Dayton Daily News

CHAPPELLE GOING FROM DAYTON TO BROADWAY

- By Amelia Robinson Staff Writer Contact this reporter at 937225-2384 or email Amelia. Robinson@coxinc.com.

Dave Chappelle made one thing clear during his performanc­e Wednesday night at the Schuster Center.

He does not want to be confronted about anything he said at the show if you see him at Tom’s Market or Kroger.

And many of the things Chappelle, an internatio­nally known comic who makes his home in the Yellow Springs area, said during the show cannot be printed here because they were anything but PC.

The laughter-filled benefit for WYSO 91.3 FM marked Chappelle’s first major show in Dayton since 2004. Comedian Michelle Wolf opened the show and the rap duo Black Star with Mos Def and Talib Kweli closed the show.

“When I first moved to Ohio, people in show business thought I was crazy,” Chappelle said, adding that his friends get it when they visit him.

He repeated his familiar tagline, “Why not Ohio?” — and celebrated the hometown crowd.

“You guys are the secret of my success,” he said.

He later added, “I want to make you proud, but if I don’t … womp, womp, womp.”

During a set that lasted about 90 minutes, Chappelle joked with the sign language interrupte­rs and riffed about a series of topics that included the Me Too movement, hierarchie­s within the LGBT community, school shootings, a woman jumping out of a dumpster in the Oregon District, buying a gun at Kmart, using pennies to buy his way into a school dance, the Michael Jackson sexual abuse allegation­s and being shamed for not participat­ing in the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentar­y.

“You guys are my neighbors and friends,” Chappelle said in a setup for a joke about R. Kelly. “I don’t know that (expletives) at all. I’ve never met him (R. Kelly). I don’t know anything about him that you don’t.”

Chappelle also joked about the death of Louis C.K.’s career and the Kevin Hart Oscar scandal.

“Kevin Hart is exactly four tweets shy of being perfect,” he said.

Chappelle had a few local jokes as well. During the show’s last leg, he likened being Dayton’s mayor to a prolonged death.

“I can think about a lot of jobs I’d like, but mayor of Dayton …” he said to laughter.

Neenah Ellis, WYSO general manager, opened the show by voicing support for local residents impacted by the recent tornadoes.

She also thanked Chappelle for his support of WYSO, a NPR affiliate transition­ing into an independen­t radio station.

“Dave Chappelle knows the importance of local voices,” she said.

The station’s newly formed nonprofit organizati­on took control of WYSO from Antioch College for $3.5 million on April 1 after a fundraisin­g drive led by a donation from Charles Berry, an heir of the Berry family that founded the Yellow Pages.

The Yellow Springs-based nonprofit is still awaiting final approval from the Federal Communicat­ions Commission for the license transfer.

Broadway debut this summer

Next up, Chappelle will make his official Broadway debut with a limited run of performanc­es at the LuntFontan­ne Theatre. Dave Chappelle Live on Broadway will be produced by Live Nation, The Araca Group and EBG (Entertainm­ent Benefits Group). The five shows run from July 9-13.

On Tuesday, June 18, tickets for the Broadway engagement will be sold via Ticketmast­er Verified Fan presale, to those who have registered and received a unique Access Code. Ticketmast­er Verified Fan is a process that seeks to verify that ticket buyers are not bots or ticket scalpers. Registrati­on is open now and will close at 10 p.m. today. Tickets will go on sale to the general public starting Friday, June 21 at 10 a.m. through www.TicketMast­er.com and by phone at 877-250-2929.

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 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? “You guys are the secret of my success,” comedian Dave Chappelle told the audience at the Schuster Center on Wednesday night.
GETTY IMAGES “You guys are the secret of my success,” comedian Dave Chappelle told the audience at the Schuster Center on Wednesday night.

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