Dave Chappelle

I was looking for some comedy last night, and I remembered that I had been meaning to watch the Dave Chappelle specials on Netflix. Two of them are combined together in something called Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, and I watched with a constant smile on my face.

I didn't know much about Chappelle--I've never seen an episode of his vaunted TV show, but I knew of him, such as how he walked away from that show and a fifty-million dollar payday. I know he's a highly respected comedian in the people who like stand-up circle. I have to say, after watching these specials, that as far as I'm concerned he's the best stand-up working today.

What makes Chappelle great is not only is he funny, but he's thoughtful. In the first special, he spends a lot of time complaining about how people get offended so easily. He says he never regrets anything he says on stage, but he doesn't like to make people feel bad. He knows he has offended the trans community, and speculates on his own feelings for them.

In this special he also talks about growing up, not in the hood, as some people think, but around poor white people. He has a sleepover with a white friend and is amazed to find that everything works. He agrees to stay to dinner because they have Stove Top Stuffing, which he has longed to have.

There's also a lot on politics. He mentions that his first vote for president was in 2008, when he voted for Obama. The line of black people was so long, he says, that he thought it was the line for the check-cashing place. He refers to a time when he said, on SNL, that Trump should be given a chance, and that was misconstrued as his support for Trump. He put that to rest when he compared Trump's presidency to seeing a crack-pipe in your Uber driver's passenger seat.

He also is great off the cuff. Trying to quit smoking, he uses a vape pen. Someone in the audience asks if they can use it. "No, I'm trying not to get herpes," he says. "I've been playing a cat and mouse game with herpes for 30 years." There is a lot sexual stuff in there, too. He speaks about the effects of getting old, such as masturbating and realizing nothing is going to happen. He says his dick is distinguished looking, "like Morgan Freeman, but without the spots."

He ends that show with a discussion of Emmett Till, which is not the usual thing for a comedian to do. But he manages to end that segment with a punchline that brings the house down.

The second special is more intimate, at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Much of this special is discussing the MeToo movement, realizing that women are right, but wondering if the punishment enacted is disproportionate. He does go after Harvey Weinstein, saying he's so ugly he has to rape. He also touches on Louis C.K., and no, he did not know.

At the end of the special he teases that he's going to talk about why he walked away from his show. He uses a story from a book called Pimp, by Iceberg Slim, which compares being the talent as like being a prostitute, controlled by the network, his pimp.

Chappelle reminds me of one of those guys who sits in barber shop and just riffs on the issues of the day, like one of the three choruses in Do the Right Thing. Only Chappelle is rich, and isn't afraid to point it out.