You cunningly ask your audience: “Is it possible that a gay person can be racist?” Obviously, the answer is yes, and obviously that has nothing to do with your comedy being outdated, transphobic, and, frankly, hack. Problem being, in this context, it’s only about as valid as, say, “What about Black on Black crime?” To be fair, your observation about white America being more appalled by Black people repeating, on stage, what we’ve heard our Black mothers say than they are by a Black man murdering another is valid. That’s the best section of what devolves into a Ted talk for terfs, starting with your tortuous claim to being a feminist – for the first time ever.
What’s it called when a troll says every offensive thing they can think of to distract their audience from the shitty belief they’re trying to defend? Deflection? Yeah. It would be like getting a laugh break for saying: “I drank a cup of coffee.” This is, of course, only the first of many more basic jokes to come. Hate crimes aren’t so much a joke as an American way of life.
There’s no obligation on anyone else to approve of the stupid shit we say, which brings us to our next issue.Īfter coming on stage, you rightly call attention to your status as “rich and famous”, which is the only reason anyone gets a laugh break for “Black people beating up Asians”. So watching your special, I couldn’t help but think: this dude is 48 years old, been doing comedy for 33 years, and still hasn’t built up a thick enough skin to take criticism? It’s rather sad, actually, because as comedians it’s our job to say shit for money. And y’know what? I’d be grateful, because I’m a comedian, and criticism is how we grow. Were I to bitch and moan about people having taken offense at a previous set, I would be rightly booed off stage. Now it’s 2021, and I think we can all agree that bitter old men griping about progress are killing comedy. Even so, as a longtime fan, something I always admired about comedy was its ability to push boundaries and challenge norms. It only makes sense that you might run out of new ideas. But hey, you’ve been doing this for 33 years.
Your formulaic joke structure and all-too-predictable edge-lord punchlines took me right back to my very first year performing at open mics. Watching The Closer reminded me of just how influential you had been on my early standup and understanding of comedy. Not because I know the trans jokes are coming, but because I know the same trans jokes are coming.” Or, as my friend and fellow comedian Jeffrey Jay put it: “Each time I hear that Dave Chappelle has a new special, I feel sad. I’ve always been a bit self-conscious that the first 15 minutes of my hour special are trans jokes, but now that he spent over an hour on LGBTQ people, I feel pretty good,” said Robin Tran. “I am legitimately thankful for Chappelle’s special for one reason.
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