Time to get into comedy tent?

It may be tough but it's possible.

You'll have to wait until I'm home later tonight or tomorrow to get you more details (I've answered "How does the comedy tent work" like a million times in other threads) but for now keep this in mind:

1.) There are "passes" that get you into the comedy tent.
2.) These "passes" are given out before the show you want to see. Birbiglia starts at 10? That means the passes for that show will be handed out after the show before him starts. So if the show before Birbiglia begins at say 8 p.m. then you want to try and grab the tickets around then.
3.) This pass gets you into the show but doesn't guarantee a front row/floor seat. If you NEED to sit close then you'd have to leave purity ring a little early and wait in line (lines form to get a good spot).


Basically, if you can snag a pass before the Purity Ring show you should be good. You can leave Purity Ring and run to Birbiglia's set. I'd try to get there right around 10 though.

It completely depends on who else is playing at the same time, how big the comedian is, what time of day it is etc.

Daniel Tosh, Bob Saget, Ed Helms and maybe David Cross will all have lines forming for tickets and will fill up. Take the advice given in this thread about getting tickets and just ask the volunteers when they'll be handing out tickets for the next comedian. If they don't know ask another volunteer, basically don't leave until you know.

With smaller acts you should be able to walk right in. The League did a set during Mumford and Sons in 2011 and I walked right in about 10-15 minutes after it started. The tent wasn't even 1/3 full.

Thursday night acts may fill up easier too as the stages aren't open yet. That particular Birbiglia set is the most added comedy set on Thursday night so I'd expect it to have the largest crowd.

They should (at least in the past) hand out the Birbiglia passes right after they let people in for the show before it. So if the show before it is at 8 (i'm not looking at a schedule so I'm not sure) then they likely will begin handing out passes for Birbiglia at like 8:05 or 8:10.

My advice, talk to the people handing out the passes earlier in the day. Ask them when the passes for the Birbiglia show you want will be handed out. If they don't know....ask someone else. If that person doesn't know ask for a higher-up. Sometimes volunteers don't have the right info. I would always verify with a couple different people when the best time to come back for passes was.

Also, it doesn't hurt to walk past the comedy area and ask people what line they are in for. If you notice a long line forming for the Birbiglia passes you may want to get on it.

I've done it before but there wasn't a line. Guess it's completely up to the volunteer.

Not sure what your schedule looks like. But you could also try to check out his Friday AM Q&A for sleepwalk with me. I bet that will be amazing,

Good luck.

I posted this before but it still holds true:

You have to get a ticket for the individual show you want. You can only get tickets for the next show that is playing in the comedy tent. You can't show up and ask for tickets to shows x, y, and z for the weekend. The tickets for the whole weekend don't disappear at the beginning of the fest, so as long as you're in line early enough for each act you're good.

Example: If Aziz is playing at four and six, they would start handing out tickets for his 4:00 PM show somewhere between two and three (ask a volunteer but I think the official sign says an hour before the show). If you lined up for that, you could not get a ticket for his 6:00 PM show from that line. They usually disburse tickets for each show 1-2 hours prior to the shows beginning. Talk to a worker AT THE COMEDY TENT earlier in the day to find out when they're handing out tickets for each show.

For many acts, the line for this ticket handout can start forming hours earlier. An hour or two before the disbursement walk by and see what the line looks like so you know whether to get in it yet or not.

In 2010 I got in line for Conan more than three hours before his show began and my friend and I literally got two of the last four tickets for him. The acts they book are too big for the capacity of that tent, so you might wind up spending a few hours in line. Again, make sure to walk by an hour or two before they give out the tickets to see what the line is looking like. But yes, once you have a ticket, you're good for entry and can go wander around until fifteen minutes or so before showtime. All the seats are good in there, so don't worry about that. Good luck.

Edit: I personally wouldn't chance trying to see Purity and then showing up late for the show as it might be full, even for ticket holders. Get the ticket first then duck out of Purity at least fifteen before the comedy. Keep in mind he's gotten pretty big due to the movie, people will be looking for alternatives on that crowded Thursday night, and it might take a while getting out of the Purity crowd. As long as you have your ticket and show up before the show starts you should be fine. Good luck!

Dude... Conan was quack city... We showed up to sit in line for tickets 3 hours in advance... Even with 3 hours we were still sitting right outside the corralling fence. The line swirved all the way through centeroo. It was insane! When it was about 15 minutes before time to hand out tickets, a couple of guys from the douche patrol thought it'd be better to leave the swirving line to rush the fences. Pure chaos. I was so pissed, especially because these asshats just rushed the ticket queue while some of these people had been sitting there for hours. Not the Bonnaroo spirit at all. We did get tickets though and I got a high five from LaBamba so all is well.

P.S. we went to his first show. Not sure how chaotic the second one is, but I heard they had more "security"

I feel like there is a better way to do this... Bonnaroo should change the Comedy Tent policy.

In a perfect world this could work, but there are a lot of variables that I could see getting in the way of such a thing.  I'd love to get to see Tosh and Saget, but I feel like a policy change is an easier amendment than just totally getting rid of the Comedy Tent.  Especially

I doubt they get rid of the comedy tent at all.

What would your policy change be? The way things are now and the passes are WAYYYY better than it used to be IMO. The first few years I wanted to go it was literally "First come, first serve" and you'd get lines snaking around so many times for people just waiting. To see certain shows you'd have to wait 3 hours in line just to get in and miss a ton of music. The way it is now I can grab a pass (sometimes wait for a pass but not very long) and then just come back when the shows about to start.

Also, what are your main problems with the current policy of handing out passes?

A problem for me has been lack of consistency of the policy on when they are handing out passes for shows. I've gotten passes first thing in the morning before, and other times an hour or two ahead. It would be nice if the process were clearer, and if they labeled lines for shows.

Shouldn't have to ask no fewer than 5 people to be sure you're in the right place at the right time.

That's my only beef, and I do agree it is still way better than it used to be.

They may have done it differently when they first started but the past few years my experience has always been specific cards for specific shows. I think it's possible the first year or two they would let any pass go in and then they realized that everybody was picking up passes for popular shows later at night and had to adjust how they do things. I know last year they had specific names/images on the cards and I believe they are color-coded as well.

I do agree that the process needs to be made clearer. Maybe that's something we can harass the facebook and twitter pages for. It seems like they always make it sound simple/easy in the booklet they hand out but then there are always questions. I know many others have been confused by how the whole process works.

I do love his bit in The Aristocrats!