Chappelle resurfaces on Netflix
If offered $50 million, few people would be like, “Thanks man, but I’m cool. I’m gonna go hang with some giraffes.” But Dave Chappelle isn’t one to take the road most travelled.
The comedian famously ducked out of a deal to produce his popular Comedy Central series Chappelle’s Show in 2005 and fled to South Africa for what he later dubbed a spiritual retreat.
After years of a low-key existence, then, his comeback has been as anticipated as Twitter’s reaction to that giant chicken video. (You haven’t seen it? I’ll wait while you Google it and pledge your allegiance to our new chicken overlords.)
But Dave Chappelle. He bounced out in a big way hosting the Nov. 12 episode of Saturday Night Live, the first post-U. S. election one, with a monologue that was thoughtful, socially poignant and silly.
“It’s been a long time, so please be patient,” he said in the opening. And we were, and we are.
After signing a much-publicized $60-million deal with Netflix to make three standup comedy specials, Chappelle released two of them on the streaming service this week.
Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin was filmed in Los Angeles a year ago, while Dave Chappelle: Deep in the Heart of Texas was taped in Austin two years ago.
They’re both filled with the Chappelle-iest of Chappelle-isms — razor-sharp social commentary on topics like O.J. Simpson and Bill Cosby, gleeful vulgarity and a delivery that’s as languid as the smoke trailing up from his cigarette.
Since both were filmed before the U.S. election, viewers can relive a simpler time when all we had to debate was sexual, racial and gender politics — not presidential tweets.
In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he revealed why he opted to make Netflix his launching pad for his first comedy specials in more than a decade.
“We’re very, very excited that you put out these comedy specials. Thirteen years: Like a locust, you have returned with these. Why did you decide to put two of them out?” Kimmel asked. “Money,” Chappelle replied. Kimmel also asked about how he chose which topics to riff on and how he developed his take on them.
“I think it’s more of a compulsion. Like, sometimes something will happen, and you’ll feel a certain way about it,” he said.
“Like when I’m walking down the street, they’ll be like, ‘Dave, that’s right, you tell it how it is.’ Not really! I don’t really know what it is. I just say what it feels like. You know what I mean?”
Chappelle presented the Icon Award to Just for Laughs at the Canadian Screen Awards ceremony earlier this month — he had the comedy brand’s festival to thank for helping him break into the business, having performed at it as far back as 1992.
The comedian’s third Netflix special is due out later this year.
RANSOM
In a new episode titled The Castle, five teens are lured into a trap while playing a smartphone game. Hostage negotiator extraordinaire Eric Beaumont (Luke Roberts) and his team work on their release. (Global/CBS)
W5
The long-running investigative series airs an episode tonight about families seeking class-action damages against long-term care homes. Then, it’s a survey of the U.S. as it approaches 100 days under President Donald Trump. (CTV Two)