USA TODAY International Edition
On tour, Chappelle loves ‘ being canceled’
SAN FRANCISCO – Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle’s 11- city tour of a documentary about a series of comedy shows he did last summer is something of a bait and switch.
“I was expecting harsh, almost corrosive humor,” said John Niel, 39, of San Francisco. “What I got was something deep about America that at times turned into comedy. It was excellent.”
The four- hour evening began with several local comedians, then a showing of his new documentary, which first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Afterward, Chappelle came out in person for a short comedy set followed by a star- studded lineup of local musicians including Goapele, Raphael Saadiq, Too Short, and E- 40.
“It’s been a hell of a three weeks,” Chappelle said on stage with a sigh after the film rolled.
The evening definitely included Chappelle’s laid- back delivery of raunchy, button- pushing and often beyondthe- pale jokes. There were nods to his so- called cancellation for his comments that gender is real, which have been decried by the transgender community.
But the focus was his documentary, “Untitled,” centered on the more than 50 comedy shows he held in a cornfield in rural Ohio last summer, featuring a cavalcade of comedy stars including Chris Rock, Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, Kevin Hart and David Letterman.
Chappelle tackles a summer of unrest
For those expecting a typical Chappelle comedy special, what they got instead was a film that captured the terrified, unsettled and anguished feel of the summer of 2020.
Ticket- holder Niel said he found himself crying during poet Amir Sulaiman’s performance of “We Must Win” in the documentary, and he wasn’t the only one around him who was. “It was amazing,” he said.
There was the fear of a disease that was killing thousands and the economic devastation it caused as businesses’ customers evaporated. At the same time, America grappled with the awful, unvarnished sight of George Floyd’s eight- minute death, the righteous anger it engendered and the impossibility of ignoring the racism Black Americans face every day.
“White people, how do you live with yourselves?” Chappelle, 48, asks in the documentary from the outdoor stage he assembled in his home state of Ohio.
The documentary ultimately is about how comedians – and all Americans – are trying to process the grief and isolation of the last year.
“It was fantastic,” said Lynae Washington, 44, of Oakland, California. “I laughed. I cried. As a Black woman, I loved how he brought people together. It was powerful.”
Perhaps most strongly, the film showed Chappelle’s gift for creating opportunities for not just himself but dozens of other performers. The shows were held in the tiny “hippie” town of Yellow Springs, Ohio, where the comedian grew up and where he now lives with his family.
Chappelle’s “summer camp” had pumped more than $ 7 million into Yellow Springs’ COVID- struggling downtown and brought dozens of performers to a pavilion in a cornfield where socially distanced audiences of as few as 100 people saw star- studded, historic shows.
In a climactic scene, the local zoning board hears a petition to allow the shows to continue. It begins with nearby neighbors complaining about the noise and sexual language of the shows, but then waves of townspeople testify via Zoom about the hope, comfort, business and joy the shows have given them. The zoning board approved the call for a variance, allowing the shows to continue.
And then, in the random destructive nature of the pandemic we’ve come to live with, several staffers test positive for the virus and the show is shut down. As Chappelle observes, it was just like COVID- 19, “you couldn’t hug anyone goodbye.”
The documentary is funny, moving, painful and thought- provoking. It is a time capsule that captures how that first summer of the pandemic felt – the fear, the economic devastation, the horror at Floyd’s death and America’s reckoning with deadly racism.
“There is just no match for his courage and intelligence and activism,” said Sara Anders, 38, a San Francisco Bayarea producer. “The film makes you look at the world and yourself differently.”
No connection to ‘ Closer’ controversy
What it is not is connected to the controversy of the past three weeks over Chappelle’s most recent Netflix documentary, “The Closer.”
While Chappelle has frequently made outrageous comments in the course of his 30- year career, the edgy comedian has faced outrage and backlash over his comments in “The Closer” about transgender people since the Netflix special was released on Oct. 5.
In it, he says “gender is a fact” and defends “Harry Potter” author J. K. Rowling’s statements denying the validity of transgender identity.
His transgender statements led to calls to boycott his work. Last month, Netflix employees walked out and held a rally outside company offices in Los Angeles to protest his statements in “The Closer.”
Netflix’s transgender employees say executives at the streaming service dismissed their concerns that Chappelle’s controversial comments, could they said could lead to violence against the trans community.
Netflix co- CEO Ted Sarandos has stood by the comedian and the special, but apologized after internal memos to Netflix staff defending “The Closer” were leaked to the public.
Coming out on stage for a short set after the documentary screened on Thursday night, Chappelle discounted the size of the controversy, saying it’s only happening “in a corner of the world that just happens to control the media,” to cheers from the audience, a broad mix of Black, white, Hispanic and Asian fans.
In some ways it gave him space, he said. “Man, I love being canceled. It’s a huge relief !”
He acknowledged he’s able to ignore the controversy in part because “I’m rich and famous,” he said. “When you’re in the eye of the storm, it all just swirls around you.”
He also encouraged the audience to watch “The Closer” from beginning to end. “You’ll know I ain’t trying to hurt anyone.”
Despite concerns, the San Francisco event appeared to be entirely free of drama. More than a dozen police officers were deployed at the perimeter of the downtown Chase Center but they mostly chatted or handed out dog treats to local pooches. There were no protesters in sight.
Certainly, his fans, of every age, race and ethnicity, don’t think he’s been canceled. Thursday’s event at San Francisco’s 18,000- seat Chase Center was sold out, as was a show in New Orleans a week ago that Chappelle co- headlined with Joe Rogan at the city’s Smoothie King Center, which holds 17,000 people, Nola. com said.
A screening of the film at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Oct. 7 also was sold out.
Chappelle gave a nod to that toward the end of his set. “In the news, they said I was canceled. No matter what they said, here we are, all together.”
The San Francisco show was the first in a tour with 11 stops in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Toronto and Atlanta, among others.
Anders found the show was so amazing, including the lineup of local friends Chappelle brought onstage, she’d decided to go to another one just to see who he’d bring.
“Atlanta, Washington, D. C. Imagine who would appear with him there,” she said.
As the evening drew to a close, Chappelle gave the audience one of his long, considering looks. “Be kind to each other,” he said. “If we trust one another, we will get through this.”