Chappelle Lashes Out

[tristy]

Chappelle lets rude crowd have it

By JIM CARNES, Sacramento Bee

(June 17, 9:04 am PDT) - Dave Chappelle got so angry with the crowd Tuesday night at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium that the stand-up comic walked off the stage for nearly two minutes. Upon his return, he told the audience, "You people are stupid."

What got the comic so riled up? According to Chappelle, it was audience members who wouldn't "shut up and listen - like you're supposed to."

Chappelle is the creator and star of the No. 1-rated show on Comedy Central. It's that fame that helped the comic sell out the nearly 4,000-seat Memorial Auditorium weeks in advance of the show. And that popularity also caused the frustration for the performer, as audience members continually shouted a character's catchphrase from "Chappelle's Show" - it starts, "I'm Rick James ..." and ends with the b-word.

"The show is ruining my life," Chappelle told the crowd. Besides requiring him to work "20 hours a day," he said, it has made him a "star," which has resulted in the inability of fans to treat him as an individual.

"This (stand-up) is the most important thing I do, and because I'm on TV, you make it hard for me to do it," he said.

"People can't distinguish between what's real and fake. This ain't a TV show. You're not watching Comedy Central. I'm real up here talking."

Shouts continued to interrupt Chappelle's routine until he stopped to give a lecture on "how comedy usually works: I say something. You mull it over and decide whether you want to laugh or not, and then you do or not. Then I say something else, and you think about that.

"It's worked well all across the country, but you people ..."

Performing in Sacramento, the comic said, might turn out "to be a bad idea - like chocolate-covered fish."

Chappelle told the crowd he knew why they liked his sketch-comedy show: "Because it's good. You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you're not smart enough to get what I'm doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong.

"You people are stupid."

Much of Chappelle's act - with its jokes about genitals,and sex talk, tales of strip-club escapades and frequent use of the n-word - is unprintable in a family newspaper. But that's not the best part, anyway. Chappelle is most effective when he ventures into social commentary - race, poverty, the cult of personality.

One of his better rants had to do with children and at what age they might be responsible for their own lives. Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old Utah girl who was kidnapped from her home, figured prominently in the commentary. He contrasted her case - she was discovered about nine months after her abduction only a few miles from her home - with that of 7-year-old Erica Pratt, who gnawed through her duct tape bindings to free herself from kidnappers in Philadelphia and was responsible for the arrest of the two men who had taken her. Pratt is African American, and her story received much less attention than did Smart's.

Then Chappelle placed Smart's case in opposition to that of Lionel Tate of Florida, who was convicted of murder in the death of a 6-year-old neighbor. Smart, at 15, was considered a child. But at 14, two years after the crime, Tate was sentenced as an adult to life in prison without parole. (A previously rejected plea bargain was later accepted, and he is now free.)

"When is a 15-year-old a kid and a 12-year-old an adult?" he asked, indicating it might be because one was white and one was not.

Chappelle said race relations are at such a low point in America that, "You can't say anything real when it comes to race. That's why Bill Cosby's in such trouble for saying black folks have got to take responsibility for their own lives.

"I spoke at my high school last week," he said, "and I told them, 'You've got to focus. Stop blaming white people for your problems.' "

He then added, sarcastically, " 'Learn to play basketball, tell jokes or sell crack. That's the only way I've seen people get out.' "

Chappelle's harshest words were addressed to those audience members who worship entertainers and athletes.

"Stop listening to celebrities," he said. "They do what they do for money - that's all. I don't even know why you're listening to me. I've done commercials for both Coke and Pepsi. Truth is, I can't even taste the difference, but Pepsi paid me last, so there it is."

Celebrity worship harms the object of affection as well, Chappelle said. "One day people love you more than they've ever loved anything in the world. And the next, you're in front of a courthouse dancing on top of a car."

In case the audience didn't get the reference to Michael Jackson, he said, "You know why Michael Jackson's had so many surgeries? He wanted you to like him more."

Chappelle, obviously, will not pander to his fans. "You guys are the worst listeners in the country," he told the Sacramento audience. "It's like 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Without the silence."

credit: TRIBnet

[Guest Josef Stallion]

All I can say after that is

What. the. hell.

[Guest Wrestling_Man]

Dave if your show is "ruining your life" then why don't you just STOP THE SHOW AND CANCEL THE DAVE CHAPPELLE SHOW!!!

[A-Dub]

Notice how during his rant against the audiance he added things in there like "Performing in Sacramento, the comic said, might turn out 'to be a bad idea - like chocolate-covered fish,'" and "It's like 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Without the silence."

[Media 2.0]

Well...I have to say I can't really blame him. How would you feel if it was you? He's stated a few times on his show..he could just be walking with his kid or something and someone'll shout "I'm Rick James Bitch!" And I bet that truly does suck...although I'd probaly say it if I saw him from instinct lmao :ohwell:. But yea...I can't blame him, may have lost some viewers though...but hell he'll still most likely be the toprated comedy central show.

[fineintent]

"When is a 15-year-old a kid and a 12-year-old an adult?" he asked, indicating it might be because one was white and one was not.

I feel for Chappelle, I've seen his standup and it really is funny. Arsehole audience. But that quote is extremely astute and I hope he continues his stand up in the social direction, hopefully to an appreciative audience.

[Typical Phenom]

Can't blame him at all. People can't seperate his television show from his stand-up, that's their fault. People never went up to Bill Cosby and asked about Theo while he was doing stand up. Dave plays characters on his sketch show and yes, a lot of people are stuck on using his phrases over and over and over, but if he's not talking about it during his stand up routine, there's no reason to bring it up.

[Guest Mr McFarlane]

It's the same as walking up to Arnold and saying 'Asta La Vista',

It must fucking annoy him to no end

[nomaster]

dave chapelle is hillarious and i feel for him here, all htough im not sure how he made the part about white and black people funny as i have never seen that one, but every body gets annoyed once in a while and i guess heckling problly put him over the top

[Carnage]

Dave Chappelle is a comic genius. He knows what going on. Not only is he a genius in comedy, he is smart in a worldly way. His quotes are so true in many ways (i.e. Worshipping celebrities & Pepsi/Coke) and he has dissected society so well and can portray it in his comedy.

[Hellfire]

Cheppelle has a right to be pissed off. I mean, if people came up to me and constantly said "I'm Rick James Bitch" id most likely get pissed and punch them in the face. He just took the high road instaid of doing something stupid.

[zero]

Dave if your show is "ruining your life" then why don't you just STOP THE SHOW AND CANCEL THE DAVE CHAPPELLE SHOW!!!

←

Dave Chappelle has not signed on for a third season of Chappelle's Show and after this incident, I doubt he will. I don't blame Chappelle for this, he's a fucking comic genius and stupid kids can only scream "I'M RICK JAMES BITCH" and "WHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAT?!" whenever he's mentioned.

[Evil Chase K]

I don't watch the Chapelle show, but I do enjoy his standup routine. So I could care less if he stops doing his show, which I don't really care for as it gets played out so fast with everyone quoting it. And adding to that that I'm not into the whole hip-hop culture (like the Lil John thing).

But if it means he'll do more standup, then I hope he does stop the show.

[Guest Sean O'Haire]

I saw his free show at Purdue University, the man is hiliarious. I feel for him here. I have kids in my school who stilll use these fucking quotes from his show. You tell them a joke from his stand up and they don't find it funny because it isn't popular, or wasn't on TV. He should quit the show, IMO. He has gained his fame, and can now easily sell places out when he does stand up.

[Mishmow]

I saw him doing stand up. The best stand up night I'd ever been to. Shame that people are so ignorant....

[Hex-XL]

I actually feel for Chappelle. His show's okay, but his stand-up is way better. He doesn't need to be shouted moronic quotes from his show while he's trying to do stand-up. The audience suck.

On a somewhat related note, Maddox(sp? lol) did a rant on how people always imitate Dave Chappelle. I agree wholeheartedly. There is only one person in the world who can make that stuff funny: Dave Chappelle. Everybody else sounds idiotic.