{"id":151096,"date":"2025-09-18T02:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T02:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151096\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T02:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T02:29:10","slug":"kevin-hart-perth-fans-torn-over-no-phone-policy-at-comics-rac-arena-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/151096\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Hart: Perth fans torn over no-phone policy at comic\u2019s RAC Arena show"},"content":{"rendered":"

American comedy icon Kevin Hart is set to bring his Acting My Age stand-up show to RAC Arena on Tuesday night, but the star\u2019s no-phone policy has triggered a reaction from the Perth<\/a> crowd before he\u2019s even hit the stage.<\/p>\n

Launching his three-show Australian tour in WA<\/a>, Hart will employ the same measures at his Melbourne and Sydney performances later this month.<\/p>\n

Notice of the policy was provided to fans upon the tour announcement in July, though it was a Facebook<\/a> memo posted by RAC Arena earlier this week that got locals fired up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIMPORTANT: This is a phone-free event! Yondr pouches will be in use for your mobile phone and accessories (smart watches, airpods, meta glasses etc),\u201d the post began.<\/p>\n

\"KevinCamera IconKevin Hart will be returning to Australia in September. Credit: Live Nation<\/p>\n

\u201cGuests maintain possession of their phones throughout the night, and if needed, may access their phones at designated Yondr unlocking stations.\u201cIt is essential that you print your PDF ticket\/s and bring them with you to the venue on event day.\u201d<\/p>\n

This policy is hardly new for Hart, with the 46-year-old\u2019s headline shows following a similar trend since at least 2018.<\/p>\n

RAC Arena suggested those attending should allow additional time prior to the show to stow phones away, and advised bringing a physical credit card to purchase food and drinks.<\/p>\n

The venue also stated infrared cameras would be employed to \u201cidentify any attempt of recording the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the policy has torn fans, with some labelling it a \u201cjoke\u201d and a form of control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand how this is ethically acceptable as you have taken away anyone\u2019s ability to contact or be contacted (no matter the status). I get that they want for people to be able to focus on the show but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s right to control people like that,\u201d one person commented.<\/p>\n

Another added, \u201cOMG phone free what a joke!!! Went and saw Urzila Calrson the other week she was great had no issues with phones\/cameras even though there were signs up saying not permitted, she said go for your life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some fans claimed this was not a rare occurrence, and that several world-class comedians such as Dave Chappelle enforce the same policy.<\/p>\n

Others were in favour of the measures, suggesting they would encourage audiences to live in the moment.<\/p>\n

\"KevinCamera IconKevin Hart will return to Australia this year for a run of shows. Credit: BANG – Entertainment News<\/p>\n

\u201cBy all these comments it just proves how mentally unstable a lot of people are if they can\u2019t deal without a phone for a few hours of fun,\u201d one person commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to his last show and this was in place, it was awesome to see a show without a sea of phones in your face,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n

Hart\u2019s Australian promoter Live Nation provided a statement to PerthNow<\/a> outlining the reasons for the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s common practice for comedy events to be phone-free, with audiences asked to lock their devices away during the show,\u201d the promoter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ensures everyone can enjoy the performance in the moment, protects the integrity of the material, and keeps the room distraction-free for both comedians and fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportant to note that guests do maintain possession of their phones throughout the night, and if needed, may access their phones at designated Yondr unlocking stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, everyone who purchased tickets needed to acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions prior to finalising their sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart\u2019s Acting My Age show forms his ninth stand-up special, with the multi-talented comic also known for his countless Hollywood films including Get Hard and Night School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American comedy icon Kevin Hart is set to bring his Acting My Age stand-up show to RAC Arena…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,9771,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-151096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-comedy","12":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}