Dave Chappelle takes on gun culture, the opioid crisis, and the tidal wave of celebrity scandals in a defiant stand-up special filmed in Atlanta.
As a bit of a disclaimer; this won't a surprise for those that have read my comedy film reviews, but I generally dislike a lot of black humour (I do mean that in an "African-American" sense, not dark humour, which I love). So much black humour relies on low brow content being yelled as loud as possible with a lot of additional screaming. While I do understand that this is a cultural difference, and "sassy" black humour is enjoyed by a large percentage of the global population, it just doesn't appeal to this reviewer. So apologies to Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Chris Tucker, and Chris Rock; your humour is hit and miss in my eyes and significantly skewered towards the "miss".
On the other hand, you have Dave Chapelle. While I never really grew up watching The Chapelle Show (likely due to my aversion to sassy humour), I had seen the odd sketch or stand-up over the years and his personality differs greatly from the aforementioned comedians. He may yell the occasional word here and there, but in general, he is calm, collected, and most importantly, he is well-articulated.
Much like the comedy stylings of Jim Jefferies (his stand-up, not his disappointingly glib current affairs program, The Jim Jefferies Show), Dave Chappelle has no qualms about making a joke out of absolutely anything, with the mentality that it's fine as long as you make fun of everyone, including yourself. You cannot call someone out for picking on Republicans when they also pick on Liberals and Conservatives. It is this non-committal direction that works in his favour, with his style of never attempting to sway his audience in any direction, he simply showcases the nonsensical aspects of any and all arguments. In this regard, Dave Chappelle is more inclusive than a modern Star Wars film. There's something uniquely analytical in how he switches from topic to topic, giving everyone the opportunity to laugh at themselves, without every taking any joke too far.
His style of comedy is absolute gold. It uses a subtle delivery to bring about a contentious issue and provide extreme examples of it for a chuckle. but the most important aspect of his comedy, is that he creates a positive feedback loop, connecting new tangents with old tangents, adding that sense of mirth you felt earlier, on top of the mirth you are currently feeling, gradually building the laughter until his jokes go full circle.
Topics discussed include the cancel culture, the alphabet people, abortion laws, the opioid drug crisis, school shooters, and suicide. While there were a few pieces that went a bit long for me and failed to hit my funny bone, humour is subjective, and other people I was watching it with were in hysterics, so I can't hold it against him, a joke going too long in this case, means 30 seconds...in an hour-long special; negligible.
While there has been an outcry against this special, and I cannot for the life of me determine why that is. At no point is there any sense of malice, and the comedy is thought-provoking, providing a platform to encourage discussion on divisive and contentious issues. Chappelle should be applauded. Sticks and Stones may break his bones, but a 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes will bring in a larger audience.