[From Nathan: All of these posts are pretty unrefined, I hope you understand.]
The Show
Recently, YouTube released 8:46, a 27-minute clip from Dave Chappelle & Friends: A Talk With Punchlines, an event held in Yellow Springs, Ohio on June 6. A title card explains that it was Chappelle’s first performance in nearly three months (87 days; Ryzik, Willen, Yap).
Chappelle–like the rest of us–had to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed comedy clubs, and many critics note the outdoor venue and “socially distanced” audience (Jenkins, Nemetz, Obaro, Respers France, Willen, Yap). Lisa Respers France of CNN and Tomi Obaro of Buzzfeednews are the only critics, however, who quote Chappelle, who himself acknowledges that this is “weird and less than ideal circumstances to do a show.”
Confused Context
While all the critics note that the incident involving George Floyd is the occasion for Chappelle’s monologue, they seem a bit split on what happened, exactly. Nick Gillespie of Reason.com is the most blunt, noting the special deals with “the police killing of George Floyd.” Audrey Yap of Variety notes that 8:46 was the length of time “Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee against Floyd’s neck, ultimately leading to his death.” While “holding one’s knee against someone’s neck” sounds pretty mild, Yap is the only one other than Gillespie to infer a causal relationship of Chauvin’s behavior and Floyd’s death.
J. Edward Moreno of The Hill, similarly notes that 8:46 is the amount of time “former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck,” no mention of the death. Claudia Willen of The Insider also refers to Chauvin as “former officer,” but that he merely “knelt on George Floyd’s neck before he died.” To be fair, she later notes that Floyd’s death was “at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.” Lisa Respers France also mentions that Chauvin is a “former officer” but is a bit more precise in that Chauvin “was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck before he died.” Caitlyn O’Kane of CBS News doesn’t refer to Chauvin at all, nor Floyd’s death, instead noting–in passive voice–that Floyd “was pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer.” She later calls his death a “tragedy.” Craig Jenkins of Vulture.com skips the issue of Chauvin entirely, noting that the special “deals with the fallout from the death of George Floyd.” True, Chauvin is innocent until proven guilty, but this parsing of language might reveal some implicit bias.
The Content: Overview
Floyd isn’t the only thing discussed in the special. Among the content critics talk about are race (O’Kane, Willen), the protests (Adams, Gillespie, Jenkins, Willen), the media response (Gillespie, Moreno, Nemetz, espers France, Ryzik, Willen, Yap)–specifically Laura Ingraham (Nemetz, Willen, Yap), Candace Owens (Nemetz, Respers France, Willen, Yap), and Don Lemmon (Gillespie, Moreno, Nemetz)–the death of Kobe Bryant and Chappelle’s resultant inability to accept a Grammy (O’Kane, Ryzik, Yap), his family members (Ryzik), Ja Rule (Yap), Philando Castille (O’Kane), Trayvon Martin (O’Kane, Willen), Eric Garner (Willen), Michael Brown (Adams) and a run-in Chappelle had with an Ohio police officer who went on to kill a young black man, John Crawford III (Adams, Ryzik).
The Verdict: Commentary, but not humor
Though Chappelle “covers a wide range of topics” (Ryzik), he “dives deep into topics of police brutality and Floyd’s death” and he “does not hold back” in “a set rife with his signature searing social commentary” (Yap). Repers France similarly notes that Chappelle “searingly addresses” these topics. Claudia Willen agrees that Chappelle is doing “social commentary,” (rather than humor) as Chappelle’s “regular jokes were far and few between,” and “humor is secondary in this set” (Willen). Craig Jenkins and Melena Ryzik also note it’s not really stand up:
The outrage is pure and unfiltered, more like a stressed-out bar hang or a video essay using historical parallels to illustrate what is acutely agonizing about 2020 than a gig meant to draw laughs. (Jenkins)
Chappelle’s performance isn’t much of a comedy set, because, as he notes, there aren’t really any jokes. Instead, it’s a raw accounting of police brutality, punctuated with images of black men who died at the hands of officers, and deftly interweaving his own personal history. (Ryzik)
Instead, what Chappelle is doing is serious (not humorous). Nemetz names it as such, stating:
In the new special,… Chappelle gets serious and tackles the systemic racism that contributed to Floyd’s untimely death and the worldwide protests that followed. (Nemetz)
A couple of critics even mentioned that Chappelle himself didn’t think the set was funny (and therefore that he’s not doing humor/stand up):
“This isn’t funny at all,” he says at one point, overwhelmed by the heaviness of his subject matter. (Jenkins)
“This is really not funny at all,” Dave Chappelle admits midway through. (Adams)
So we can again infer a divide I’ve talked about before–a divide between serious treatment and humorous. Chappelle can “get serious” or be “seriously funny,” but not both. We know this is a false dichotomy, but the way I see it described over and over in critiques of all comics seems to enforce a division.
Too “Raw”
Perhaps a justification for the set not being funny, Chappelle’s act is described above as “pure and unfiltered [outrage]” (Jenkins), a “raw accounting of police brutality” (Ryzik). Others also use the R-word:
He gets raw about everything from Floyd’s death to the media in a set that is heavier on observations than jokes. (Respers France)
[The show] was billed as “a talk with punchlines,” and while he’s a master of twisting painful truths until he can find the joke in them, the emotions that the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed have brought to the surface are too raw to process, let alone transmute into something resembling humor. (Adams)
Others pointed out that the 27-minute video came with a disclaimer:
From Dave: Normally I wouldn’t show you something so unrefined, I hope you understand (Adams, OBaro, O’Kane, Yap)
Others pointed to Chappelle not being “off-book” as a sign that the set wasn’t quite honed yet:
He sits on a stool and lets out a heavy, bone-deep sigh, then consults his black book of jokes — another indication that this show is unpolished, less practiced. (Obaro)
Dressed in black, he refers regularly to a notebook and smokes a cigarette onstage. (Ryzik)
He keeps fiddling with the strap on his Moleskine notebook, as if he knows that once he opens it, he won’t be able to shut it again.* (Adams)
It’s not surprising the material was “unrefined”: COVID-19 closed all the clubs, and gigs and open mics are where comics hone their material. What we essentially got in this set, was Chappelle’s first (official) draft. Tomi Obaro of Buzzfeed news points out that Chappelle says in the set:
But the only way to figure out if this shit will actually work is to do the goddamn show
Yes, he’s talking about a show with COVID-19 restrictions, but he’s also talking about the material itself. So the act is definitely unrefined, but the words “raw,” “pure and unfiltered” connote a whole other world of values: authentically held positions on issues, as opposed to strategic positioning and role playing a humorous character; informational statements, lacking joking form; authentic representations of emotions, rather than feigned, etc. The “filters” of humor are many.
But Powerful
As with most stand up comedy that makes the news for not being funny, Chappelle’s set is lauded by some:
[Chappelle’s video] about the police killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests [is] immensely powerful (Gillespie).
It’s Chappelle’s most poignant material in ages (Jenkins).
[The set is] incendiary and brilliant — part sermon, part history lesson, part eulogy. (Obaro)
Willen goes into a more detailed critique:
[Chappelle’s set] evolves into a monologue that weaves individuals like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner into a larger story of police brutality and deeply rooted racism in the US…. 8:46 provides a harrowing look at the way history has repeated itself, often at the expense of Black lives (Willen).
Chappelle himself points out he’s been doing this type of work in pointing out racism and social injustices through his comedy since the beginning. So, on the one hand, it’s great to see his new special get critical acclaim–even if it fails as humor. On the other hand, we as critics should be echoing his statement that he’s been here the whole time, and magnifying his voice not only from this special, but from his previous works, as they apply. I’ll work on getting something up here.
Traditional critics give preference to the works of bona fide speakers who state their authentic feelings to an audience that is prepared to act. Stand up comedy usually violates most of these conditions. So of course this statement by Chappelle would get positive critiques from those who agree. I want to compare these to the critiques of the set after Chappelle has reworked it–presuming he will.
In part two, I’ll look at some of the most quoted material from this set–and try to find some intersections to his previous work.
References:
Adams, Sam (6/12/2020). “In Dave Chappelle’s Surprise New Special, He’s Done Making Jokes.” www.slate.com
Gillespie, Nick (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle’s ‘8:46’ Expresses Righteous Rage Over George Floyd’s Murder.” www.reason.com
Jenkins, Craig (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle’s 8:46 Is Powerful But Not Quite Perfect.” Vulture.com
Moreno, J. Edward (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle addresses George Floyd’s death, rips Don Lemon in surprise Netflix special.” www.thehill.com
Nemetz, Dave (6/12/2020). “Don Lemon Reacts to Dave Chappelle Criticism in New Netflix Stand-Up Special: ‘I Actually Agree With Him.'” www.tvline.com
O’Kane, Caitlyn. “Dave Chappelle addresses George Floyd’s death and racial injustice in surprise special, “8:46.”” www.cbsnew.com
Respers France, Lisa (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle drops hard-hitting ‘8:46’ special.” www.cnn.com
Ryzik, Melena (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle’s Netflix Special: Three Key References to Know.” www.nytimes.com
Willen, Claudia (6/12/2020). “Dave Chapelle cuts the jokes to take an incisive look at racism in America in his surprise Netflix special ‘8:46.'” www.insider.com
Yap, Audrey Cleo (6/12/2020). “Dave Chappelle Speaks Out on George Floyd’s Death, Blasts Candace Owens in Searing Netflix Special.” www.variety.com
