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

Dave Chappelle is one of the most influential comedians to have walked the earth. His dedication to the art, and more importantly to himself, and his fans, is parallel to no other. Never afraid to speak his mind, stand up what he believes in and do it all while entertaining millions for decades. This award is well deserved and, quite frankly, a Nobel peace prize should be given to him as well!

Award shows usually have a lot of filler and this is no different. It had some good jobs from dave and a few other comedians though and it wasn't a bad use of time. That said it certainly made you just want to go back and watch the Chappelle show

I love Dave Chappelle's comedy style and creativity, and him being a recipient is well-deserved. The music, the guest speakers and comedians, the stories, everything about this are awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. I do not believe you have to be a Dave Chappelle fan to enjoy or most or all of it.

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.

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.