making any money, and now live entertainment can't be expected to make any money, what's left besides looking in the classifieds for something else entirely?

monochromatic 11y ago

... and anybody with a pocket knife can defeat the purpose.

Animats 11y ago

This is much better than phone jammers, which some venues tried about a decade ago. The FCC and telcos have been reasonably successful at stopping that.[1] Many (most?) cell phone sites now detect and report interference, so jammers get noticed quickly.[2] The company that does this will probably lose a few percent of their cases per use, but, like 3D glasses, most people will return them at the drop-off bins. [1] https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps-equipment-against-law https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps... [2] http://www.tbo.com/news/business/fcc-seffner-man-was-using-cell-phone-jammer-20140429/ http://www.tbo.com/news/business/fcc-seffner-man-was-using-c...

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enobrev 11y ago
It's not easy to get the pouches off. It's a pretty strong magnet - I'm assuming as strong as the retail stores use to avoid theft. I certainly couldn't pull it apart myself, though it comes off in a snap if you have the opposing magnet - of which they had plenty at the exit - which made getting our phones back far more efficient than I'd expected.
- Animats 11y ago
  Oh, that's how it works. From the info on their web site, it looks like it's something that's controlled by some signal at the venue, and unlocks automatically when you leave the controlled area.[1] Yonder's site says "If at any point attendees need to use their phones, they simply step outside of the phone-free zone to unlock the case." [1] http://overyondr.com/ http://overyondr.com/

enobrev 11y ago

I was at the [fantastic] show last night. The team handling the Yondr pouches were friendly and efficient. It's weird to have your phone in your pocket without being able to use it. Akin to a dead battery, but bigger. I'd been concerned that it was going to take forever to leave the venue because we had to line up to get our phones out of the pouches, but they were also friendly and perfectly efficient on the way out. I'd say it didn't add any more time than getting a 21+ wristband on the way in, and even quicker while leaving. The show was absolutely more enjoyable. I don't personally care if people check their phones and record live shows, but I absolutely despise when my view is obstructed by someone waving their device around trying to get a shot. I'm here to watch a relatively expensive live show, not watch other people record it. As a potential downside, the opening comedian hadn't showed up, which left us sitting and watching / listening to the DJ for 2 hours before Dave Chapelle hit the stage. The DJ did an excellent job keeping the crowd entertained, but there were a few lulls where I would have loved to pop into HN or Reddit or something since it was literally idle time. Sure, there was plenty of interaction, chatting, some dancing, and other fun with people around us. And maybe there was more than there would have been otherwise. But I still felt a bit like I was being punished. I know perfectly well how to balance being social with staring at a screen, and I'd rather not have that option taken from me. There were three times in that two hours that a quick google or calendar lookup would have enlightened rather than hindered the moment. Who knows the consequence for someone who is "on-call"? I haven't been on call in a few years, but I'd hate to have to miss a great show because of it. All in all, I'd say it was well implemented and an interesting exercise that might be a bit hard to swallow depending on the show, the venue, and our various communication needs. I was happy to do it for one of my all-time favorite comedians. It's not likely I would have participated for a smaller show. Edit: sidebar - in the article it says... Simply leave the designated zone (and head, say, to the lobby bar), and, as you move past several strategically placed stations, the pouches can now magically be unlocked. We had to go to the tables at the exit (or to the downstairs bar outside of the venue) for them to release the locks with a big magnet akin to the anti-theft contraptions at retail clothing stores. Maybe they just used those because it's a much smaller venue, or maybe the "designated zone" isn't prime-time yet.

justifier 11y ago

one in which comedians can breathe a little bit easier knowing their bluest material won't wind up online before last call "bluest" has to be the best word to describe my feelings about this effort walt whitman made a legacy from releasing 'blue' material, perhaps most notable in his second addition of leaves of grass which he affectionately called 'my blue book'(o) it was the edition that he carried in his pocket to do edits and addendums this fear of showing development is odd to me and seemingly harmful to future generations mathematicians are often teased for it, being accused of hiding mountains of failures while presenting discoveries, seemingly conjured like magicians expression is hard work(i), why would anyone additionally expel one's limited effort to make it appear easy? (o) http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/index.html http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/image... i was only able to find a paid link: 1.99$ from amazon video even if you're a prime subscriber; season 1 episode 11, froot loops for dinner, follows a comedian working material like a comedian (i) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CJNQVA/ref=atv_feed_catalog?tag=ovgapsearch-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CJNQVA/ref=atv_feed_cat...

karmelapple 11y ago
Note: "blue" doesn't mean new or in development, but rather dirty, ribald, or adult. http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/bluehumor.htm http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/bluehumor.htm
- justifier 11y ago
  ha! my bad.. i did think it odd that another color was attributed to a work i always heard refered to as 'green' my ignorance revealed my bias still, why hide your material even if it's blue? it's still your material ..or is the argument we need to protect the children?
  - slyall 11y ago
    Because the comedian will be testing out new jokes that will often push boundaries. Say he tells a joke about race. If he gets a bad reaction from the small crowd then he just won't use the joke again or rework it. He moves onto the next joke in the set. If somebody is recording the show then that offensive joke will get put onto youtube and the headlines will be "XYZ tells racist joke".

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EvanPlaice 11y ago

How about we collectively make it socially acceptable to punch people who hold up their phone blocking the view in the back of the head. Just because you can doesn't mean you should...

EvanPlaice 11y ago
Or... not... The point being. I don't see it as socially acceptable for audience members to ruin the experience for others because they feel entitled to record/distribute their viewing experience. A lot of people act as though, 'if isn't posted on facebook/twitter/etc' it didn't happen. I personally think the opposite, I'd rather devote my energy to being present in the moment with the people around me. Endlessly sharing de-values the experience for me personally. Maybe there's a compromise. Offer an option for people who attend events to promote their public personal. Create like a public/press box where they can do as they like without taking away from the experience of others.