Dave Chapelle’s Chicago Shows Are Phone-Free

While we have devices that actually help to boost wireless signals in the home and at the office, certain places would be so much better off if there was a blanket ban on smartphones and other mobile communication devices. After all, how many times have your movie watching experience get ruined when the person close to you starts to yak away on a handset after attending to an incoming call? Dave Chapelle wants to ensure that his Chicago shows will be phone-free – as showgoers will be asked to stash away their devices in self-locking pouches.

Apart from the fact that locking away one’s phone would eliminate the show being interrupted, it also does away with the risk of original material being recorded discreetly, only to be uploaded afterwards. Dave Chapelle will soon kick off 13 live performances in Chicago, and wants all of them to be phone-free.

In order to ensure that this is realized,Chapelle has worked with startup Yondr to come up with what they call “smartphone pouches” that will lock automatically the moment patrons enter the “no phone-zone,” and then unlock when they step out of it. Hopefully this would mean that the handsets are turned off or are in silent mode before they enter, otherwise an incoming call or text message would be potentially distracting.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: smartphone