Youngstown comedy show requiring audience members to lock away their phones

 A comedy show will be requiring people to put their phones away during the performance at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. 

On Friday, October 27, when attendees come into the center for the Tony Hinchcliffe show they’ll be required to put their phones and smart watches into a Yondr bag. 

The Yondr bag locks with the magnetic seal while attendees take them to their seats and stay locked for the entirety of the show. If people have to use their phone they can leave the auditorium and tap their phone on the unlocking bases in the lobby then use their phone outside.

Yondr is performer specific - meaning they’re not hired by the venue but by Hinchcliffe himself. Friday's show is the first time any performer at DeYor will require the Yondr bags but the bags have been used by performers for years now. 

Eric Kettleberger went to a Dave Chappelle comedy show in Canton, Ohio that had the Yondr bags. He said putting the phone away wasn’t an issue for him.

“Maybe he had some new material that he was using and he didn't want to get any of that information out and I totally understood,” Kettleberger said about the Chappelle performance. 

Kettleberger said there were some people at the show that didn’t put their phones away and Chappelle stopped the show because of it. 

“He said 'security come right over here, this guy right here, he’s got his phone’ and kicked him out of the show,” Kettleberger said. 

He said the only downside for them was after the show.

”It caused a little bit of a wait time,” Kettleberger said. “People wanted to leave but you have to wait for a service person to come up and unhook your bag.” 

Currently, Tony Hinchcliffe is the only performer booked at DeYor, Stambaugh Auditorium or the Youngstown Playhouse that is requiring audience members to use the Yondr bags. 

Since the Yondr is hired by the performer, the venue doesn’t buy the bags and doesn't retain them after the show. 

Other popular comedians that have previously required audience members to lock away their phones at their shows are Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Hannibal Buress and Chris Rock.

Other venues in or near Northeast Ohio that have hosted performers that require the Yondr bags are the Akron Civic Theater, the Rialto Theatre, Stage AE in Pittsburgh, Pa. and the Warner Theater in Erie, Pa.

The Yondr bags are also used in schools. Akron Public Schools requires all middle and high school students to lock their phones away. The school feels that putting phones away will limit distractions and make students connect with each other more.