He is clearly looking to push boundaries, and poke the Politically Correct bear on the nose, (in this case with a 3 foot long rainbow colored anal dildo) while giving a hearty Fuck You to 2019 America’s florishing Victim Culture, damn the consequences, full speed ahead, bitch.
He savages LGBT and #MeToo while defending the loathsome Louis C.K.'s actions, all without mentioning Trump a single time.
With that said, I didn’t laugh more than a time or two, as frankly it just wasn’t funny, more uncomfortable, mean-spirited and angry, all from a guy with incredible celebrity clout & privilege and $50,000,000 in the bank.
I’m not really sure what you expected from him. He has always been one of the most unapologetic comics out there - which I think is part of what makes him so funny. Even more than a lot of other comics, he is of the “NOTHING is taboo” mindset. He doesn’t care if something he finds funny offends 99% of his audience - if it’s funny, he’ll tell the joke. He’s been this way since he first came out - he pushed the boundaries every step of the way. The Chapel Show was so purposely offensive that at the end he quit the show because he felt it had gone from offensive-as-a-parody to something that began to reinforce stereotypes and the like.
I haven’t watched the new special yet but I will be going into it assuming that there are going to be a fair amount of jokes that are going to make me uncomfortable.
After the end credits, there’s a fairly extended Q&A with an audience, which I actually found more entertaining and sharper than his desperate-to-break-boundaries regular set.
Having said that, I think he is funny, but his material is coarse (cough cough harrumph).
Here’s where Chappelle works for me: he’s telling a lengthy joke involving child molesters and Michael Jackson. It’s uncomfortable, but he ties it all together somehow. Suddenly you’re laughing while feeling guilty about it. It’s awesome.
I don’t agree at all. Nothing in the Chapelle Show was offensive. Sure, it’s that style of comedy, but none of the actual messaging was offensive.
I haven’t watched this special yet, but I have watched other new ones, and I’ve noticed at least some jokes that are more offensive. It makes sense to me that people may go into his newer stuff expecting Chapelle Show level stuff and be disappointed.
Thought the last 20ish minutes was best (guns, Smollett). I wasn’t “offended” by the rest but he wasn’t making me laugh either. Largely, I got bored and messed around on my tablet, sticking around mainly because my wife wanted me to watch with her.
Saying he doesn’t care about what Michael Jackson did is stupid and he’s a huge idiot for thinking it. Same for Louis CK, who obviously used his position of influence in comedy to pressure women.
I don’t remember every other joke, but I did laugh at the majority of the rest.
I do like that he pointed out that school shooter trainings also train the likely shooters what the rest of the school is doing.
Chappelle quit his show because he was upset about racial jokes. And in his earlier specials he complains about how horrible it is when people call him a nigger.
Which is kind of offensive, he wants to make fun of other people but has a meltdown if anyone makes fun of him for being black.
I’ve given it a pass, mostly on account of the terrible reviews. The last thing we need is yet another in a long string of comedians punching down at anyone who has the temerity to complain that those pissing on them are being just a wee bit cruel.
That’s kinda my take, too. I watched some of his previous special, and it was mostly him being a dick. What I’ve hear is that he makes a lot of jokes mocking trans folk, and who has time for that?
I want comedy to be surprising. There’s nothing less surprising than listening to someone rattle off stereotypes.