Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly

After multiple appearances with Comic Relief and a half hour special on HBO, Dave Chappelle returns to his hometown of Washington, D.C., to tape his first hour-long special. He spends the bulk of the time exploring racial differences and making cultural observations, with a smattering of political humour. Chappelle manages to navigate some sensitive material with a disarming charisma. He's not breaking any new ground for black comedians here, but he manages to make it seem fresh with his effortless charm. Some jokes (like the ones featuring the out-of-place baby) illustrate Chappelle's ability to paint a picture with words and gives a few clues into what it was that made his show so popular. The political bits and the casual sexism will make this feel a little dated, but there is enough here to appeal to a newer audience.

A Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy performance from Washington, DC.

Incredibly clever, subversive and irreverent and delivered with Dave Chappelle's incredible sense of timing and range of voices, this is stand-up comedy at its finest. Might well be the funniest comedy performance I've seen - only Robin Williams comes close.

Three years later Dave Chappelle turned his clever, racially-focused wit into a series, with Chappelle's Show. There he had even more room to demonstrate his talents, as he mixed stand up with set-orientated skits. Chappelle's Show turned out to be one of the funniest TV series of all time.

Dave Chappelle is a comedic genius, and anyone who has seen this HBO special will agree. He comments on everything from racism to the subtle differences between men and women in this hilarious stand-up routine. His line delivery, content, EVERYTHING is absolutely perfect, and I honest can say this is the funniest show/movie/stand-up session I have ever seen. Not only is he incredibly funny, but also intelligent, as he dabbles in a few situations in politics, scandals, and everything in between. Not only do I agree with this, but everyone who I know saw this agree with me, that this is without a doubt a milestone in comedy, period. Its gut-bustin, unrelenting, and just plain fun. Just one thing...make sure you see it with a group of people. This already comic gem will get even better. SEE IT ASAP!!!

This is one of my favorite stand up acts of all time. It's hilarious from beginning to end. Dave Chappelle is an excellent storyteller which makes the punchlines even funnier. My husband and I still quote his act 20 some years later. If you don't know Chappelle before his Comedy Central show or Netflix specials, this is a must watch.

I believe Richard Pryor to be the best stand-up comic of all-time (closely followed in the social-critic realm by Bill Hicks and George Carlin), but Dave Chappelle is promising to be a worthy successor. This HBO special from 2000 has achieved something of a cult status on peer-to-peer networks since its airing, especially in audio form, and as such has gained even more popularity since Chappelle's venture into Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" (which is finishing its third and apparently final season right now).

Looking back, I find this to be even funnier than his comedy show. Whereas his (hilarious) sketch show can become a bit repetitive at times and is almost always dealing with racial stereotypes and such, "Killin' Them Softly" touches on everything - beginning with blacks and whites ("DC has changed!"), moving on to crime, then television shows, and of course marijuana.

My personal favorite bit has got to be Chappelle's observations on children's entertainment. He remarks how Pepé Le Pew is practically a rapist and encourages children to "take the pussy(cat)" and how racist "Sesame Street" was. ("Yeah, Oscar! You're a grouch." - "I live in a trash can! What do you expect!") Don't forget The Count: "I know a pimp when I see one!" To be honest I've found Chappelle's television show to become a bit stale sometimes (even though I'm a huge fan of it) but I was blown away - his stand-up comedy is even better. It's rare that I find myself laughing out loud at comedy acts, but even without watching him on stage, his vocal performance is gut-busting. The 911 phone call bit is classic.

I don't want to discredit Richard Pryor and say this is funnier, but if you listen to some of Pryor's older stuff, Chappelle is touching on the same issues as he did in the 1960s and '70s and is, at times, actually doing it even funnier. Of course, Chappelle has some way to go before matching Pryor's iconic status or even his later fusion of outrageous comedy and social satire in the mid-'70s through the early '80s (which surpasses the stuff here), but those comparing him to Pryor have a reason to do so.