The R.E.A.L. Chappelle

Dave Chappelle’s new special on Netflix, the Closer is causing quite a stir in the trans and stand-up comedy communities— two groups I’ve been accused of belonging to in the past. I guess he says some shitty things in his special about trans people and in a not very funny way. This is according to my sources (Twitter). So a lot of (about two) people have been asking me for my take. What does formerly up-and-coming transsexual comedian Natasha Muse think of this whole “Chappelle Thing”?
Well, I haven’t seen it and don’t have any interest in seeing it so I— luckily for you— don’t have an opinion on it! You probably already arrived here bearing your own opinion anyway, so I feel no pressure to supply my own. Not on the Closer anyway. 

However. . . I do (or did) recall watching his hosting monologue on SNL in the fall of 2020 and being annoyed by it. So I rewatched it a few days ago to see if I still feel that way. And guess what? I still do! And here’s why:

He’s just some rich entitled asshole lately. 

Yes, this guy

He smokes on stage. This isn’t necessarily a problem. But it does imply a certain disregard for others, borne of being rich. You might not see it that way. But I’m guessing the cast might. And the stage crew. They probably can’t smoke on set and I’m sure some of them would like to. (And this is all outside of the fact that there’s a reason it’s banned. Turns out breathing smoke is bad for you!) Either way, Dave is the only one you ever really see enjoying a cigarette on that stage, and if it doesn’t scream “I can violate state health codes because I can and no one is gonna stop me” it certainly declares it with a raspy whisper.

His set begins with him talking about his grandfather, and how he would feel if he could see him today, which is sweet. Or starts off sweet anyway. But then he drops how he flew to NYC in a private jet and complains about how he isn’t getting paid enough for reruns of his 20-year-old show playing on Netflix (yes, that Netflix). Okay fine. He’s allowed to brag. I’d brag too. Let him brag! It’s not relatable but it sets up the joke, so, sure. I’m not here to tell you that the man doesn’t know how to be funny, just that he’s a rich entitled asshole lately. I mean, there’s no arguing the “bought and sold” punch isn’t solid. (If you didn’t bother to watch the clip, you’ll just have to trust me.)

But the meat of my annoyance, the peak of my pique, if you will (no obligation though) comes next.

He talks about how he decided to have a show— a live stand-up comedy show—  in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of Ohio in the middle of the night, and “may have even helped save” the “dying” town. Okay? Maybe he saved the town? I guess? Seems like corn is the one thing people never stopped buying but what do I know about midwestern economics?

Anyway, the bit is about how people in the neighborhood didn’t like the noise from his show. They (according to Dave) complained it made it hard to put their kids to bed at night, and they didn’t appreciate the use of the n-word. Seems like pretty reasonable objections, but I don’t know. Chappelle resented it though! He literally says it, which was the most unintentionally funny thing about his set. Someone had the gall to tell him something he doesn’t want to even have to hear, let alone think about or deal with.  

And this seems to give him license— from his pov, at any rate— to dismiss the concerns of the locals. So instead of addressing their worries or giving them credence he just says they’re racist. And sure, it’s funny. I’ll give you that. As I said, I’m not here to argue with laughs. And I’m not here to argue with facts either. He might even be right. Maybe every farmer or every Ohian or every white person is racist. But it just feels lazy. And also besides the point. People don’t like what he’s doing so they’re racist. The same people whose town he just patted himself on the back for saving. 

And his resentment isn’t limited to the townspeople not wholeheartedly and unanimously accepting the help he decided to give them. He also seems to resent even having to be funny. 

“I can’t even tell some truth unless it has a punchline behind it,” he says. Yeah, that probably is frustrating. I’ve experienced something similar (but obviously at a lower level) during my attempts to share interesting ideas on a comedy stage. Turns out the audience came to laugh, not to hear someone work out their first draft of a solo black-box theater piece.  

But they don’t laugh when he says, in reference to earning money, “that’s why women make half,” which leads to, “did I trigger you?” and then, “I’m sorry, I thought this was a comedy show.” A classic trio of lines and ideas that seem more at home in the third hour of an open-mic in a pay-per-load laundromat than in an overlong opening set on a sketch show. 

Here is where we skip over some legitimately funny and insightful chunks. There’s no need to go over the entire 16-minute-long set and I try to respect others’ time.

But eventually, we get to where the jokes are over, but unfortunately, his set isn’t. He says a bunch of heartfelt stuff which, well, doesn’t belong. It’s like when Kate McKinnon sang Hallelujah as Hillary Clinton: interesting and different, but not exactly warming up the crowd to see the latest installment of David S. Pumpkins.

Then after forgetting or refusing to mention the musical act he literally drops the mic on stage; that and the smoking bookend the set nicely. A total disregard of the show and, more importantly (because who gives a fuck about the traditions of SNL, really?) the stage crew. 

And none of this says, here’s a guy who still loves being funny.

To me, all of this says, here’s a man who feels angry that people want him to make jokes. He knows how to do it, but he doesn’t want to anymore. He’s getting tired of it. Here’s a man who has a lot to say, some of it’s interesting or inspirational, but none of what he wants to share is especially funny. So he peppers it with tired jokes while trying to hide his resentment over being forced to make the audience laugh.  

You’d think he would feel a little more compassion for people who feel trapped by the way they’re seen by everyone else in the world, whose insides don’t quite seem to match their outside, who are trans. . . forming themselves in a positive way. But I guess he’s too busy being r.e.a.l.