Inspired by this thread, who’s funnier, Rock or Chapelle?
also inspired by this article LINK
Chapelle in a landslide I say
I dunno. Both make me laugh. I prefer Chapelle’s skits and characters to Rock’s. I prefer Rock’s jokes, commentary and social observations than Chapelle’s stand-up.
Chris Rock is usually a terrible movie actor, though.
Chapelle.
Neither of them can hold a candle to Richard Pryor in his prime.
Hmm…I’ll kind of take Askia’s answer from the other thread. I think Rock is a funnier standup (he’s had some classic stand up routines; Chapelle’s “Live at the Fillmore” was disappointing, and his brief stand up bits on his show were always the weakest part), but Chapelle is better at sketches (“Chapelle’s Show” easily beats out “The Chris Rock Show,” or at least what can be gleaned of TCRS from those two “best of” compilations – perhaps not a fair comparison).
Chapelle also has the advantage of being comparatively new, while Rock has been around for quite a while by now. I think history will judge both of them well.
I think it depends on who is watching them.I feel Rock has softened his edge to be accessible to non blacks.I find him watered down. They’d never ask Redd Foxx to host an award show,I betcha.Chapelle still targets his core audience (which I read Comedy Central wanted him to tone down).
Oddly enough, I think Rock is smarter, but Chappelle is funnier. On the whole I like Rock better because there is truth to his humor where Chapelle is just outrageously funny.
Both have their place and I’ll watch either.
For stand-up: Rock. He’s smarter and can take on a wider variety of topics. (As he himself bragged, he could do a show at the Apollo and another in the Senate, and kill at both.)
For TV/sketch: Chapelle. His ideas lend themselves the sketches better (the skits on Rock’s albums are lame), and he’s better at putting on characters, which Rock can barely do at all.
Quick detour: my bachelor party was held in 1986 at a New York club called the Comedy Cellar. There were abhou 10 comics that night, and they were all very good, except the last one. The last one was a skinny, nervous kid who looked like he wasn’t even old enough to have a drink at this club.
He was clearly terrified, and had the misfortune to follow a boisterous comic whose act consisted of a lot of obscene give-and-take with the crowd. So, the nervous kid was facing an audience that had just been put in the mood to heckle.
Not surprisngly, he stunk out the joint. And if you had asked me that night, “One of these comedians will be a BIG star in 19 years- which one will it be?” Well, I’d have said, “Any of them except that last kid, Chris Rock. He sucked.”
Strangely enough, just a few years later, I saw Rock on Arsenio Hall’s show. He was doing EXACTLY the same material he was using at the Comedy Cellar. Only THIS time, he was great! He actually had his confidence and his timing down, and was craking me up with the very same material that just died a few years earlier.
Now, to answer the OP: I like Rock’s material better, but he STILL doesn’t quite have the presence or the timing of Chapelle.
If both guys were given the same joke to tell, I suspect Chapelle would do it better. But of course, that’s not how comedy works.
I’d say Rock is a better writer and Chapelle is a better performer.
Dave Chappelle. I think he pushes the edges of what’s acceptable, linguistically and topically. I hope someday he comes back to TV. He is missed.