MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The attached video first aired on Oct. 20, 2021
Tickets go on sale Tuesday for a pair of just-announced comedy shows featuring Dave Chappelle, one at First Avenue and the other at the Varsity in Minneapolis.
"Dave Chappelle Live," is set for Wed. July 20, 8 p.m. at First Avenue. Doors open at 7 p.m. According to the venue's website, a ticket will set you back $129.50 for the first come, first served General Admission event.
Tickets are available for the First Avenue show starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19 for the 21 and older show.
A second show was announced for Thursday, 7 p.m. at the Varsity Theater. Tickets for that Chappelle performance go on sale Tuesday, July 19 at 3 p.m. via Live Nation. At this time pricing has not been announced.
Both of Chappelle's Twin Cities shows are listed as "cell phone free" events, meaning phones will be collected at the door and returned at the end of the show as patrons exit. Anyone caught violating the policy will be ejected.
Not everyone is pumped about Chapelle's pop-up appearances; A petition is now circulating online asking the iconic Minneapolis club to reconsider hosting the show. According to the petition, listed on Change.org, "Dave Chappelle has a record of being dangerous to trans people, and First Avenue has a duty to protect the community. Chappelle's actions uphold a violent heteronormative culture and directly violate First Avenue's code of conduct. If staff and guests are held to this standard, performers should be too."
First Avenue has not issued a statement about the show.
Chapelle has become the subject of backlash in the last year for comments he made in his Netflix special "The Closer" about transgendered people.
In a statement made in October 2021, the media watchdog group GLAAD said that "anti-LGBTQ content" violates Netflix's policy to reject programs that incite hate or violence. GLAAD called on Netflix executives to "listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards" in relation to Chapelle's comments.
At that time, a top Netflix executive said the special didn't cross "the line on hate" and would remain on the streaming service, despite the fallout.
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