Ansari coming to Bay Area next year
Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari announced a “Road to Nowhere” tour across North America in 2019. The tour begins Feb. 6 in Boston, with stops March 14 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland and March 16 at the Masonic in San Francisco.
A presale via Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform starts at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 30, with general sales beginning at noon.
The tour is the second for Ansari since he was accused of sexual misconduct by a writer for Babe.net, who went on a date with the comedian. He was subsequently defended, creating a divide in the #MeToo movement. Ansari, who skipped this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony amid the allegations, went on a shorter tour in September and October that did not include the Bay Area.
The South Carolina-born comedian starred in “Parks and Recreation” and cocreated and starred in the Netflix series “Master of None.” Ansari has been a popular draw in the Bay Area, playing for sold-out audiences including a 2010 set at the Fillmore.
The January Babe.net article, by a photographer named Grace, said Ansari ignored “verbal and nonverbal cues” about how distressed she was after he made sexual advances. Ansari released a statement saying the sexual activity “by all indications was completely consensual,” and when he “heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned.” — Peter Hartlaub