Needless to say, Dave Chappelle's highly anticipated stand-up tour didn't go as expected after the comedian walked off stage in Hartford, Connecticut Thursday.
The 40-year-old comic, who is headlining the Funny or Die Oddball Comedy Tour, reportedly stopped his routine after only a few jokes because of hecklers.
WTNH News 8 reports that rowdy audience members began booing and yelling which prompted Chappelle to take a seat on the stage and smoke a cigarette before finally just leaving.
He sat on a stool making comments about the situation and responding to hecklers until the end of what apparently was his contractually mandated time on stage, the Associated Press reports. Chappelle apparently told the audience he needed to do only about 25 minutes to get paid.
Jeanell Elese said the funny man couldn't handle the hecklers "had a nervous breakdown on stage."
"[I] never saw a 'professional comedian' that could(n't) handle a couple of hecklers and made the whole stadium suffer. That's completely uncalled for! $260 down the drain," she continued.
According to audience members interviewed by the Hartford Courant, Chappelle was fine for the first five or 10 minutes. However, every time anyone would scream out a comment, Chappelle would stop speaking and tell the crowd how "awful" it was.
Another viewer said, "Dave Chappelle lost his mind and fan base at his Hartford show tonight refusing to perform because the crowd wasn't quiet enough."
Chappelle said "something funny about how he'd hop a plane to South Africa in the morning like he did when he quit Chappelle's Show," said Courant reporter Julie Stagis. "Then he started lecturing the audience, insulting everybody rather than just the hecklers. It was like when your teacher says 'I'll wait' and sits there, waiting for the class to be quiet."
She added that it was "horrible to watch," and after the booing started, it "was incredibly awkward and very uncomfortable ..."
Watch a clip of Chappelle walking off stage below.
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