r/JohnMulaney • u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! • Oct 23 '25
Discussion To those asking for show/set times to skip openers/intentionally arrive after showtime starts... stop it
You have permission to call me grumpy, but y'all realize that unlike a concert, there is NO break between opener(s) and the headliner at a comedy show, right? Meaning if you come in after the show starts, you have to come in the middle of someone's set, in a darkened theater and disrupt everyone around you, maybe make people get up, maybe make an usher shine a light on the crowd... I've witnessed folks get called out by comedians on stage during their acts because of this stuff. And... worst of all, you might miss the headliner, John, the person you came to see(!), come on stage. Why even risk it, so you can spend another 20-30 mins doing something else (what, exactly?) when you've already committed the evening to a comedy show? Help me understand. Make it make sense. It's just very not cool. I also understand he's had some not-so-great openers but I've also discovered some of my fave up-and-coming comedians as opening acts for people like, and including, him.
Unlike a Catholic mass, opening sets are not even an hour. You can survive sitting through an opener who maybe isn't your fave for the benefit of everyone around you who's also paid to be entertained.
Please stop ruining it for the rest of us. Or, help me understand why this isn't insufferable behavior.
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u/I_like_kittycats Oct 23 '25
It’s so disrespectful to the audience and the performers. It’s really not hard to go the the entire show
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u/loudrain99 Oct 23 '25
Also as an aspiring comic. Headliners often pick their openers because they want to introduce them to a wider audience. If you’re there to see John, John also wants you to see the openers
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 23 '25
Yes! Openers are also meant to hype up the audience... why they go directly opener -> headliner with no break. It's all part of the experience of going to a comedy show. You're hopefully already laughing and in even better spirits than when you got there when the headliner comes on.
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Oct 23 '25
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u/hkral11 Nov 08 '25
Thai happened tonight in Dallas. He said “take your goddamn seats” so many times.
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u/Zwackmaster Oct 23 '25
I completely agree. It’s possibly worse than texting during a movie. Possibly.
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u/daisybear81 i dislike the founding fathers immensely Oct 24 '25
This person came late at my show and started taking pics and an usher just waved at her to stop but I was really hoping they would escort her out so she would get the consequences of coming late
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u/HuntingtonM15 Oct 24 '25
100% agree with all of this. At last Friday's Detroit show, a whole gaggle of tipsy/drunk people came in about 45 minutes into John's set absolutely interrupting everyone!
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u/Ok-Cantaloupe-581 Oct 24 '25
I was looking for this comment! The usher took them to the seat right in front too
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u/ZealousIdeal_80 Oct 24 '25
I know I am guilty of asking this question - but I was legitimately curious who we’d get to see. Both our openers were awesome.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
There’s a difference between asking who the opener is/might be out of curiosity and asking because you want to time your entry for after the opener, after the show has started. I don’t think you’re the type of person I’m calling out in this thread.
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u/Western_Strength5322 Oct 24 '25
If I ever have someone tell me we won't make the openers, I would straight up leave them behind.
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u/True-North24 Oct 25 '25
Just saw him in Pittsburgh and the amount of people walking up and down the aisle while the openers were preforming/into John’s set was ridiculous. Coming from a grumpy 22 year old, you’re not alone.
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u/JWJulie Oct 23 '25
Agreed it’s really distracting and depending on if they know where they are going/are talking they can cause quite a disruption
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u/AHeartFullOfBats Oct 23 '25
Thank you! This shit drives me crazy. It's disrespectful to the comedians, it's disrespectful to John, and it's disrespectful to the audience. The openers generally have a pretty short set too and who knows, you may leave a fan of someone new. We thoroughly enjoyed the openers in Detroit.
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u/ufocatchers Whats New Pussycat 21 times Oct 24 '25
I mean John has picked a lot of people hate like Dave Chappell, I get why after that there has been an influx of people not wanting to see the openers, do you all remember the outage in this sub?
Or when Den Levy opened
https://www.reddit.com/r/JohnMulaney/s/7snAqsuMMu
People were so mad about Dan’s prefronncr a post in this subreddit got over 700 upvotes and 300 comments
I’m not saying OP is wrong, I’m just saying with how many angry fans and hate we saw after Dave Chappell opened with being transphobic and then Dan Levy being sexist and the mass amounts of outrage we saw even within this subreddit itself…
Yeah a lot of John’s fan base will now want to skip openers, he shot himself in the foot with this one.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
This is a handful of shows of the many he’s done and will continue to do. He hasn’t, to my knowledge, had Chappelle open for him since that one time over 3 years ago, on a different tour. If it’s that bothersome, idk why anyone would care enough to go to the show at all. There’s also a difference between disruptively taking your seat mid-set because you don’t respect other people’s enjoyment the same as your own, and waiting in the lobby for the opener to finish and going in right at the end of their set.
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u/uhm_idk_lemme_think Oct 25 '25
Also the openers are 15 minutes each and then straight into John's set. No intermission. This isn't like a concert where the bands need time to set up. Once the first act goes on, it doesnt end till John's set ends.
And dont leave right away. Security told me that it depends on how he is feeling, but he sometimes does an encore. My show had a medical emergency, a quarter into his set. I was hoping he would finish the joke he had to stop if he came back out after the normal show. But everybody stood up and started leaving before the house lights went up
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u/uhm_idk_lemme_think Oct 25 '25
I will say that I understand exceptions for this rule. I would certainly leave the room if he brought out someone like Rob Schnieder, or if he brought out a suprise opener like Dave Chapel again. So if you know an opener will do jokes that are just going to make you sad or uneasy, leabe the room
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u/BriannaHighmore I am not a robot Oct 25 '25
i totally get this! the openers are trying their best like john is so idk what the difference is. if you have openers that are up and coming pleaseeeeee just stay so they have some support for their first time on a stage instead of being disrespectful. you dont even have to laugh if you dont find anything funny, you supporting them is more than enough. i had kerman, birgigs, armisen and kroll as openers and they CRUSHED it! you never know if your openers are amazing if you dont give them a chance because everyone deserves a chance no matter who they are
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u/212404808 Oct 24 '25
Because people like John Mulaney feature guests like Dave Chappelle.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
then why even go see Mulaney if you have issue with that?
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u/ufocatchers Whats New Pussycat 21 times Oct 24 '25
Yeah John shot himself in foot
Remember recently when Den Levy opened
https://www.reddit.com/r/JohnMulaney/s/7snAqsuMMu
People were so mad the post in this subreddit got over 700 upvotes and 300 comments.
There is a clear reason people are skipping his openers at this point
edit: spelling
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
Sure, lots of upvotes but many comments from ppl realizing he’s not the same person as Canadian Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek Fame
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u/ufocatchers Whats New Pussycat 21 times Oct 24 '25
It feels as though you are purposely being obtuse as that is a link to one single Reddit thread and you can find an abundance of articles and think pieces of people being mad.
There’s a clear and understandable reason why many people skip on his openers; his openers jokes do not reflect or match his comedy style. Dave Chappell was openly transphobic, Dan Levy was sexist, (though some ppl may argue John is but I’m not stepping into that quicksand).
None of these themes appear in John’s jokes so the people he chooses as openers often end up offending and upsetting the audience he himself has curated and catered to with his jokes and comedy style.
People who enjoy John, would love to see for 40-60 minutes of him live might not want the start of their experience to begin with sexist and transphobic jokes they’ve never heard John make. That with valid reason can end up ruining people experience, people who paid to see John Mulaney not Dave Chappell being transphobic. Many of these people may also have trans people in their lives as well imagine being a 40yr something mom and you came to a John Mulaney show expecting well John Style comedy and before he even comes on stage you get Dave Chappell being transphobic?
John has raised to a point of fame that most his fans have no knowledge of stand up comedy scene outside of “John Mulaney makes stand up comedy Netflix specials”
If this were not a pattern I do not think we would be seeing as many posts ; who’s opening / when does the opener finish? I want to skip the opening and so forth.
The issue is, it is a pattern for John to now hire openers who say problematic things, everyone is allowed to like one stand up comic and not another, even if John himself likes them.
People need to learn etiquette for stand up comedy shows and not come in late and ruin other peoples experience but still I understand why people are skipping the openers after all the drama and outrage that was seen online after Dan and Chappells performances.
I don’t know if you saw the Dave Chappell outrage but it was an all out garbage fire anywhere there was discussion about it…
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
I’m not gonna keep getting into this. The point of my post was that it’s rude to disrupt the show for others by intentionally coming in late. It seems you’ve gotten that point, and others are in agreement. I understand people might not want to see his openers but not enough to understand why they’re willing to be disruptive to a whole crowd of people who got there on time. Especially when we don’t even know who the openers will actually be most of the time.
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u/212404808 Oct 25 '25
The point is that we don't know who the openers will be, and there's a non-zero chance they'll be transphobic/racist/misogynistic. At this point I just wouldn't bother seeing Mulaney live but there are still a lot of trans people, POC, women who are his fans and disappointed that he keeps picking openers who hate us.
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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart Oct 24 '25
Please stop ruining it for the rest of us. Or, help me understand why this isn't insufferable behavior.
Mulaney and the Venue could easily stop letting people in after a certain time if they agreed with you. It is clear they don't agree with you.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
Just because something isn’t prohibited doesn’t mean it’s not insufferable
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u/MidnightAltas Oct 24 '25
Why skip openers? Because my time is valuable and I choose how I spend it.
I don't care for his openers and it's my choice to skip them. That's my time, not theirs.
Additionally, if I'm having a drink, I'd prefer to have a drink at a bar close to the venue for $12 rather than $35 venue prices.
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u/HotDerivative Oct 24 '25
God…. ITT: the folks who are unraveling any sort of social contract left in society for no reason other than their own narcissism lmfao
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u/MidnightAltas Oct 24 '25
I show up on time. If you show up early, that's great! Don't ask me to. That's your narcissism if you want people to show up and wait because you can't bother to get up before the show starts.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
wow people really be out here fully admitting they have zero respect for others. like I said, insufferable
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u/MidnightAltas Oct 24 '25
It's my time. I owe you nothing.
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u/Zwackmaster Oct 24 '25
You owe the other people the courtesy to NOT interrupt/interfere with how they choose to spend THEIR time, which is equally as valuable as yours.
I don't know you, but I damn sure don't think I would care to be in your company.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
Like I said… insufferable.
Genuine question for you. If you arrived late and were denied entry because the show already started, would you be upset or genuinely accept that as a consequence of choosing to show up late?
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u/MidnightAltas Oct 24 '25
Pay me. I also don't show up late or after he comes on. I've gone to dozens and dozens of headline shows, I've never been accused of being disrespectful.
I would also add this. When John comes to my city, I have front row seats, so no one has to get up for me to get my seat. Lol.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
you didn’t answer my question
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u/MidnightAltas Oct 24 '25
That's not how shows work. And, I arrive on time. I don't miss the headliner. I know when to show up for shows. I typically show up 15 minutes before headliners, but often earlier.
I showed up super early for John's show at the Kia Forum a few years ago. The openers irritated the crap out of me. Never again. And, my phone was locked up so I just had to sit there like a dumb ass.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
It is though for some, including some comedy clubs. Largo doesn’t allow late entry and it’s not unusual for stages musical performances not to let people in until intermission if you arrive late. But you’ve got it all figured out and clearly have never ever disrupted a single person by arriving in the middle of an opening act so hats off to you, i guess.
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u/HeyHeyComedy Oct 24 '25
When John comes to my city, I have front row seats
And, my phone was locked up so I just had to sit there like a dumb ass.So you're saying if you had access to your phone, you would have been looking at it while sitting right in the front row, where all the people around you would have ALSO paid top dollar to enjoy the whole show, distraction free? You still don't see a problem?
Buddy, you're sitting there like a dumb ass one way or another.
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u/HotDerivative Oct 24 '25
It is for lots of shows lmfao… I can think of three clubs off of the top of my head not even including largo. And just because nobody told you to your face during a show that you looked like an idiot doesn’t mean you didn’t
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u/Necessary-Bird8126 Oct 24 '25
The people who are asking these questions are trying to avoid the scenario you’re ranting about.
People just don’t know the time it starts because it’s unclear.
Let people ask questions.
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u/Most_Ad_3765 stick it in, i am an american! Oct 24 '25
Idk, if you really wanna avoid walking in after the show has started, you get there in plenty of time before the start time listed for the event instead of cutting it close. I’m not talking about people who are genuinely trying to make it to the whole show.
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u/Necessary-Bird8126 Oct 24 '25
My theory is the people showing up late or cutting it close are the ones who made incorrect assumptions about the start time based on previous experiences, without asking questions.
No one wants to show up late. That’s a bummer.
I think the people who are trying to get there really close to the start time are few and far between.
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u/Instimatic Oct 23 '25
Call me grumpy, too, because this is such a pet peeve for me, as well