Last week we went to see Nate Bargatze at the Moda Center in Portland OR. One of the things that was interesting was how many signs there were for no cell phone use AND people followed the rules!
If you ask people to live in the moment, they are more than willing to! This applies to more formal, ticketed shows than other shows. I think no cellphones is an unreasonable ask for something like a state fair show, where you have a transient audience.
The show was great, but it’s strange seeing a comedian in an arena (over 21k seats), I think stand up comedy is best experienced with 350 people packed into a comedy club that’s got a max occupancy of 283.
-Louie