From laughter to outrage, Dave Chappelle is one of the most popular and controversial comedians on the planet. But who is the man behind all the jokes?
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00:00From laughter to outrage, Dave Chappelle is one of the most popular and controversial
00:05comedians on the planet.
00:07But who is the man behind all the jokes?
00:10We'd wager that most 14-year-olds have no clue what they want to do with their lives.
00:14But that was the age Dave Chappelle realized he wanted to become a comedian.
00:17He saw Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show and was so inspired that he decided to start writing
00:22jokes of his own.
00:23While attending the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., he studied
00:27theater arts and began performing stand-up comedy in the area.
00:30His mom would often have to accompany him to clubs and bars since he was underage at
00:33the time.
00:34After graduating from high school in 1991, he decided not to attend college so he could
00:38move to New York City and pursue a comedy career full-time.
00:42Within months, he was performing in comedy clubs all over the city.
00:45He quickly made a name for himself as people noticed his great sense of humor, personality,
00:49and charisma.
00:50It wouldn't be long before he took his career to the next level by appearing in TV shows
00:54and movies.
00:55He looked in my eyes, and I could see in his eyes that he didn't remember meeting me the
00:59first time."
01:00Chappelle made his first major TV appearance on Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam.
01:04Each episode showcased talented new comedians, and viewers thought Chappelle was absolutely
01:09hilarious.
01:10The show exposed him to a much wider audience and helped him land more opportunities to
01:13be on TV.
01:14In 1995, he appeared in an episode of Home Improvement as a member of the Tool Time audience.
01:19He didn't have much time on screen, but TV executives were so impressed that they gave
01:24him a leading role in the spinoff series, Buddies.
01:26The show centered around two friends trying to run a video production company.
01:30Unfortunately for Chappelle, the show was a flop and got canceled after only five episodes.
01:35While the series may have been short-lived, Chappelle's comedy career was just getting
01:38started.
01:39He went on to appear in many more shows and movies before eventually starting the immensely
01:43popular Chappelle's Show in 2003.
01:46During an interview with Project Casting in 2021, Chappelle said,
01:49I love television.
01:50The fact that television ultimately made me famous was very gratifying for me."
01:55In 1993, shortly after his first TV appearance, Chappelle put on a pair of tights and took
02:00his career to a whole new level.
02:02He made his film debut as Achoo in Robin Hood, Men in Tights.
02:05It was far from a serious role, but higher-ups could already tell they had a star on their
02:09hands.
02:10Chappelle's career kept gaining momentum as he landed supporting roles in several other
02:14movies such as Ozzie in Undercover Blues, Reggie in The Nutty Professor, and Pinball
02:19in Con Air.
02:20In 1998, he co-wrote, produced, and starred in the stoner comedy Half-Baked.
02:25He played a stoner who starts selling weed with his friends to raise money to bail their
02:28buddy out of jail.
02:29Although the movie has become a cult classic, it actually had terrible reviews when it was
02:33first released.
02:35Neil Brennan, who co-wrote the film with Chappelle, said that it initially had a negative impact
02:39on both of their careers because Hollywood executives didn't take them seriously.
02:43They drifted apart for a while.
02:44Then, several years later, the pair co-wrote Chappelle's Show, which became Comedy Central's
02:49top-rated program in 2005, and launched Chappelle to stardom.
02:52Watch my back!
02:57Your back just got punched twice.
03:00Chappelle has a pretty eclectic group of comedic influences.
03:03He's heavily inspired by Richard Pryor, which makes a lot of sense as Pryor would often
03:07joke about race.
03:08Chappelle is inspired by Eddie Murphy as well, having previously said that Murphy was a major
03:13influence in why he started doing comedy in the first place.
03:16But his biggest comedic influence might be the Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny.
03:20What's up, Doc?
03:22Speaking to Inside the Actor's Studio, Chappelle said,
03:24"'It's weird.
03:25If you watch a lot of the stuff I do, you can almost see the influence in it.'"
03:29He went on to praise the voice actor for Bugs Bunny and explained how the cartoons served
03:33as his first major comedic inspiration in his life.
03:35Now that you know Bugs Bunny influenced Chappelle's style of comedy, good luck on seeing it next
03:39time you watch him perform.
03:42It's hard to believe that such a hilarious comedian could get booed offstage, but Dave
03:45Chappelle has always had a controversial style of comedy, and his jokes don't always sit
03:50right with every audience.
03:51Shortly after he'd moved to New York City to pursue his dream of becoming a comedian,
03:55he got the chance to perform during Amateur Night at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem.
03:59This was a big opportunity to show off his comedic potential, so he tried his best to
04:04impress the audience, but they weren't having it.
04:06His jokes weren't landing, and he ended up bombing so hard that he was booed offstage.
04:11Chappelle later said the incident actually encouraged him to continue in show business,
04:15instilling him with newfound confidence.
04:17Speaking on Inside the Actor's Studio, he said,
04:19"'That night was liberating because I failed so far beyond my wildest nightmares of failing.'"
04:24Chappelle's religious awakening all started at a pizza shop in Washington, D.C.
04:30Although the comedian stays quiet about his religious beliefs for the most part, faith
04:34is a big part of his life.
04:35Chatting to David Letterman, he said,
04:37"...I wanted to have a meaningful life, a spiritual life, not just what my hands can
04:41hold.
04:42I felt like I've always had this notion that life should mean something."
04:45When he was 17 years old, he would go to a local pizza shop where a lot of Muslim people
04:50worked.
04:51He was struck by how positive they all seemed, prompting him to ask them about their beliefs.
04:54He explained how the owner of the shop answered his questions, and he found his explanations
04:58interesting.
04:59That led Chappelle to convert to Islam when he was a teenager, and he hasn't looked back
05:03since.
05:04Chappelle's belief that being a Muslim has given his life and career more meaning
05:08Forrest Gump was such a great movie that one would think any actor would jump at the opportunity
05:13to be in it.
05:14But Dave Chappelle was offered the role of Bubba and turned it down.
05:17He wasn't interested in the role because he thought it perpetuated demeaning stereotypes
05:20about black men.
05:21In the movie, Bubba had a learning disability but was slightly more intelligent than Forrest.
05:26However, Chappelle claims he read an earlier version of the script in which Bubba was even
05:30more dim-witted than Forrest, which didn't appeal to him at all.
05:33Chappelle later regretted turning down the role since the movie was so successful.
05:37In 1997, he starred in a short parody of the film called Bowl of Pork, starring as an unintelligent
05:42man who realizes that life is just a bowl of pork.
05:49To this day, Chappelle's show is one of Chappelle's most memorable projects, and for good reason.
05:54He wasn't afraid to take on big issues like race and social stereotypes in the groundbreaking
05:58sketch comedy series.
05:59It was a huge hit, and at one point, Comedy Central offered him $50 million to keep making
06:04it.
06:05Instead, in 2005, Chappelle shocked everyone when he abruptly left the show during production
06:10of the third season.
06:11Chappelle had been filming a skit about pixies that embodied different races.
06:14He liked the skit, but a crew member laughed at a moment that made him wonder if he was
06:18reinforcing racial stereotypes rather than making fun of them.
06:22Speaking to David Letterman, Chappelle said,
06:29He'd pop up any time a person felt the pains of racism, which is a tough trick to pull
06:33off.
06:34It's not a bad sketch, but hearing the wrong laugh while you're dressed that way, it makes
06:38you feel shame.
06:39He said that wasn't the only reason he left, but it did influence his decision.
06:42He had already been feeling overwhelmed, pressured by the network, and unhappy with the direction
06:47the show was going.
06:48The incident was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
06:52After leaving his show, Chappelle took things a step further and left the entire country.
06:57He visited South Africa for a while, and when he returned to the United States, he
07:00started living a more reclusive lifestyle.
07:03He stepped away from the spotlight, moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, and made much fewer
07:07public appearances than before.
07:09He did release the documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party in 2006, but other than that,
07:13he mostly kept to himself.
07:15In 2013, fans were happily surprised to see Chappelle at the Comedy Cellar in New York
07:19City.
07:20Comedian Chris Rock joined him on stage, and the two talked about possibly touring together.
07:24Shortly afterward, Chappelle made a formal return to stand-up comedy and started touring
07:28the country.
07:29Did he miss his fans, or did he just need more money?
07:31Fans didn't know, and they didn't really care, because the bottom line was Chappelle was
07:35back.
07:36They welcomed him with open arms, and he went on to appear in many more movies and shows,
07:40including A Star is Born and Saturday Night Live.
07:43In 2016, he also reportedly signed a deal with streaming giant Netflix, earning $60
07:47million in return for three comedy specials.
07:50I was like, whew!
07:52The Laugh Factory has an endurance record for the comedian who can perform stand-up
07:56for the longest amount of time.
07:58Richard Pryor set the record by performing for two hours and 40 minutes back in 1980.
08:02Then Dane Cook set a new record for three hours and 50 minutes in 2009.
08:06Not long afterward, Chappelle broke that record with a performance lasting six hours and seven
08:11minutes.
08:12Later that year, he topped his own record by cracking jokes for six hours and 12 minutes.
08:17Laugh Factory owner Janie Masuda told HuffPost that Chappelle broke his own record since
08:21he found out Dane Cook had his eye set on it.
08:23Less than a month later, Cook took the stage again and set a new record by telling jokes
08:27for a whopping seven hours.
08:29The set went on for so long that he sent out food to the audience.
08:33Salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, Dave Chappelle and controversy — some things
08:37just go together.
08:39Throughout his entire career, Chappelle has faced controversy for pushing the limits of
08:43comedy.
08:44This has contributed to his massive success, but it has also gotten him in hot water, especially
08:48with the LGBTQ plus community.
08:50They criticized him for being transphobic in his 2021 Netflix special, The Closer.
08:54He spent a lot of time joking about transgender people.
08:57After the special was released, things got so heated that a group of Netflix employees
09:01staged a walkout at headquarters to advocate for transgender rights.
09:04Netflix stood by Chappelle and said it would not censor artists.
09:08As for Chappelle, he doubled down on his beliefs towards transgender people in his 2022 special,
09:13What's in a Name?
09:14He stressed the backlash he faced, saying,
09:15"...the more you say I can't say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it.
09:19And it has nothing to do with what you're saying I can't say.
09:22It has everything to do with my right, my freedom of artistic expression.
09:27That is valuable to me."
09:29Nothing was off-limits in Chappelle's show, so the comedian once poked fun at Prince in
09:32one of the sketches.
09:34He impersonated the legendary musician and destroyed Charlie Murphy at a game of basketball,
09:38all while looking absolutely fabulous.
09:41Prince responded by putting a photo of Chappelle impersonating him on the cover of his 2013
09:45single, Breakfast Can Wait.
09:47In the photo, Chappelle is wearing an elaborately ruffled blouse like Prince did in Purple Rain
09:51era and holding a plate of pancakes.
09:53In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Chappelle said the following about it,
09:56"...that's a Prince Judah move right there.
09:58You make fun of Prince in a sketch, and he'll just use you in his album cover.
10:01What am I going to do?
10:02Sue him for using a picture of me dressed up like him?"
10:04"...that's checkmate right there."
10:06Chappelle is known for his sense of humor, but in this case, it looks like Prince got
10:09the last laugh.