Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer

"You need to be wise enough to realise you are living in your dream.

And you need to be humble enough to know when you are in someone else's dream."

One of the weakest Dave Chappelle specials. But it doesn't mean that it's bad. It's still pretty good. Dave shares some nice stories with the audience. The final segment about dreamers was quite good, and a bit dark also.

But Dave doesn't dive deep into politics and there isn't much profoundness in his comedy here that can be found in his other specials. Mostly plays it safe. But he still does a fair share of jokes that will surely get this special some attention from the easily offended group of people (not the handicapped guys). But as a fan who considers Dave Chappelle to be a legend, this was a bit underwhelming.

"That's what men do.

Men make boundaries.

Men enforce boundaries.

Men test boundaries."

A Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy special, recorded in 2023 at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC. Chappelle reminisces about his start in comedy and the importance of having a dream. The Will Smith-Chris Rock incident also gets a mention.

If you know Dave Chappelle's comedy and his stand-up specials you know what to expect: un-PC, unfiltered, irreverent and nobody and nothing is above being the subject of a joke. This is no different as he boldly goes where no comedian has gone before.

Not laugh-a-minute, and his routines rarely are. He generally sets up the joke with a seemingly innocuous story before delivering a powerful punchline.

This is a bit more serious than normal as there are parts that are more thought-provoking and profound than funny.

His worst specials are where he tries too hard to be provocative, with his lines delivered for shock value more than for genuine laughs. Thankfully there's nothing like that here as his routine is quite smooth and unforced.

Great show.

As I watched, I could almost hear the frenzied breathing and flying fingers of Outrage Junkies salivating like hyenas over fresh meat. Some folks never get the point. Dave has nothing against gays, lesbians, transgenders, the disabled or any other culturally victimized group. The butts of all those jokes are the ACTUAL bigots, and YOU who can't wait to broadcast a defense of others who never asked you to do so, and often would disagree. When you're "triggered" by words without regard to source and context, you're the one with the self-inflicted problem.

There never was a War on Christmas to whine about; similarly, guys like Dave, Ricky Gervais, Jim Jefferies, etc. Are active off-stage humanitarians, generous with their time and money. For stand-up, they've crafted a persona that includes taunting the Comedy Karens while giving the rest of us plenty of laughs, knowing their jokes contain absolutely no malice. If they weren't pleasing large fan bases, they wouldn't be making the big bucks and drawing so many butts in the seats.

He repeats the frequent criticism that he likes to "punch down" for a satiric point. He's mocking the complainers, not the ones they think they're protecting. Outrage Addicts are lower on the ladder, but they got down there by choice, and deserve to be punched down on more than Chris Rock deserved The Slap.

No one is forced to like this type of humor. If you don't, there are plenty of other options in every medium, running the spectrum from irreverent to devoutly religious, political to observational, etc. Calm down. Change channels and enjoy whatever hits your sweet spot. And stop interfering our EQUAL right to savor what we find funny and/or insightful.

As someone's Grandpa said, "If everybody wanted the same thing, they'd all be chasing Grandma."

Grateful for the New Year's Eve tradition and Dave coming down the electric chimney. And DC from DC, 24 years in....all part of an exquisite package.

Dave's got jokes, but the key is how he let's them out of the safe deposit box. He's a very gifted story-teller, and he's had a life where even his nightmares can be spun into comedy gold. Maybe I should say especially his nightmares.

He's still targeting wokeness in part, and he landed somewhat early on this beaches to be fair. By no means the first, as I'm sure he'd admit. The opening is masterful, and if you expected him to back down on any front, I think you've not watched much of him. So maybe you'll skip this.

It's like if you got on a rollercoaster, you are not getting off until the ride's over.

The detail in putting this together is just fantastic, even lampooning the mandatory ovation/encore. Verbal throwbacks, someone could analyze the moves like a chess match and destroy every last ounce of humor.

See it now, before details leak or your kids threaten to disown you if you watch it. By the way, they are wrong....but we love them anyways.

I'm not sure enough people get healthy amounts of deep sleep to be living a waking dream but it would be nice. Like a Steph Curry three-pointer, Dave's dream weaving comes with a hefty amount of work to match the god-given (or I prefer the idea of god-stolen) talent.

Hmmmm, now I sort of wish "Deborah" had been "Mary Lee" - as in Mary Lee, Mary Lee, Life is But a Dream. Even if your life is less dreamy than you'd like, I hope this special makes you laugh and think a little. Ideally with someone you love nearby....

At this point, no review is going to make a difference. You're either going to like him or you're REALLY not going to like him because you can't allow yourself to like him. For fans of comedy and especially Chappelle, his opening bit is crafted perfectly - recounting how I got to meet a hero of his and how it relates to his ongoing views of people that say they want to be treated just like everybody else EXCEPT when it comes to jokes. Which, kind of makes them just like everyone else. It's time for people to stop getting so bent out of shape and enjoy and appreciate jokes about people - especially when it's jokes about your own kind. If you're somehow not sure whether to watch this - just give it a try and try to appreciate it for what it is.