Chappelle's show in Detroit draws online buzz for boos

fDave Chappelle's standup show on Thursday in Detroit is drawing buzz, because it drew boos that night.

The popular comic and former Comedy Central star was heckled and booed after he allegedly slurred his words during a two-hour act that was called "horrible" on social media, according to People magazine.

TMZ posted a video of him being heckled during a rambling free-for-all (with NSFW language) between him and audience members.

The celebrity site wrote that "a seemingly wasted Chappelle took the stage an hour late (mostly due to the crowd still being seated), and told very few jokes. Instead, he sat quietly smoking, rambling, and slurring his speech."

One tweet of many about Thursday's 9:30 p.m. show, his second of the night, came from @TLanzzz, who said, "Yea, I don't know what part of professional comedy involves having absolutely no material but #davechappelle has mastered it."

Fillmore Detroit general manager Ben Doughty said Monday morning that he communicated with about 40 people via email and phone, out of an audience of 2,000.

Most of them were compensated with tickets to a subsequent Chappelle show on Friday or Saturday.

"For those that reached out quickly enough, we were able to accommodate them with another show," said Doughty.

Chappelle's return to standup comedy over the past few years has had some bumps. But his performance at Thursday's 7 p.m. show got positive comments from local media.

"The last time Chappelle performed at The Fillmore, just a few years ago, it was an utter disaster. He was heckled so hard that he stopped performing material, and just talked with the crowd for three hours. ... A more polished, calm, cool and collected Chappelle took the stage in Detroit -- and that's good news for his fans," said an online WDIV-TV review.

Chappelle apparently bounced back for his remaining Detroit shows and even worked some references to what happened Thursday into his routine, according to Doughty.

And an unidentified rep told TMZ, "Out of the 50 shows on the tour, Thursday was definitely not his best set. On the flip side, the incident inspired some additional sharp-witted material and (Friday) he came back with a vengeance."

Earlier this year, Chappelle added several Detroit shows to his originally announced April 23 visit. He performed six shows over three nights. Tickets were $57.50.

The Los Angeles office of Chappelle's talent agency, the Gersh Agency, had no comment on the matter.

Contact Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.