Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle, one of the funniest stand-up comedians on the planet, has incurred the wrath of The Guardian following the release of his latest Netflix special.

Dave was, unfortunately, unwise enough to make public his belief in the fundamental principle of every justice system of every civilised country in the world: he presumes an accused person to be innocent until proven guilty.

In particular, he is not convinced that Michael Jackson's accusers are telling the truth and he does a brilliant little routine based on his doubts.

The Guardian is also unhappy that he sees humour in the world of the transgender community and that surprises me because I have absolutely no doubt that the transgender world contains as much potential humour as does the straight world, the lesbian world, the gay world, the bi world and every other world regardless of how diverse or non-diverse that world might be.

Oh well, people are entitled to their opinions but if you have an appreciation for comedy and you want to see a really good stand-up performer, I recommend Dave Chappelle.

For me, his best "joke" involves school-shooters and others who run amok with rifles in the USA: he points out that such people are overwhelmingly white. He then suggests that the best way to bring about some really serious gun control is for every black person in America to go out and buy a gun and to register it. If they do that, he suggests, we'll see the very swift introduction of gun-control laws the strictness of which has hitherto never been thought possible.

He's not wrong.

He was great in Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor, playing a stand-up comedian (what else?) being humiliated by Buddy Rich, the Professor's alter ego.

He was the 3rd highest paid comedian in the world last year (Forbes). I'd recommend him, he's subtle (these days) for an American stand up. He's on Netflix.

Today, Dave Chappelle continues to attract anger and venom from those who don't like the content of his latest Netflix special "Sticks and Stones".

Those critics need to understand something about comedy:

A good comedian makes the audience laugh but a great comedian makes the audience laugh while telling them something they don't want to hear - because it's true.

Not only is it true, the audience knows damn well it's true because they themselves were thinking it long before they turned up for the show in which the comedian had the balls to say it out loud.

The great comedians like Dave Chappelle, unafraid to make an audience face unpopular truths, will go down in history as "men of courage, men of pluck, men who didn't give a f**k" - and, of course, they don't have to be men in the literal sense. Joan Rivers qualifies with honours.

Carry on telling it like it is, Dave. Make 'em have it! You're doing a great job!

I haven't seen this yet, in fact, I'm embarrassed to say, I have never seen Dave Chapelle's stand up. I only know him from TV and from 'Robin Hood' Men in tights. I definitely plan on watching it though to see what the fuss is about. My initial thoughts in general, without seeing the show yet is that 'provocative' comedy can be the last refuge of the scoundrel, in so far as it can often be used by lazy and limited comics, as a substitute for talent. However, if done well, it can be exceptional, for the reasons that Rood Eye has illustrated.

I have genuinely heard more good than bad though about this particular show and look forward to making up my own mind.

Politically correct critics may be unimpressed with Dave's "Sticks and Stones" Netflix special but it currently has an audience rating of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes so it appears those critics might be somewhat out of touch with what comedy fans want from a comedian.

A few decades ago, no section of the community was safe from the attention of stand-up comedians and joke-tellers in general: minorities, in particular, were hammered day in, day out, night in and night out on stage screen and TV, and in pubs, clubs, offices, shops, and railway premises all over Britain.

Today, of course, things are very different: in this modern day and age, every member of every diverse group has to be accorded the kind of respect normally reserved for the broken body of Christ - and God help any comedian or comedy-forum-contributor who forgets that.

As far as I can work out, the only vulnerable people in our society who are still considered "fair game" for comedians are the elderly. Why should that be? I have no idea.

Having said all that, in "Sticks and Stones", Dave Chappelle jokes about sexual transitioning and questions the honesty of some complainants of sexual abuse - and has an audience score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Could the PC pendulum have reached full swing and now be falling back in the opposite direction?

If so, we have comedians like Dave Chappelle to thank for it.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 8th September 2019, 10:01 AM

Could the PC pendulum have reached full swing and now be falling back in the opposite direction?

If so, we have comedians like Dave Chappelle to thank for it.

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With all due respect Rood Eye, I suspect you may be making a bit too much of it. I think it is less 'the PC pendulum swinging around' and more a case of people wanting to think for themselves. The problem with comedy in the old days is that while much of it was harmless enough, there were examples of bigotry disguised as comedy. That style of comedy going is by no means a bad thing and I don't see a return to that in the mainstream. But when there is an orchestrated campaign against something, people will want to judge for themselves. I think the 99% on Rotten Tomatoes was artificially high due to the controversy.

Having watched it I reached 2 conclusions. 1. It was not malicious at all. The bit about Michael Jackson was hilarious and the LGBT car metaphor was very clever and I know a lot of LGBT people who would agree that these divisions exist. He sailed a bit close to the wind on the Trans thing in that I don't think it was funny enough to be worth the aggro he drew on himself. He approached the school shooting angle cleverly too, but obviously for some people, that will be a joke too far.

2. It was a good show, not a great show. This seems to have polarised opinion to the extent that those who liked it, seem to want to push it as the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you took the context away, was it really THAT good? I don't think so. I enjoyed it and it gave me a chuckle. A solid 7/10. Will I get Repetitive Strain injury from rushing to replay it? Highly unlikely.

I think this controversy is a good lesson for people to look for nuance in comedy. To differentiate between a talentless bigot shocking to hide their lack of talent and a gifted comedian who thinks there should be no sacred cows.

Does it deserve to go down in the annals of comedic history as one of the great hours of comedy? Personally I don't think so.

Quote: Doniedaff @ 11th September 2019, 11:45 AM

I think this controversy is a good lesson for people to look for nuance in comedy. To differentiate between a talentless bigot shocking to hide their lack of talent and a gifted comedian who thinks there should be no sacred cows.

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The funny thing is that many a critic's idea of a talentless bigot who shocks to hide his lack of talent is simply any comedian who makes a joke about one of that critic's own sacred cows.

Quote: Doniedaff @ 11th September 2019, 11:45 AM

Does it deserve to go down in the annals of comedic history as one of the great hours of comedy? Personally I don't think so.

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I don't think so either, but let's be fair - an hour of comedy can be pretty good even though it doesn't stand a cat in hell's chance of ever going down in the annals of comedic history as one of the great hours of comedy.

Dave Chappelle's "Sticks and Stones" special was pretty good - and pretty brave, too.

For some reason, many American comedians are quite often happy to offend the narrow-minded and the hard of thinking while British comedians these days tend to toe the PC-party line.

One can hardly blame the Brits, of course, for toeing that line because they'll never do a minute of TV work if they don't.

Just watched his latest special Sticks and Stones. First time I've seen any of his comedy. It was fantastic. It made me laugh a lot, and while I can understand the outrage from some, I didn't see him punching down at all. The comedy was about the attitudes to the subjects rather than the subjects themselves. I have a lot of Chappelle to catch up with!

With you on that Sitcomfan64 been a big fan of Dave Chappelle for some time now. Few people can sail as close to the wind as he does. I think Frankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais can do the same, but Chappelle is more subtle, he tends to ask the question rather than assert beliefs.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 30th August 2019, 12:58 PM

Dave Chappelle, one of the funniest stand-up comedians on the planet, has incurred the wrath of The Guardian following the release of his latest Netflix special.

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He's actually quiet Liberal for an American, grew up in a white neighborhood and has an Asian wife. Rood this may surprise you but Dave has always tried to be deliberately provocative, but in a very well mannered way, sound familiar ? And you're right Joanne Rivers was also very good at provocation. There's a good reason he's the 3rd highest paid comedian in the world.

Dave Chappelle today delivered one of the most powerful polemics I have ever seen. All the anger and vitriol about the recent events in America. Astonishing.

https://youtu.be/3tR6mKcBbT4

Love Dave Chappelle, 'discovered' him a year or so ago via YouTube, actually really surprised he's not as well known as he is in the UK.