Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem began in 1934. In 2020 a CBS station in New York described the rule: “There’s no panel of judges here.” Instead, “the audience decides, and they are not forgiving.”
Dave Chappelle was booed off the stage. Luther Vandross was booed off a record four times. The theater has had a so-called Executioner. Several people have held the role, including Howard “Sandman” Sims. His job was to “usher amateurs off the stage.” The same audiences launched careers. In 1934 a 17-year-old named Ella Fitzgerald was discovered there.