Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer

A Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy special, recorded in 2023 at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC. Chappelle reminisces about his start in comedy and the importance of having a dream. The Will Smith-Chris Rock incident also gets a mention.

If you know Dave Chappelle's comedy and his stand-up specials you know what to expect: un-PC, unfiltered, irreverent and nobody and nothing is above being the subject of a joke. This is no different as he boldly goes where no comedian has gone before.

Not laugh-a-minute, and his routines rarely are. He generally sets up the joke with a seemingly innocuous story before delivering a powerful punchline.

This is a bit more serious than normal as there are parts that are more thought-provoking and profound than funny.

His worst specials are where he tries too hard to be provocative, with his lines delivered for shock value more than for genuine laughs. Thankfully there's nothing like that here as his routine is quite smooth and unforced.

Great show.

As I watched, I could almost hear the frenzied breathing and flying fingers of Outrage Junkies salivating like hyenas over fresh meat. Some folks never get the point. Dave has nothing against gays, lesbians, transgenders, the disabled or any other culturally victimized group. The butts of all those jokes are the ACTUAL bigots, and YOU who can't wait to broadcast a defense of others who never asked you to do so, and often would disagree. When you're "triggered" by words without regard to source and context, you're the one with the self-inflicted problem.

There never was a War on Christmas to whine about; similarly, guys like Dave, Ricky Gervais, Jim Jefferies, etc. Are active off-stage humanitarians, generous with their time and money. For stand-up, they've crafted a persona that includes taunting the Comedy Karens while giving the rest of us plenty of laughs, knowing their jokes contain absolutely no malice. If they weren't pleasing large fan bases, they wouldn't be making the big bucks and drawing so many butts in the seats.

He repeats the frequent criticism that he likes to "punch down" for a satiric point. He's mocking the complainers, not the ones they think they're protecting. Outrage Addicts are lower on the ladder, but they got down there by choice, and deserve to be punched down on more than Chris Rock deserved The Slap.

No one is forced to like this type of humor. If you don't, there are plenty of other options in every medium, running the spectrum from irreverent to devoutly religious, political to observational, etc. Calm down. Change channels and enjoy whatever hits your sweet spot. And stop interfering our EQUAL right to savor what we find funny and/or insightful.

As someone's Grandpa said, "If everybody wanted the same thing, they'd all be chasing Grandma."

Lovers are gonna love Chappelle and haters are gonna hate him indefinetely. The lovers are gonna see this show anyway and I can assure them that this is yet another solid performance, although a rather timid and non-controversial one.

Clocking at less than an hour this Netflix show can be divided in two parts: one being the usual standup comedy jokes which mostly features the slap Will Smith gave to Crhis Rock during the Oscars (old news?) and the atttack on stage Dave Chapelle himself endured. Fun, but no surprises there.

The second part is a story about having a dream. Kinda cheesy to be honest and not very funny nor making much sense, but okay, I always like to listen to Dave Chappelle ramble on about his thoughts, however incomprehensible they are...

Another fun filled Dave Chapelle perfomamnce, but a rather timid and laid back one for a change...

This special is made for people who want to be Dave Chappelle's friend, it's a slow-paced monologue dealing with his own experiences and situations. While he is an excellent storyteller, it's not funny or engaging as the material is drawn out way too long.

I'm not a person who has heroes or looks up to people, but I think this special is made for those who like the concept of Dave Chappelle and want to spend time with him.

This special is a reminiscence of something one would find a good host at a party doing.

So the act itself is Dave Chappelle but much more tired and expected, there are of course some shock value in the act, however, it's something we know will come and the entire audience knows what is coming.

I recommend this special to those who are fans of Dave Chappelle, but if you're looking for a fun stand up you can probably find better.

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.