Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly

I believe Richard Pryor to be the best stand-up comic of all-time (closely followed in the social-critic realm by Bill Hicks and George Carlin), but Dave Chappelle is promising to be a worthy successor. This HBO special from 2000 has achieved something of a cult status on peer-to-peer networks since its airing, especially in audio form, and as such has gained even more popularity since Chappelle's venture into Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" (which is finishing its third and apparently final season right now).

Looking back, I find this to be even funnier than his comedy show. Whereas his (hilarious) sketch show can become a bit repetitive at times and is almost always dealing with racial stereotypes and such, "Killin' Them Softly" touches on everything - beginning with blacks and whites ("DC has changed!"), moving on to crime, then television shows, and of course marijuana.

My personal favorite bit has got to be Chappelle's observations on children's entertainment. He remarks how Pepé Le Pew is practically a rapist and encourages children to "take the pussy(cat)" and how racist "Sesame Street" was. ("Yeah, Oscar! You're a grouch." - "I live in a trash can! What do you expect!") Don't forget The Count: "I know a pimp when I see one!" To be honest I've found Chappelle's television show to become a bit stale sometimes (even though I'm a huge fan of it) but I was blown away - his stand-up comedy is even better. It's rare that I find myself laughing out loud at comedy acts, but even without watching him on stage, his vocal performance is gut-busting. The 911 phone call bit is classic.

I don't want to discredit Richard Pryor and say this is funnier, but if you listen to some of Pryor's older stuff, Chappelle is touching on the same issues as he did in the 1960s and '70s and is, at times, actually doing it even funnier. Of course, Chappelle has some way to go before matching Pryor's iconic status or even his later fusion of outrageous comedy and social satire in the mid-'70s through the early '80s (which surpasses the stuff here), but those comparing him to Pryor have a reason to do so.

'Killin' Them Softly' was the first comedy special I watched from Dave Chappelle after his show blew up in a big way and I could barely stop laughing. It was three years before that moment would happen and he still exhibits a youthful energy as you see a bunch of parallels to what made his show so successful. Some people say the politics and sexism date the material here, but as an older person I get the references and mindset.

I'm preaching to the choir. This special is old news and if you're a fan you've already saw it. Too many spots to talk about, but I appreciated numerous moments of crowd interaction. Type of energy here is really affectuous. Two element missing from his later special 'For What It's Worth'. I can also say there is bits on race relations and racism to his show, but again unlike that later special it never got taken to far or lost me. There's no serious dips in quality, momentum or laughs.

He pulls voices, heavy on swearing, sexual content. I think what sets it apart is Dave is very relaxed and the material flows effortlessly. It never feels like he gets lost or has to draw a loose bridge to connect it all. If you've watched 'Chappelle Show' to death and don't find his newer stuff hitting as hard as you'd like go back to the past and revisit 'Killin' Them Softly'. You won't be disappointed.

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.

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.

From the looks of it, I would say despite Dave Chapelle's impressive movie career, he's been a stand-up comedian for quite some time now. Because when I saw this comedy special, I laughed really hard. Here, he discusses kids, the presidency, girls and some other miscellaneous things. He is also very poignant in his comedy delivery. This is one of the best comedy specials of the year, and it is from a guy who I never knew was a comedian (but hey, I thought the same of Denis Leary). So good job Chappelle, because you are funny. A+