No joke: Comics lock down cellphones at shows to protect material

Dave Chappelle never just phones it in. The comic is always improvising, said his new friend Graham Dugoni.

Fans lucky to score Chappelle tickets for shows Tuesday and Wednesday at the new Punch Line Philly comedy club in Fishtown will be required to do the same, living in the moment by going "phone-free" and concentrating "Yondr" on the talent.

For this, all praise and maybe a few curses are due to a Dugoni invention of the same name, Yondr, which Chappelle now uses to protect his routine from getting posted online.

"Lots of entertainers are picking up on it, but Dave has become our most visible and best salesman," joked Dugoni last week from San Francisco.

Yondr is a mobile-phone lock box. If a Punch Line security guy discovers a phone in your pocket, you'll get the option to take it back to your car or put it in a Yondr, a thick, rubbery silicon case with a self-locking closure that keeps the phone incommunicado as long as you're inside the venue.

So you can forget about sending selfies and stage shots. Or recording the action and posting it to YouTube.

An upside is that showgoers get to keep their phones, said Dugoni. "Some artists - like Mumford and Sons - have asked concertgoers to hand over their phones. Security people put it in a numbered paper bag and give you a matching claim ticket. Movie studios hosting previews do the same. But that is stressful for many people. The phone is their best friend. They don't want to give it up. And the logistics of reclaiming the phone can be daunting."

The enhanced show experience with Yondr is "far more important," Dugoni said. "People tell me afterward they haven't enjoyed a show this much in years. Instead of staring at a phone, concertgoers are socializing with their neighbors, sharing the experience."

What happens when a Yondr user needs to make a call or duck out fast? No problem. "We have removal stands out in the lobby, at every exit," said Dugoni. Wave the case over a special doughnut-shaped metal plate and the Yondr's flap door opens up. Your phone is free to go.

While the inventor won't share details, he admitted the technology is "akin" to the security-tag removal process at clothing stores. And it works "very fast. We can clear 1,500 people out of a theater with one exit in just five minutes."

Smartphone bans "are actually standard practice at comedy clubs nationwide," said Punch Line Philly general manager Jason Bray, "with lots of signs already posted" in the new venue. Comics spend months honing an act in small clubs before turning it into a big theater show or TV special. They can ill afford to have new material posted.

Also, steady eye contact is key as comics "read" and react to patrons. People staring at phones can throw them off.

While debuting locally Tuesday, Yondr has also been used by Chris Rock and Louis C.K. to protect work in progress. Hannibal Buress was the first comedian to embrace Yondr, perhaps looking to go lower profile after that fan-posted clip of his infamous October 2014 "Bill Cosby is a rapist" rant (captured at a Trocadero show here) went viral. Lawyers descended and Buress started getting death threats.

On the music front, some artists like Taylor Swift encourage smartphone use, saying social-media postings are vital to their success and force them to keep "changing things up."

But lots more, from Alicia Keys to Patti LaBelle, Jack White to the Eagles, hate the habit. They have been known to stop a show and toss out a smartphone user who doesn't answer the plea to "put it away."

takiffj@phillynews.com 215-854-5960 @JTakiff