Dave Chappelle For What It's Worth: Deeper Than You Might Think

I realized something seemed amiss about my reviews considering this is supposed to be my entire collection of DVDs and I had yet to review one of my many stand up shows. So where better than with Dave Chappelle's last known stand up special at this point. Filmed in 2004 at the height of Dave's fame he descended upon San Fransisco, the location of his first stand up special, to do what he truly loves. Be on stage.

Because there is no real plot to speak of I shall simply review the performance and highlight particular bits as I watch and listen. First reaction, good choice of a city and a venue which Dave actually explains and says that San Fran is an ideal city for comedy. Second reaction, what the heck why does he have mustache? Ok maybe he looks a little bit older but he also looks an adult film star. Besides clean faced Chappelle has the best facial expressions.

Ok the standard for a comedian the local jokes. For anyone familiar with stand up specials nearly every comedian earns their crowd's favor in the first five minutes by making a bunch of jokes about their city. As irritating as this can be the good bits can be just as funny as the rest. Here it is hit or miss. At first he references places so specific it's hard to laugh but towards the end he picks up speed.

First third of the show is just random Chappelle glory. Granted it is crude to the max and he does utilize stereotypes but the way he tells the jokes ensures that we won't take it seriously. In this bit we cover Native Americans, monkeys, a bus that's held hostage (in a very gross way). The one thing I am noticing is that sometimes his jokes have a formula which is as follows. Setup setup setup setup pause.......punch line. But considering that comedy is based upon anticipation it works quite well.

Second third covers Dave's favorite topic: race. As expected we hear our classic black guy imitating white people voice. Dave also does a very good job of bringing up the little things that people of different races get made fun of for or cause misunderstandings. For instance juice vs. drink.

The third act is easily the best. The other bits are fantastic but this set of jokes actually makes you think. The major highlight is a relatively long bit that asks the question: How old is fifteen? The question isn't an easy one and Dave challenge his audience to think about it. In another bit he explains the psychological effects of having slave-owners on American money. But like any good comedian he also punctuates his serious stuff with a priceless joke.

This is also the most revealing bit for Dave because he hints as to why he stopped doing his TV show. One: Dave never liked doing a sketch comedy show. He does and always will view himself as a comic. Just looking at him during this it's very clear that he is in his element. Two: He doesn't like being a celebrity. In a saddening but still funny bit Chappelle details his exploits at Disney world as everyone in park comes up saying "I'm Rick James bitch!" to him in front of his family. It's the kind of bit that elevated Richard Pryor from great to a legend. Turning your own celebrity and pain into your bits.

Overall I was laughing the entire time and some of the bits are incredibly clever while being insanely crude. Not to mention Dave has one the funniest voices in the world when he curses. Fair warning he does get graphic at times and curses in nearly every sentence but if you're a fan of Dave you were already expecting that. By the end of this I have one request to Dave. You can do whatever you want just let me know when do another random stand up show because this one is hilarious.