Ellen DeGeneres entertained Nashville fans and kept them laughing by banning smartphones
Ellen DeGeneres played a sold-out stand-up comedy show in Nashville Aug. 13. You didn’t even see it on your friends’ social media yet.
That’s because to enter the Ryman Auditorium that night, patrons had to put their smartphones and smart watches into a pouch that was locked by security personnel. It was handed back to us right away, so we were practically still in possession of our phones. We just couldn’t use them.
This was no well-meaning digital detox move by the beloved TV star. It served as a precaution so that nobody would record any of DeGeneres’s jokes. She has a Netflix special planned and wants no spoilers of her set.
The evening without my phone made me think about this: Can you fully enjoy the moment when you’re simultaneously thinking about harvesting it for social media? My evening showed me: It can be easier to be fully present in the moment when you don’t have access to your phone.
Seeing a live show smartphone-free felt more exclusive
While it was just a smart business move on her side, I still found the measure to be quite liberating for me. It freed me from thinking about possible ways to share my experience on social media, which to many people has become a thought hard to ignore. It just pops up so naturally in your head now.
Seeing a live show felt even more exclusive in a way. I missed being able to check the time, waiting on the wooden benches for the show to start. Most days I don’t even wear a watch anymore.
I have my smartphone for that. But then I looked around. I saw an older woman moving over to a young couple obviously very much in love. She told them how cute they looked, and the three women hugged. What a sweet scene.
Going to see DeGeneres at the Ryman would have been my chance to contribute to the constant stream of online amazingness around me. It might very well have led to some postings, maybe even containing some humble bragging about my experience.
“So tired after an amazing night at the Ryman. Really can’t go out anymore, haha.” I might be 35 but no one really grows up from the allure of online applause.
I got to do none of that and it will serve as a future reminder to put my smartphone away from time to time, although I think it’s so useful and nice to have overall. And by the way: DeGeneres did a funny bit about chicken. She also reminisced about “getting kicked out of show business,” which was hilarious. Glad to share that with you.
Angela Gruber is a German journalist and tech reporter embedded with The Tennessean in Nashville, as a recipient of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship for international journalists. She works for Der SPIEGEL in Hamburg, Germany. Call her at (615) 364-4325 or email her at angela.gruber@spiegel.de.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville fans enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres much more without smartphones
