Back on top, Chappelle hints at exit
After one high-profile retreat from show business, would the comic really walk away again?
WASHINGTON — Dave Chappelle went back to where it all began.
As a teen, Chappelle worked stages in the Washington, D.C., comedy scene. He recorded Killin’ Them Softly at the storied Lincoln Theatre, telling jokes in the same space where Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday had performed. The 2000 HBO special, considered one of Chappelle’s most quotable works, showcases the incisive outlook on race and relationships that would be on full display three years later during his breakout Chappelle’s Show.
Then, at the height of his career, Chappelle famously walked away: from a $50-million Comedy Central deal, from TV specials, from it all. And while he has performed standup in the intervening years, Chappelle is now having his most public moment in a decade.
He returned to Washington last month for a nearly two-week stint at the Warner Theatre, where he filmed material for his third Netflix special. His $60-million deal with the company also yielded two other standup hours, filmed in 2015 and 2016 and released in March, that became Netflix’s most-viewed comedy specials ever. Chappelle has since completed a star-studded, two-week Radio City Music Hall residency over the summer and quickly sells out shows.
But when he opened a recent Warner performance, Chappelle joked about how he’s ready to walk away again. You know, after he drops this next special.
He said part of it has to do with how “brittle” some ears have become. While that served as a premise for a bunch of jokes, it’s also a sentiment Chappelle has expressed before.
As standup comedy booms and the number of comedy fans has multiplied, “now there’s a big debate about how far we should be able to go, and you’ll see guys saying things that will really upset people,” Chappelle said in a brief interview with The Washington Post over the summer. “Getting on a big stage, it’s harder to really — not everybody’s ears are calibrated for this. But the people who like it, love it.”
He has some recent experience to draw from. Jokes in his first Netflix specials, particularly about transgender people, received some criticism. While shooting this next special, he doubled down on even more transgender material and incorporated the very criticism he has received.
But the world has changed. Since he released his last special, 2004’s For What It’s Worth, public attitudes on key social issues have dramatically shifted. Most Americans then opposed same-sex marriage. Now, most support it. Calls for more people of colour in movies and TV have never been louder.
Recent years have seen bits, picked out of the context of a live show, take on a life of their own — such as a 2014 Hannibal Buress joke about allegations against Bill Cosby. Chappelle requires audiences at his performances to lock up their phones in magnetic pouches, but someone can still tweet or write about it after the fact.
All of this has created an environment of increased awareness and accountability for standup comedians. Some veterans, such as Jerry Seinfeld, have bemoaned how political correctness hurts comedy. But there have always been people who have found comics’ jokes distasteful or offensive.
Chappelle has long walked the lines between outlandish, offensive and sharp-witted. Not everyone will like what he has to say. But he’s still an expert of the craft who will always command a legion of fans eager to hear what he does.
So, sure, Chappelle could walk away again if he wants. And there would be an audience waiting, again, for his return.