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On Tuesday night, reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle delivered a free stand-up performance at the packed Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon that was advertised solely through Twitter, Facebook, text-message alerts, and old-fashioned word of mouth.

A throng of fans started gathering before midnight in anticipation of the show, which began just before 1AM.

MTV.com had a front row seat to the event:

The flash-mob-style assembly was more spectacle than comedy show, as the tiny sound system Chappelle spoke through made his jokes inaudible to most of the crowd beyond the first few rows.

Well before he took the stage, the mostly 20-something throng nearly filled the square, bursting into applause when Chappelle finally strode in at 12:53 a.m. to a small stage that was still in place from the square’s lunchtime concert series. Turning on an amplifier described as “the size of a toaster,” Chappelle addressed the audience — most of whom could not hear him — thanking the Portland Police for being “kind enough not to arrest me.”

“This has never happened in my entire career,” Chappelle said as the audience burst into cheers. “I’m grateful everybody came out.” As 2 a.m. rolled around, it became obvious that the sound system would not work, and after telling a handful of jokes, Chappelle thanked the crowd and revealed one of the lessons he learned while in town: “Don’t tell a secret in Portland.” Then, just as strangely as it began, the show ended around 2:09 a.m. when Chappelle left the stage and meandered over to a nearby hotel, where he chatted with fans for a while.