Wichita Kevin Hart fans learn the hard way that cellphone-free zones really do exist

After the typical show at Intrust Bank Arena, your social media feed will be filled with photos and videos of people who were at the concert, showing you what you missed because you weren't.

But that wasn't the case on Thursday, after 7,500 comedy fans filled Intrust Bank Arena for a stop on Kevin Hart's "Irresponsible" tour.

Many comedy shows, as it turns out, have incredibly strict policies against cellphone usage, and Hart's is one of them.

At Hart's Wichita show on Thursday, more than 200 signs were posted throughout the arena announcing the policy, and ushers were roaming the arena, looking for violators. Fans in attendance said that a member of Hart's opening act announced from the stage that at least 20 fans had already been ejected for violating the policy before Hart even took the stage.

"It is actually not unusual at all for comedians," said Christine Pileckas, the arena's director of sales and marketing. "If they allow people to record, photograph, video, etc. their performance, they would have no material to continue to tour with."

Pileckas said that Hart used the same policy when he performed a series of sold-out shows at Century II in 2014. Comedian Dave Chappelle also employed the same policy when he performed at the Wichita's Orpheum Theatre in 2016. Most bigger-name comedians are adopting the policy, she said.

Hart ticket holders were notified of the policy via e-mail from Intrust Bank Arena before the show, and the phone policy also was listed on the physical tickets, Pileckas said. Additionally, signs were posted throughout the arena announcing the phone policy, plus it was projected onto the tour's video screens in the arena.

People who needed to use cellphones during the show were asked to go out to the concourse, Pileckas said. At the end of the show, Hart told people it was OK to pull out their phones as he took a picture for social media.

Fans accustomed to attending musical concerts at Intrust Bank Arena are generally free to use their phones. Though concerts generally include a "no-video" rule, it's not usually actively enforced.

"I think the main difference is, hearing your favorite artist sing a song doesn’t get old, but hearing a comedian tell the same joke would get old pretty quick," Pileckas said.

Cellphones haven’t been much of an issue at Intrust Bank Arena during its existence, with the exception of a show in 2013, when The Eagles performed and singer Glenn Frey chastised people in the front row for using their phones.

"To those in the front row: Please don't text," Frey said. "We're up here trying to do the very best reading we can."

This story was originally published April 13, 2018 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Wichita Kevin Hart fans learn the hard way that cellphone-free zones really do exist."