Hecklers May Have Just Chased Dave Chappelle Out Of Edmonton Forever
According to some Canadian comedy fans, the Stanley Cup is more likely than Dave Chappelle to return to Edmonton after what just happened at the Rogers Place arena.
On Wednesday night, the American stand-up giant Chappelle played a show at the prestigious 20,000-plus capacity venue that quickly went haywire. Many fans in attendance say that boisterous hecklers hijacked the show before Chappelle cut the set short, with some attendees citing technical issues, including poor sound quality and temperature control problems, as a possible catalyst for the collapse of the performance.
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We only have written accounts of the disaster as of this reporting, but it's clear from the social media posts of Canadians claiming to have witnessed Chappelle's Wednesday night set that nobody in the Great White North will be surprised if that was the last time when Chappelle will ever slap the microphone against his knee in Alberta.
It appears that some rowdy Edmontonians derailed a set that was already on the rocks due to technical issues by shouting at Chappelle like he was a referee at a Junior A game, at least according to what we see on social media. Chappelle abandoned the set (and possibly Alberta) after deciding that it simply wasn't worth trying to win back the arena under those conditions.
For Chappelle's many fans in Edmonton, Wednesday was a cataclysmic event that could very well set their city's comedy scene back decades – but for others in the Alberta capital, they've never felt more pride in their city:
Some Twitter users claimed that the heckling began because Chappelle made a joke about murdered far-right political activist Charlie Kirk, which, if true, would likely make many of Chappelle's critics in the city think twice about siding with the disruptors. Nevertheless, both Chappelle's fans and haters seem to agree that, regardless of what inspired the meltdown, the superstar comedian probably isn't going to take a chance on the city ever again.
Chappelle, meanwhile, hasn't yet commented on Wednesday night's events, so it does feel premature to say that Edmonton burned its bridge to the international stand-up sensation with just one show – although, if Chappelle does come back to Rogers Place, attendees should expect Saudi Arabian levels of crowd control.
