posted
I watched the first of the two specials currently available on Netflix, and he's still very funny, although I wish he'd cut way back on the rape-related jokes and I would hesitate to recommend it for that reason.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Ah, I loved Dave Chappelle's standup when I was a young teen. They would air them very late at night over here... Good times. Thank you for the reminder.
While we are at it: Let me throw in the name of another comedian I have recently come to appreciate: Trevor Noah. The first I saw of him was an excerpt from "Afraid of the Dark" (minute 10 to 21, to be precise), and I have since watched the whole of it and a few other standup shows of his and he is brilliant.
Posts: 366 | Registered: May 2016
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posted
Nah. He's still very funny. He may make jokes about verboten subjects, but the punchlines are absolutely toward appropiate targets.
Posts: 572 | Registered: Jun 2013
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posted
The reason I wish he'd avoid dwelling on some subjects is not that I think he's unfunny or targeting the wrong people - it's that people can be hurt even if they aren't the target. I don't think this makes those topics entirely verboten in comedy, but I think it is...unkind to dwell on them for laughs (as opposed to making a point).
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
But he absolutely was trying to make a point. His show was making fun of white culture in general and the issues that minorities had to deal with, but his audience ended up being overwhelmingly young adult white males who didn't see the second satirical layer. That was why he opted out of his contract with Comedy Central and tens of millions.
I think his comedy today is much the same. Even though he laughs through it, it's still a form of dry humour. We're not supposed to agree with what he says. We're supposed to laugh because it's so ridiculous.
Posts: 572 | Registered: Jun 2013
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posted
I haven't seen Dave's recent stuff so can't really comment on that but this seems somehow appropriate, a fellow comedian struggling with being hurtful to others:
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