2019 Ranked

Maybe it is the fact that I am not an edgy teenager anymore, but being controversial and edgy for the sake of being edgy or as some convoluted attempt at humor isn't funny to me. And that is all this comedy special is. Dave Chappelle says something controversial or just really fucking shitty and people laugh. It isn't ever even a joke. Instead he just pretty much says "I don't like trans people" to thunderous applause.

He jokes so much about the LGBTQ community and puts his opinions about them first and foremost. THEN, later on in the special he is talking about abortion and says that if you have a dick you shouldn't have a say. I…

Yikes, what a drop. Nevermind that buddy doubles down on the defense of some nasty ass people and some nasty ass viewpoints, but the shit ain't even that funny. Mostly it's just Dave cracking on the "audience" for cancel culture (which, I understand; sometimes it feels like there's no room for redemption), but he picks all the wrong people to prove his point.

Once we get past the first half, things pick up with some chuckle-worthy anecdotes on gun ownership, wealth, and the opioid crisis (his heroin addict imitation and associated story got the loudest reaction from me).

Honestly, the real value of this set (if you care to stick around at this point) comes post-show. It's here that Chappelle…

Love reading the comments about this one. Look, Dave is not just a comedian, his whole existence over the years has become a symbol for free speech and artistic autonomy, he's an icon, one of the few remaining people in show business that are not afraid to speak their mind. I appreciate this so much. I love watching people trying to put him in boxes, trying to cancel him with every new special he puts out there, failing miserably. The joke is on us, he's holding a big mirror in our faces telling us how fucked up we are without giving a single shit and he's right. Thanks for existing, thanks for being authentic and staying for something, giving us…

So, after reading a bunch of hot takes on Twitter and a few mainstream reviews I've come to realise that Chappelle has succeeded at what he set out to do; piss everyone off without giving a shit.

The crux of this comedy special is that if you're a progressive you'll hate the first half of this special as Chappelle goes in on the MeToo movement, cancel culture and the LGBTQ community. I thought that a lot of the jokes were kinda stale and felt slightly outdated, maybe 5-6 years ago they would've left more of an impact. With that said, you'll probably enjoy his second half as he lays into gun culture, pro-lifers, and the opioid epidemic etc.

However, you…

I haven't laughed so hard in what seems like a goddamned eternity. This motherfucker had me rolling in the aisles. And I was at home, where there are no aisles. I had to actually build aisles to roll in them. That's how fucking funny this special was for me.

Do I "agree" with everything Chapelle says in this special? I don't know. The beauty of comedy is that you don't always know where the exaggeration is. But I love that someone had the nerve in these over-sensitive times to make light of everything from Finding Neverland to Cancel Culture to LGBT people to a whole host of other taboo subjects that it seemed for a while we would never hear…

otherworldly nihilism. an active distaste for human life. comes close to engaging with his own shortcomings a few times before driving them off a cliff and embracing the hate. it’s not Chappelle that’s my concern from watching this, it’s the crowd, sitting with rapturous glee every time Dave makes a joke designed to degrade marginalised people. looking into the crowd and seeing a swarm of audience members cackle at uninspired cruel transphobia is some kind of otherworldly hell, like watching the bubbles you’ve accumulated your whole life be burst, and having to reckon with the fact again that so many random people hate you. for the record, I don’t care if Chappelle is actually bigoted in his personal life, it…