Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer

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Fortunately for comedy, The Dreamer and Chappelle once again go out of their way to prove no one deserves special treatment or should be off limits from being the recipient of a joke. Unfortunately for us, Dave spends a large chunk of this special for 'story time with Dave' rather than focusing on the laughs. The setups for many punchlines are often too stretched and segue into other life stories. Preachy Dave is back, going on a long-winded and somewhat incoherent set of stories from Russian Mobsters to Lil Nas X. The ending of the special really ruined an otherwise typical set for Chapelle. It came off as a self-absorbed sermon devoid of humor. Chapelle is one of the GOATs, and it's disheartening to see him feel the need to flaunt such borderline narcissistic behavior. I hope Dave can get back focused on his next special. Give us a comedian doing an hour of comedy ravaging everyone and everything, not a pastor preaching a life full of dreams.

I thought this special was weak. Much like Gervais' special, just poor and nowhere near his best. If you're going to make jokes about the disabled, at least make them clever. And that joke about the 'underwater grave' in a gurgly voice. Who was telling that joke? Dave, or an eight-year-old? His older stuff was so well thought-out. It always had a direction, it was always building to something bigger. This one was like watching an amateur comedian getting a few cheap laughs. Ironically, the jokes I found the funniest were the ones where the crowd wasn't laughing nearly as hard. I was rolling when he was tearing into Lil Nas, because it was one of those 'funny because it's so true' moments. The crowd was a joke. Practically falling off their chairs at a bunch of weak stuff, but the moment it got a little clever and brutal, they go silent. Pathetic.

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Grateful for the New Year's Eve tradition and Dave coming down the electric chimney. And DC from DC, 24 years in....all part of an exquisite package. Dave's got jokes, but the key is how he let's them out of the safe deposit box. He's a very gifted story-teller, and he's had a life where even his nightmares can be spun into comedy gold. Maybe I should say especially his nightmares. He's still targeting wokeness in part, and he landed somewhat early on this beaches to be fair. By no means the first, as I'm sure he'd admit. The opening is masterful, and if you expected him to back down on any front, I think you've not watched much of him. So maybe you'll skip this. It's like if you got on a rollercoaster, you are not getting off until the ride's over. The detail in putting this together is just fantastic, even lampooning the mandatory ovation/encore. Verbal throwbacks, someone could analyze the moves like a chess match and destroy every last ounce of humor. See it now, before details leak or your kids threaten to disown you if you watch it. By the way, they are wrong....but we love them anyways. I'm not sure enough people get healthy amounts of deep sleep to be living a waking dream but it would be nice. Like a Steph Curry three-pointer, Dave's dream weaving comes with a hefty amount of work to match the god-given (or I prefer the idea of god-stolen) talent. Hmmmm, now I sort of wish "Deborah" had been "Mary Lee" - as in Mary Lee, Mary Lee, Life is But a Dream. Even if your life is less dreamy than you'd like, I hope this special makes you laugh and think a little. Ideally with someone you love nearby....

source: Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer

Dave Chappelle is the Goat! And he once again kills it. I was. Just when you think he can't get any better at critiquing society, Dave Chappelle goes and does it. It might not be his best or most edgy special, but Chappelle isn't afraid to avoid controversy or censor himself despite past controversies. And in some ways, he is better at managing these difficult conversations than ever. He talks about everything that we as a society are afraid to discuss, and he says it how it is. No one would dare go where Dave goes. Everyone must watch this if for no other reason, to see the world in a new light. I hope that people will actually watch the entire special this time and think critically about it rather than just reading the shocking one-liners and jumping to their own conclusions like with the last special. And there is a surprising amount of humility in his set as he asks the audience to challenge their own perspectives and biases. Anyway, if you need a good laugh to start off the year, give this one a watch with an open mind.