Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer

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.

Upon seeing Dave Chappell had a new special out, I was admittedly pumped. I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not a huge fan. I've seen everyone of his specials more than once. This however, isn't close to being near the classic Dave Chappell standard we've come to expect. It started strong but fades pretty quick, that the sixteenth minute I'm constantly clicking to see how long is left so I can get through it. His joke telling in this is kinda lazier, and he's usually pretty poignant but here it seemed uninspired. This is almost feels like a quick cash grab. I'm not saying Dave is losing a step. I still think he's probably the GOAT. This one just isn't is his best. Skip it, and keep going.

Fortunately for comedy, The Dreamer and Chappelle once again go out of their way to prove no one deserves special treatment or should be off limits from being the recipient of a joke. Unfortunately for us, Dave spends a large chunk of this special for 'story time with Dave' rather than focusing on the laughs. The setups for many punchlines are often too stretched and segue into other life stories.

Preachy Dave is back, going on a long-winded and somewhat incoherent set of stories from Russian Mobsters to Lil Nas X. The ending of the special really ruined an otherwise typical set for Chapelle. It came off as a self-absorbed sermon devoid of humor. Chapelle is one of the GOATs, and it's disheartening to see him feel the need to flaunt such borderline narcissistic behavior.

I hope Dave can get back focused on his next special. Give us a comedian doing an hour of comedy ravaging everyone and everything, not a pastor preaching a life full of dreams.

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....

In general this was an ok set by Chappelle, maybe a bit half-hearted and repetitive but still better than most of the garbage out there that passes for stand-up comedy.

But then it came to the finale, a 15-minute bit about... errr... not sure what exactly? Dreams? Being a dreamer? Something about Russian mobsters and Lil Nas X? Where was he even going with this?

Turns out it was nothing more than a self-aggrandizing monologue that lacked humour and humility. He really seems to have developed something of a God complex and his shows are suffering for it.

It's a pretty spectacular drop from being arguably the best in the world at his profession to this. Like I say, it's still better than most comedy but, by the standards he has set, this is a huge fall in grace.