22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebrating: Dave Chappelle

In 2019 comedy great Dave Chappelle received the 22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The event was held in a star-studded ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Toasting Chappelle were a who's who of the entertainment industry: Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Common, Lorne Michaels, Bradley Cooper, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart and many more.

Watched this because I'm a great fan of Dave Chappelle and if anyone deserves a comedy award, he does. Suitably we have some amazing comedic talents telling some good jokes, plus some great footage of Chappelle from his earlier days, all the way back to the early 90s in some cases. We also have Chappelle himself, in a stand-up special filmed the night before the awards ceremony and at the ceremony itself.

Unfortunately it's not simply a gathering of him and his friends doing comedy routines but an awards night so you also have scores of dull speeches where the orator just heaps empty praise on Chappelle (Bradley Cooper takes the cake here but he's not alone). It's the kind of flattery that you feel embarrassed to receive (though maybe that's just me - I'm not that good with compliments). Quite cringeworthy at times.

So a bit hit and miss: some great comedy mixed in with cringeworthy praise. Overall it's watchable, but only just.

Wow! Just watched this, always been a huge fan. He is truly the master and a beautiful and empathetic soul with a most excellent and powerful message for humanity behind all his comedy genius ✊👊😎

I love Dave Chappelle's comedy style and creativity, and him being a recipient is well-deserved. The music, the guest speakers and comedians, the stories, everything about this are awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. I do not believe you have to be a Dave Chappelle fan to enjoy or most or all of it.

.... but contains an element of value or social commentary or idk, ethereal essence - that elevates humanity, that is benevolence in a world sorely lacking, that is almost vital to the betterment of 'man' ... in truth, instead of fumbling for the proper qualifiers and descriptors there is one word that exemplifies everything I'm insufficient to - it is simply "Chappelle"

This "special" as I'll call it henceforth was very alright. It follows the ceremony of Incredible Comic Dave Chappele as he received the prestigious Mark Twain Prize. There are a few sets, most being stand up comedy which I'll focus on. The absolute star of the entire special was the set by Neil Brennan, which really shows his long history with Dave while also having Neil's signature "traumedy" style. Sadly, Aziz's set was largely unremarkable but was nothing agregious. Where problems arose was Tiffany Haddish's set which was quite pathetic and annoying. The special as a whole is a good watch if you are a fan of Dave Chappele or any of the comedians there as long as you don't mind a few bumps in the road.