Sorry, Charlie! Dave Chappelle tickets sell out in less than an hour

We will give you the good news first: WYSO 91.3 FM is going to make a ton of money.

Now here’s the rub: the remaining tickets to Dave Chappelle’s benefit for the public radio station are now officially gone.

Diane Schoeffler-Warren, a spokeswoman for the Victoria Theatre Association, confirmed the show is now sold out. This morning, the 800 tickets that had remained for the show went on sale.

Ticket sales opened at 10 a.m. with patrons being placed in a queue and randomly assigned numbers representing their place in line.

The show was sold out by 10:40 a.m., according to a message posted on the Ticket Center Stage’s website.

“Everything went smoothly,” Schoeffler-Warren said.

The Schuster Center’s Mead Theatre has 2,300 seats.

WYSO is giving about 1,500-floor-seat tickets to Chappelle’s show to supporters who donated $365 or more during its spring fundraising drive.

Credit: screen grab

Credit: screen grab

>> FIRST REPORT  (May 10, 2019): Tickets to Dave Chappelle’s Dayton show go on sale TODAY (May 10). Here’s what you need to know if you want a pair

You might just get a “golden ticket.”

The second batch of tickets for Dave Chappelle's benefit show set for 8 p.m. June 12 at the Schuster Center, 1 West Second St. in downtown Dayton, will go on sale to the public starting at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10.

>> First batch of tickets for Dave Chappelle’s first major Dayton stand up show in years gone

Tickets will go on sale at www.ticketcenterstage.com by phone at 937-228-3630, (toll-free) 888-228-3630, and at the Ticket Center Stage Box Office at the Schuster Center.

Diane Schoeffler-Warren, a spokeswoman for the Victoria Theatre Association, said tickets for the show are in high demand.

“There’s a limited number of tickets and a lot of people wanting them,” she said.

About 800 tickets remain for the show, a benefit for WYSO 91.3 FM as it transitions into an independent radio station. Those tickets are located in the upper and lower balconies

>> RELATED: Antioch College sells WYSO to community group

About 1,600 tickets were claimed as “thank you gifts” April 23 as part of WYSO spring fundraising drive.

Credit: David Livingston

Credit: David Livingston

Those who donated $365 or more will receive a pair of floor-seat tickets to the show.

Luke Dennis, WYSO 91.3 FM's development director, said those premium tickets will be mailed to recipients next week.

“All of these (remaining) tickets that are going on sale (Friday) to the public are for the lower balcony or the upper balcony,” he said. “They are going to go quickly. Wherever he plays, they sell out.”

Chappelle, who lives just outside Yellow Springs, is a WYSO listener and is donating proceeds from the show to the station.

>> Chris Rock, Micheal Che, among stars with Chappelle during epic Prince-fueled ‘Juke Joint’ in Yellow Springs barn Saturday 

It will be Chappelle’s first show at the Schuster Center since he performed there in 2004, Dennis said.

HOW TO GET TICKETS 

There will be three options for trying for the remaining tickets, but event organizers are strongly encouraging the online option.

Tickets will be sold for $69.50 and $89.50 for a single ticket. There will be a limit of two tickets per transaction.

ONLINE: Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketcenterstage.com. All online ticket buyers will be sent to an online "wait room." At 10 a.m. each person in the waiting room will be RANDOMLY given a number in the queue, regardless of when and how long they have been in the waiting room.

BY PHONE: Tickets can be purchased by calling 937-228-3630 or 888-228-3630. Phone sales are possible but online sales are encouraged.

IN PERSON: The box office is located at 138 N. Main St. in Dayton. If there is a line prior to 10 a.m., those present will be assigned a RANDOM lottery number. Being in the front of the line does not guarantee a purchase, organizers explained.

Event organizers say that through any of these purchasing methods, customers will be assigned a random number and placed in a queue until it is their turn.

Dennis said the online ticket option is highly encouraged.

“The website can accommodate a high volume,” he said. “Getting there early and being in line doesn’t help.”

WHY ARE SPECIAL RULES IN PLACE?

Only two tickets can be purchased per transaction.

All these procedures are put in place to discourage scalpers, secondary ticket buyers and “bots,” organizers said.

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“It cuts down on the number of resale outlets that buy a bunch of tickets and scalp them,” Dennis said, saying Chappelle’s team requested certain measures to combat unscrupulous ticket resales.

In addition to limiting tickets per person, Schoeffler-Warren said people will be assigned a random number no matter when they check in to purchase tickets.

“Regardless of if you are there in person, you are not guaranteed tickets,” she said. “We are trying to make this as fair as possible and avoid people trying to take advantage.”

Credit: Maury Phillips

Credit: Maury Phillips

WHY DOES THE STATION NEED MONEY?

Dennis said as much as $320,000 is expected to be raised.

Proceeds will benefit the NPR affiliate as it transitions into an independent radio station.

>>RELATED: Dave Chappelle on Yellow Springs: “I have time to think about things”

The station’s newly formed nonprofit organization took control of WYSO from Antioch College for $3.5 million on April 1 after a fundraising drive led by a donation from Charles Berry, an heir of the Berry family that founded the Yellow Pages.

The Yellow Springs based nonprofit is still awaiting final approval from the Federal Communications Commission of the license transfer.

Credit: Michael Kovac

Credit: Michael Kovac

WYSO officials met with Chappelle and his wife, Elaine, a few weeks ago as part of their efforts to secure funds for the transition.

He volunteered to do a show to benefit the nonprofit, allowing it to use the money raised as it sees fit.

>>RELATED: T.I., Aziz Ansari among celebrities spotted at second night of Dave Chappelle Yellow Spring's Juke Joint

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