Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly

This is one of my favorite stand up acts of all time. It's hilarious from beginning to end. Dave Chappelle is an excellent storyteller which makes the punchlines even funnier. My husband and I still quote his act 20 some years later. If you don't know Chappelle before his Comedy Central show or Netflix specials, this is a must watch.

Dave Chappelle is funny -- Not funny like Richard Pryor, or Eddie Murphy, or Redd Fox. But funny like Dave Chappelle. The guy has a certain genius to the comedy he does, while at the same time letting it all hang out, tickling every funny bone in my body! "Killin' Them Softly" is the funniest stand-up comedy performance I've seen in years! And Chappelle is one of the funniest comedians, who'll be around for years!! FUNNY-FUNNY-FUNNY!!!

I'm a huge fan of Dave Chappelle so of course I loved this HBO special.This stand up special was released right in between Dave's two most iconic comedies,Half Baked and Chappelle's Show,so he wasn't as big as he is now.First,the good,Dave covers a lot of topics,ranging from Sesame Street to the police.Dave's delivery and timing is perfect,his physical performance is good,and his vocals are amazing.As always(except maybe Half Baked),Chappelle makes great jokes about the differences between races and our cultures.Dave also feels like a real person,he laughs at his own jokes at times and even high fives audience members.He also has some political humor and jokes about the differences between men and women,some of it may feel outdated by today's standards,but this special did come out in 2000.Now,the bad,I loved this special,but it does have one flaw,it doesn't matter that much,but the second half feels a bit outdated and is nowhere near as laugh out loud funny as the first half.All in all,Killin' Them Softly is hilarious and still culturally relevant,but it slightly suffers from a kind of weak second half.

A Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy performance from Washington, DC.

Incredibly clever, subversive and irreverent and delivered with Dave Chappelle's incredible sense of timing and range of voices, this is stand-up comedy at its finest. Might well be the funniest comedy performance I've seen - only Robin Williams comes close.

Three years later Dave Chappelle turned his clever, racially-focused wit into a series, with Chappelle's Show. There he had even more room to demonstrate his talents, as he mixed stand up with set-orientated skits. Chappelle's Show turned out to be one of the funniest TV series of all time.

After multiple appearances with Comic Relief and a half hour special on HBO, Dave Chappelle returns to his hometown of Washington, D.C., to tape his first hour-long special. He spends the bulk of the time exploring racial differences and making cultural observations, with a smattering of political humour. Chappelle manages to navigate some sensitive material with a disarming charisma. He's not breaking any new ground for black comedians here, but he manages to make it seem fresh with his effortless charm. Some jokes (like the ones featuring the out-of-place baby) illustrate Chappelle's ability to paint a picture with words and gives a few clues into what it was that made his show so popular. The political bits and the casual sexism will make this feel a little dated, but there is enough here to appeal to a newer audience.