22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebrating: Dave Chappelle

In 2019 comedy great Dave Chappelle received the 22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The event was held in a star-studded ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Toasting Chappelle were a who's who of the entertainment industry: Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Common, Lorne Michaels, Bradley Cooper, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart and many more.

Watched this because I'm a great fan of Dave Chappelle and if anyone deserves a comedy award, he does. Suitably we have some amazing comedic talents telling some good jokes, plus some great footage of Chappelle from his earlier days, all the way back to the early 90s in some cases. We also have Chappelle himself, in a stand-up special filmed the night before the awards ceremony and at the ceremony itself.

Unfortunately it's not simply a gathering of him and his friends doing comedy routines but an awards night so you also have scores of dull speeches where the orator just heaps empty praise on Chappelle (Bradley Cooper takes the cake here but he's not alone). It's the kind of flattery that you feel embarrassed to receive (though maybe that's just me - I'm not that good with compliments). Quite cringeworthy at times.

So a bit hit and miss: some great comedy mixed in with cringeworthy praise. Overall it's watchable, but only just.

Best part of this are the old clips of Dave. And not even his best clips. Otherwise it was just a flow of unfunny so-called entertainers I've never heard of acting foolish. Some truly horrendous live music that made me mute my TV. The kind of music people who can't sing tend to make. Very dull average comedians trying to be funny and tell stories that in all honesty fell flat almost every time. Dave is hilarious but certainly not worthy of this award, which at one time was considered prestigious. Don't bother with it. You'll be disappointed if you don't keep your expectations extremely low. I didn't make it all the way through. It was worse than most shows of this type. Hardly any laughs. One or 2 touching but instantly forgotten stories. Sorry, but it stunk.

.... but contains an element of value or social commentary or idk, ethereal essence - that elevates humanity, that is benevolence in a world sorely lacking, that is almost vital to the betterment of 'man' ... in truth, instead of fumbling for the proper qualifiers and descriptors there is one word that exemplifies everything I'm insufficient to - it is simply "Chappelle"

Wow! Just watched this, always been a huge fan. He is truly the master and a beautiful and empathetic soul with a most excellent and powerful message for humanity behind all his comedy genius ✊👊😎

This "special" as I'll call it henceforth was very alright. It follows the ceremony of Incredible Comic Dave Chappele as he received the prestigious Mark Twain Prize. There are a few sets, most being stand up comedy which I'll focus on. The absolute star of the entire special was the set by Neil Brennan, which really shows his long history with Dave while also having Neil's signature "traumedy" style. Sadly, Aziz's set was largely unremarkable but was nothing agregious. Where problems arose was Tiffany Haddish's set which was quite pathetic and annoying. The special as a whole is a good watch if you are a fan of Dave Chappele or any of the comedians there as long as you don't mind a few bumps in the road.