There’s two things comics don’t like about stand-up in 2019: smartphones and social media. Time was a comedian could fine-tune their sets by experimenting — testing what works on crowds, then preserving the perfected product on specials and albums. Now any yokel can tweet out their jokes or even record and disseminate entire sets. It must be infuriating, and as per Consequence of Sound, busy SNL staffer and team player in the Suicide Squad sequel, Pete Davidson is taking extreme measures: He’s requiring audiences to his shows to sign a $1 million non-disclosure agreement before they take their seats.
Though news of Davidson’s NDA only broke last week, he’s reportedly been doing this for about a month. Starting with a November 7 gig in Minneapolis, fans were e-mailed forms before the shows. In the case of a November 27 show in San Francisco, at least, those arrived a mere few hours before they started. The documents demand that audience members “shall not give any interviews, offer any opinions or critiques, or otherwise participate by any means or in any form whatsoever (including but not limited to blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or any other social networking or other websites whether now existing or hereafter created) in the disclosure of any Confidential information…”
Sadly, it appears Davidson’s law team did not hire a copy editor. One section states: “Any patron who is unable or unwilling to sign the agreement will not be allowed to enter and will be giving [sic] a full refund. Save time at the venue tonight by printing, signing, and brining [sic] this agreement with you!”
So, if you suspect you can resist the siren song that is tweeting or Facebooking out portions of a famous person’s stand-up set — or if you have a cool million lying around, waiting to be surrendered to Pete Davidson — have at it.
(Via Consequence of Sound)