Chris Rock is a much-loved comic; he is also a savvy entrepreneur. Although Rock could have spoken to the media about being assaulted by actor-producer Will Smith last March during the Academy Awards, he could also have chosen to sue Smith, instead remaining silent, turning The Slap on material for their first tour in five years. .
Now, Rock is bringing that material to a much broader audience, courtesy of Netflix, which will stream Rock’s newest set live from the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore this coming Saturday, March 4 at 10pm ET.
It’s a big deal for both Rock and Netflix. Netflix, which began experimenting with an ad-supported tier in November and began cracking down on password sharing earlier this month, has a lot riding on the night as it will be the first live streaming event on its 25 years of history. (As reported by TC’s Lauren Forristal, Netflix confirmed in May of last year that it would roll out a live streaming capability that would focus on unscripted content, competition shows, reality reunion specials, stand-up comedy shows, and a future “Netflix is a joke” festival.)
It’s no surprise that in addition to Rock, the streaming giant has also just announced live shows before and after his performance. According the hollywood reporter, the plan is to kick off the night with live commentary from Rock’s comedian friends, including Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld. Later in the evening, Rock’s SNL alumni David Spade and Dana Carvey will host an after-show, “The Show After the Show,” with guests including actor-comedian JB Smoove and basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
a new variety report it can also calm the nerves of rockers who don’t want to miss a minute of the special. He says that Netflix will allow members to go back and pause, as well as watch the show live. If a subscriber joins late, they can also choose to “play from the beginning”, and if there is no time to watch everything, the title will remain in the “continue watching” row.
Although the show’s live aspect was agreed upon in September, “Selective Outrage” represents the second of two comedy specials Rock committed to creating for Netflix in a $40 million deal in 2016. (The first widely viewed first special, “Tamborine”, issued in February 2018).
As for Rock, a four-time Emmy Award winner (he’s received 19 nominations in all), it seems likely that the show will cement its status as one of the most beloved comics of its day, apparently not that audiences need another reason.
In fact, although the Rock tour was announced almost exactly one month Before the Academy Awards show last year, ticket sales went through the roof after The Slap, as did its price, as did the number of shows Rock performed. Days after the show, this publisher paid a small fortune to see Rock perform in San Francisco on a date he added after the tour was announced.
During that SF performance, Rock devoted less than five minutes of his roughly 90-minute set to what happened with Smith. While the audience was delighted to hear it, they seemed equally enthralled with Rock’s other material, some of which concerned what their parents endured as young African-Americans in the early ’60s, along with Rock’s amusing observations about raising children. two very privileged daughters as someone who — to this day, Rock said of himself — still identifies as “poor.”
Whether Rock has expanded on the particular part of the show audiences most want to see only his camp will know until Saturday, but if the prospect of tackling that shocking punch to the face galvanizes viewership, so much the better for Netflix, which It has been on an uptick of late. Last month, he said he added 7.66 million paying subscribers in the fourth quarter of last year, much more than the 4.57 million Wall Street had expected.
Meanwhile, the slap has been good for Chris Rock’s business, no doubt. Rock reportedly performed over 100 shows last year, including across Europe, New Zealand and Australia. According to the data sent to the specialized concert publication Pollstar, as first reported in the Wall Street Journal, Rock shows averaged about $700,000 a night in ticket sales.
