Current Events > Is Dave Chapelle a good comedian?

(+) Yeah! (+)

bigblu89 posted...

So, you're ok when people say that his show was funny, despite a majority of it was humor based on making fun of groups that were (and still are) marginalized?

Like, it's OK that he used to make fun of marginalized groups, but it's not OK that he still does.

I'm saying that in 2003, Gay marriage wasn't legal and the Iraq & Afghanistan wars had just barely kicked off.

ooger posted...

I'm saying that in 2003, Gay marriage wasn't legal and the Iraq & Afghanistan wars had just barely kicked off.

Ok. And in 2003 I had a full head of hair, but now I don't.

That didn't answer my question though, so I'll ask again....

Are you ok when people say that his show was funny, despite a majority of it was humor based on making fun of groups that were (and still are) marginalized?

bigblu89 posted...

Ok. And in 2003 I had a full head f hair, but now I don't.

Yeah and it looks like you haven't changed mentally.

Oh well!

ooger posted...

Yeah and it looks like you haven't changed mentally.

Oh well!

So, you're not going to answer the question, and just rely on insults instead?

Are you ok when people say that his show was funny, despite a majority of it was humor based on making fun of groups that were (and still are) marginalized?

bigblu89 posted...

So, you're not going to answer the question, and just rely on insults instead?

Are you ok when people say that his show was funny, despite a majority of it was humor based on making fun of groups that were (and still are) marginalized?

Maybe that's how he genuinely feels but he's doing everything in his power to avoid getting booted from CE by just not admitting it.

I see theyre trying once again to pull the just jokes bro excuse to be openly bigoted and transphobic. Embarrassing.

Guarantee none of the people here defending Chappelle were offended by his stand up back in the day as they cheer him on as the greatest comic ever.

GujinKami posted...

Maybe that's how he genuinely feels but he's doing everything in his power to avoid getting booted from CE by just not admitting it.

Maybe. And I'm not asking to create some sort of "gotcha" moment.

KitKats posted...

I see theyre trying once again to pull the just jokes bro excuse to be openly bigoted and transphobic. Embarrassing.

Guarantee none of the people here defending Chappelle were offended by his stand up back in the day as they cheer him on as the greatest comic ever.

The spin now is that you're a racist if you don't find his trans jokes as funny as his old jokes, because apparently that's the only possible way you might think that.

Or maybe, just maybe, his trans jokes actually aren't that funny because they're borne from a place of hatred and ignorance, and his old jokes at least seemed to come from a place of experience.

KitKats posted...

I see theyre trying once again to pull the just jokes bro excuse to be openly bigoted and transphobic. Embarrassing.

Guarantee none of the people here defending Chappelle were offended by his stand up back in the day as they cheer him on as the greatest comic ever.

Possibly. That's why I made it a point to say how his most recent standup wasn't good other than when he told the story about when he was almost attacked at Hollywood Bowl, becasue that was really the only part of the standup (other than the parts about his wife) where he was actually telling jokes. The rest was just him being kinda preachy.

Murphiroth posted...

The spin now is that you're a racist if you don't find his trans jokes as funny as his old jokes, because apparently that's the only possible way you might think that.

Or maybe, just maybe, his trans jokes actually aren't that funny because they're borne from a place of hatred and ignorance, and his old jokes at least seemed to come from a place of experience.

"Seemed" is a good choice of words, becasue Chappelle is basically the Clarence from 8 Mile of black comedy.

Born to upper-middle class suburban parents, but talked about his experiences going through the "hood", so people assumed that was his upbringing.

As far as his trans "jokes". What really sucks is that his original jokes about the LGBTQ+ community actually had some humor attached to it. Look up his "Alphabet Car Ride" joke. It just plays on stereotypes on how the LGBTQ+ community treats each other, and was the preachy BS that his most recent two special were.

Murphiroth posted...

The spin now is that you're a racist if you don't find his trans jokes as funny as his old jokes, because apparently that's the only possible way you might think that.

Or maybe, just maybe, his trans jokes actually aren't that funny because they're borne from a place of hatred and ignorance, and his old jokes at least seemed to come from a place of experience.

One of the complaints about his newer material, aside from eschewing comedy to attack the LGBT+ community, is his erasure of black trans lives and experience, and pitting minorities against each other. This is from voices of the black LGBT+ community, and allies, who work together with intersectionality in mind.

Murphiroth posted...

The spin now is that you're a racist if you don't find his trans jokes as funny as his old jokes, because apparently that's the only possible way you might think that.

Or maybe, just maybe, his trans jokes actually aren't that funny because they're borne from a place of hatred and ignorance, and his old jokes at least seemed to come from a place of experience.

I mean for comparison, he's larped as Uncle Toms and crackhead caricatures, very racist shit, whereas the worst he's insinuated of trans people is "they're annoying."

If we're talking about boundaries he's willing to break, then he did it a lot more over 2 decades ago, to where yeah his new stuff would seem more tame and less funny overall. Not to assume anything of others here of here, but most criticism levied towards him is his insane amounts of transphobia, when anyone that had consumed most of his stand up can understand it's not really anything new.

That's where my assumptions were at though, I'm sorry

bigblu89 posted...

So, you're not going to answer the question, and just rely on insults instead?

It's not an insult, it's an observation.

If you cannot fathom how different the world is from 2003 to 2024, you likely have not matured much during that time period.

ooger posted...

It's not an insult, it's an observation.

If you cannot fathom how different the world is from 2003 to 2024, you likely have not matured much during that time period.

I do. I obviously understand that. But there are people in here saying that his older material is STILL some of the funniest stuff they've heard, and they don't get nearly the crap that people get when they say his current material is funny.

The world changed, so if you still think the jokes from 2003 are still funny, doesn't that make it just as bad as thinking the 2024 jokes are funny?

bigblu89 posted...

I do. I obviously understand that. But there are people in here saying that his older material is STILL some of the funniest stuff they've heard, and they don't get nearly the crap that people get when they say his current material is funny.

The world changed, so if you still think the jokes from 2003 are still funny, doesn't that make it just as bad as thinking the 2024 jokes are funny?

If you've been paying any attention to the content of my posts in this thread, it should be blatantly obvious that I am not a fan.

ooger posted...

If you've been paying any attention to the content of my posts in this thread, it should be blatantly obvious that I am not a fan.

So then why are you defending, under the guise of "it was a different time", that it was OK to find his comedy of 2003 funny?

bigblu89 posted...

So then why are you defending, under the guise of "it was a different time", that it was OK to find his comedy of 2003 funny?

It's not a defense, it is an observation.

Man, you are really bad at this.

Vicious_Dios posted...

Absolutely. He's in my top 5 Living Comedians right now.

1. Bill Burr
2. Nate Bargatze
3. Mark Normand
4. Dave Chapelle
5. Theo Von

Deceased

1. Norm MacDonald
2. Patrice O'Neal
3. Mitch Hedberg

Theo Von sucks at stand up. Pretty sick to see Mark Normand mentioned though.

ooger posted...

It's not a defense, it is an observation.

Man, you are really bad at this.

Your original comment was in response to someone calling out people that were OK with his racially motivated jokes, and your response was:

This may come as a complete shocker to you.

You might want to sit down.

Chappelle's Show was on 21 years ago.

People, and society, change a lot over two decades.

The way you said it with (how I interpreted it) insulting tones, made it sound like you were defending them.

If those weren't your intentions, then I apologized for misreading it.

Chappelle Show was 21 years ago, but people in here were commenting on how they STILL find it (along with his earlier stand-ups) funny. And your observation, that you have since doubled down on, was that "it was a different time". It's not a "different time" if they STILL find it funny.

GujinKami posted...

whereas the worst he's insinuated of trans people is "they're annoying."

No. It's been worse. He wouldn't have gotten the flak he has over "they're annoying."

Don't be disingenuous.

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

He used to be. Now he's not

this

DnDer posted...

No. It's been worse. He wouldn't have gotten the flak he has over "they're annoying."

Don't be disingenuous.

Well, if you go back to the jokes that originally got people in an uproar, the joke basically was that they are annoying, but to each other. It was very much "stereotype" humor, which, if you watched his show or earlier stand up, was Dave's bread and butter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpnc0oDauc

GujinKami posted...

I mean for comparison, he's larped as Uncle Toms and crackhead caricatures, very racist shit, whereas the worst he's insinuated of trans people is "they're annoying."

he did a full bit where he said if he got arrested he'd tell the judge he was trans so he could rape women in prison

remember when being offensive was okay?

Whiterun_Guard_ posted...

remember when being offensive was okay?

Andrew Dice Clay had a career cut short because being offensive wasn't okay, and he decided to double down.

Whiterun_Guard_ posted...

remember when being offensive was okay?

youre just having horrible takes everywhere today i guess

What about his trans people jokes are funny other than haha he hates trans people and laughs at them

i always loved him as a comedian but havent cared much for his latest specials. same as Ricky Gervais.

they seem more interested in "triggering the snowflakes" than making jokes that are actually funny nowadays...

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

youre just having horrible takes everywhere today i guess

What about his trans people jokes are funny other than haha he hates trans people and laughs at them

did you even watch the special. also i didnt say being offensive was okay

Whiterun_Guard_ posted...

remember when being offensive was okay?

Whiterun_Guard_ posted...

did you even watch the special. also i didnt say being offensive was okay

are you just bored or something today

what? i think you read into my post incorrectly. i was only referring to the time of his show where being offensive was part of the game

I loved his show back in the day. Haven't watched any of his recent specials.

bigblu89 posted...

It's not a "different time" if they STILL find it funny.

Then, like I have said in multiple posts at this point, they haven't grown as people.

GujinKami posted...

the worst he's insinuated of trans people is "they're annoying."

Holy crap it must be easy to make stuff up to promote a bogus narrative.

He's undeniably a good comedian.

And he's also a piece of shit.

bigblu89 posted...

Well, if you go back to the jokes that originally got people in an uproar, the joke basically was that they are annoying, but to each other. It was very much "stereotype" humor, which, if you watched his show or earlier stand up, was Dave's bread and butter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpnc0oDauc

Yes. His entire shtick his entire career has been playing the heel. Saying the things no one else would say because they'd get backlash. Thats what he built his entire career on.

If he catches wind that a few people got offended by his jokes, his first and only response is always going to be to double down on that. If in the early 2000s someone got offended at one of his race jokes, he would absolutely not stop making them.

Now if you think that makes him of lesser character than others I won't fault you for saying that. But it is consistent.

One of the goats

Toonstrack posted...

But it is consistent with hoe hes always acted, or better, reacted, to the response to his content.

One thing I'd argue here: while consistent with how he always acted, he has always had his own upbringing and life experience of living as a black man in the US, of working his way up through an extremely prejudiced entertainment industry.

Once he got outside of that bubble of his own experience - the part that helped inform his speaking of truth to power, the part which gave his comedy punch and spoke to a reality poorly handled in an overwhelmingly white society - it turns out he has the same shit takes as any affluent (and predominantly white) boomer. He should shut the fuck up and keep Daphne's name out of his fucking mouth as long as he's going to perpetuate the same harmful power dynamics that he was so keen on criticizing in the first place.

I think he's funny and a master story teller, but I'll fully admit a lot of his trans jokes are very one noted low hanging fruit type of jokes. It's either "they have a penis!" or "they're playing pretend". I think comedy, when it is too predictable, is when it stops getting funny.

he's an all timer overall but this is the not funny arc of his story.

Yeah, that was pretty fucked up how he took advantage of her death to promote false / baseless claims to bitch about cancel culture some more, using her suicide for his own personal gain, and misgendering her in the process.

He used to be

If Dave Chappelle got up on stage saying Im team racism! and started peddling racist disinformation, talking about black people are genetically inferior or have different brains from white people, pseudoscience about being different kind of human, so on and so forth, he would absolutely get torn to shreds by the same people calling him out now for his unabashed bigotry and transphobia.

Nobody serious is buying tickets to that dog and pony show, and the only ones carrying tickets have a clear agenda fueled by their prejudicial bias.

Similarly, if he wanted to make jokes on trans topics that were actually good rather than serving as little more than a vehicle to be a transphobe, we wouldnt see this kind of public outcry. Poor excuses all around.

I laughed a ton at his most recent special. He's definitely still funny.

KitKats posted...

If Dave Chappelle got up on stage saying Im team racism! and started peddling racist disinformation, talking about black people are genetically

Lemme stop you right there.

Go look up his Clayton bigsby skit and come back to me.

In case anyone is unfamiliar, that's his "Clayton bigsby, the black white supremacist" character. One of the skits sired on the show openly uses the hard R and im not even gonna post it here in case its ban worthy. It opens with a fake trigger warning about the usage of it, then segues immediately into a white man he hired as an actor on the skit using the term 4 times casually.

Chappelle. Has. Been. Doing. This. For. Decades.

You are clearly not familiar with his routine and his style. Him saying things no one can, would, or should say. That is the point.

He never believed the Bigsby skit character was right, though.

He very much beliefs the TERF bullshit, and his TERF bullshit is very much in line with his questionable views on other things like homophobia which have also been a part of his work for decades.

And pointing that out isn't a hollow objection. It's a trend of behavior that was a problem way back when - and it was called out back then too.