YELLOW SPRINGS — Dave Chappelle’s comedy shows that he’s been hosting in Yellow Springs may be over, but the mark they left on those who could attend remains.
“Being able just to relax, there’s so much going on,” Matt Tomamichel said. “You’re like, I just need to laugh.”
Tomamichel attended eight shows at Wirrig Pavillion. He brought his friend Jared Gayson, who said the show served as a light during a dark time.
“It brought that laughter that you needed in life,” Grayson said. “The whole world is in shambles right now, we needed that.” Kristen West said the pandemic for her has been hard.
“It changed my entire summer, I had trips that got cancelled, friends who lost their jobs, everyone was in a somber mood.”
And these shows were one thing that she and Nicole Rice said they felt safe doing.
“I felt safer at a comedy show than at a restaurant,” Rice said.
“In order to get in, your temperature was screened, you had to use hand sanitizer,” West said. “You had to keep your mask on the entire time, everyone on staff was tested for COVID.”
>> Dave Chappelle’s upcoming Yellow Springs shows cancelled
Once inside, each pair was assigned a circle to stay in.
Those circles were more than 6 feet away from other circles so attendees could watch the show safely.
“It allowed us to escape the reality of the pandemic,” Rice said.
As things in the world evolved, so did the shows.
The first show focused heavily on racial injustices.
“8:46, it was a very serious tone, there was a lot of talk of George Floyd, black lives matter,” West said.
And eventually transitioned to other topics
“This was a nice pick me up a way to defer and not think about what was going on and bring some excitement to the community,” said Carmen Dyer, who attended five shows.
People came from all across the country to see the shows.
Although those who were planning to go to the last week of shows scheduled through the first week of October will no longer have the chance to, they say they’re thankful they had the opportunity to attend at all.
News Center 7 reached out to Chappelle’s team to find out why the shows abruptly ended but so far have not heard back.
Cox Media Group
