Chris Rock set to launch comedy tour with 3 Bay Area shows

Fresh off his highly discussed Oscar incident with Will Smith on Sunday, comedian Chris Rock is set to launch a major comedy tour this week.

The trek includes three shows in the Bay Area — July 7-9 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

The trio of local dates are part of Rock’s Ego Death World Tour, which kicks off with a two-night stand, March 30-31, at the Wilbur theater in Boston.

Judging by ticket sales, the incident with Smith certainly hasn’t hurt Rock’s popularity. Indeed, it appears that tickets sales are actually surging since Rock was slapped by Smith in front of a room full of Hollywood A-listers as well as millions of TV viewers.

“We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined,” ticket-seller TickPick tweeted on March 28, the day after the Oscars.

We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.

— TickPick (@TickPick) March 28, 2022

Variety, CBS News and the New York Post are among the news outlets reporting that ticket prices are indeed spiking after the incident.

Tickets are sold-out for Rock’s first night at the Paramount, but — at least as of Tuesday night — they were still available for the shows on July 8 and 9.

For more information, visit paramountoakland.com.