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Chappelle Fans Take To The Streets of
Dayton;
Thankful
For Shows!
by Andrew Shaman
Comedian & Wiley's Webmaster
 November
15, 2004 - Dayton, Ohio: Well, to say that it's the hottest ticket of the year is the understatement of the year. Dave Chappelle booked two nights at Dayton's oldest & Ohio's first comedy club, the legendary Wiley's. Dave Chappelle November 25th (Thanksgiving night) & 26th Dave has often referred to Wiley's as his "home club", even though he started his stand-up career in Washington, D.C. Tickets went on sale Sunday, November 14 at 1:00pm. By 2:13pm, a mere 1 hour & 13 minutes later it was all over - BOTH SHOWS SOLD OUT!
It was a blue-skied,
sunny Sunday. A bit cool though. Dave's loyal fanbase began to gather outside Wiley's at a still dark 6:30am. Brian, the
 first person in
line, said "I did it all for Dave," as he sat and waited in his lawn chair.
Click here to hear an audio interview with Brian. These people were prepared to wait! The chairs, the hackysacks, the line itself - the whole "scene" took me back to the old days of waiting in line for Grateful Dead tickets. Hey, say what you will, I met my wife waiting in line for Dead tickets!
Knowing that there was only a relatively small number of tickets available compared to his recent large-venue shows, Chappellians (a.k.a. the
Davotees) were only concerned about one thing - scoring tickets! The line
eventually made it's way all the way back to Fifth Street. Wiley's, in a maneuver
which I found refreshing, imposed a 6-ticket limit designed to lessen the chances of scalpers grabbing them all
up, and keeping them available to the true fans. Very kind, Wiley's!
Seeing as Dave is probably the hottest comic on the circuit today, it's no surprise that his shows sold out so fast. His appearance at Dayton's Schuster Center earlier this year saw tickets sell just as briskly. But the beauty is being able to see Dave in a very intimate, classic "Comedy-Club" setting, with hundreds, rather that thousands, of fans. And, there's not a bad seat in the house.
So, for those who got tickets, see ya at the show! And, for the unfortunate fans who didn't, let's hope he comes back next year. Trust me, this cat is BIG right
now. Remember, he could have sold out the Nutter Center, but he wants
to play Wiley's. ;^)
(P.S. - The video below may take a few minutes to load,
even on a high-speed connection.)
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