Comedian Dave Chappelle to perform at Toyota Arena in Ontario

You’ll have to keep your cell phones and cameras in the car if you plan to attend Dave Chappelle’s comedy show in August at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.

Chappelle kicked off his summer tour on June 29 in Dallas before making several other stops in Texas and Ohio. The comedian will finish his tour on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at the 11,000-seat arena in Ontario.

Like much of his other live performances, no cellphones, cameras, or recording devices will be allowed at the show. Anyone caught with a recording device in the venue will be immediately ejected, according to organizers.

Actor, comedian, award winner

The 49-year-old comedian is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series “Chappelle’s Show,” which aired on Comedy Central from 2003-2006.

Chappelle also co-wrote the comedy film “Half Baked,” which also marked his first lead role as an actor.

Since 1993, Chappelle has appeared in multiple films, including Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Nutty Professor, Con Air, You've Got Mail, Blue Streak, Undercover Brother, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Chi-Raq and A Star Is Born.

His first lead role was in the 1998 comedy film Half Baked, which he co-wrote. Chappelle also starred in the 1996 ABC comedy series Buddies.

In 2016, after a brief hiatus from performing, Chappelle signed a $20-million-per-release comedy-special deal with Netflix and released six stand-up specials under the deal.

Three of those Netflix specials earned Chappelle three Emmy awards. He also won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album three years in a row from 2018-2020.

In February, he received his fourth Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for The Closer.

Controversy 

Recently, comedian and actress Wands Sykes had stern words for her longtime friend over his jokes about the transgender community in his Netflix special, according to the New York Post.

Calling Chappelle’s jokes “hurtful and damaging,” Sykes tore apart the comic’s hurtful comments in his Grammy-winning Netflix stand-up special “The Closer.”

In the 2021 special, Chappelle said he “agrees” that “gender is a fact,” as he discussed how J.K. Rowling had been branded a “TERF” (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist).

When asked if her new Netflix special in which she defended the transgender community “balanced out” Chappelle’s set, Sykes told Variety, “Um, I don’t know about balancing it out, because I think what he said was so hurtful and damaging to the trans community.”

Chappelle claimed he does not have any issue with the trans community, nor does he think “trans women aren’t women.”

Despite the backlash, Chappelle said he won’t be “bending to anybody’s demands.”

“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anyone’s demands,” Chappelle said in 2021.

Tickets for Dave Chappelle can be purchased at LiveNation.com or Ticketmaster.com.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Comedian Dave Chappelle to perform at Toyota Arena in Ontario