Dave Chappelle - Funny guy reappears
Comedy Central scheduled funny guy Dave Cappelle in their all new Sunday Deput on July 9. All New Sundays line up began with The Lost Episodes at 9:00 pm, Mind of Mencia at 10:00 pm and Reno 911 at 10:30 pm eastern time. Then something went awry in the third and fourth season and Dave Chappelle walked away.
Dave Chappelle, the controversial comedian is now opening with a mini-tour of nine cities with a show at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount. The surprise tour was just recently announced.
Named after his new movie, “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party,” the show will include music by a DJ and some of the musicians who appear in the film. The movie is a documentary, directed by “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Michel Gondry.
The concert featured celebrities Kanye West, the Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Mos Def and a reunion of the Fugees. It has not yet been announced which of these artists will appear here.
Dave Chappelle had a two hour TV interview on Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio” and an interview on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” On each show he tried to explain why he walked away from his TV series just before the premiere of its second season and turned down a $50 million offer for seasons three and four. He went to Africa, where he spent two weeks before returning home to his farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Dave Chappelle was reserved in his interviews and never really got to the exact reason, but it seems to come down to his rights to control his show, especially Comedy Central’s efforts to give it more “universal appeal” He said that he walked away from the show twice before for that reason.
“The Dave Chappelle Show” was risky entertainment with its skits that had to do with race. He used the n-word and satirized racial stereotypes, but the series became a big hit despite its offensive language. The DVD in its first season is the best-selling DVD made from a TV series.
Although he has not gotten back to his TV show, Dave Chappelle is doing what he loves the best, stand-up comedy. He has been making top news in several appearances at comedy clubs, some of them surprise shows.
His tour will sure to be a hit. Its success will put him in an even better bargaining position with Comedy Central, who apparently wants him back. The cable network is currently offering Dave Chappelle terms of a $50 million contract, and maybe more, to get him to return. According to current reviews, the network knows that all the publicity and news would make his show, which last aired in May 2004, fly to the top.
In one interview, Dave Chappelle, 32, showed himself to be smart, articulate and proud of his efforts to make the black race a topic of conversation in this country.