Dave Chappelle – 8:46 (Anytime / Youtube via Netflix) – “Don’t think my silence is complicit.”

Easily the best line of Dave Chappelle’s latest and raw “comedy” special: 8:46. Quietly released to YouTube late last night like a comedic Batman.

Silence. Does. Not. Speak. Volumes.

It’s clear Chappelle understands he is smarter (and flat out better) than his critics.

So that’s comforting.

2 things:
The special was filmed on June 6 in Yellow Springs, Ohio (dude’s home) with coronavirus-era social distancing guidelines in place for attendees, including face masks and temperature checks. A valid question every time Dave Chappelle’s name comes up: is this what the future of comedy is gonna look like?

Also a notebook? Be interesting to know how Chappelle’s comedy work has evolved: does he write on stage? In a notebook? His word economy is precise like a sniper and his emphasis and rhythm is an infectious beat. I believe the notebook is a prop; a cue for the audience to let em know he is still working through things; this isn’t polished. (And yet: Don Lemon who Dave references…Lemon’s impressive mediocrity serves only to affirm the greatness of Chappelle’s high quality of work.)

So yes. 8:46 is raw…emotional but also as a work: he’s formulating his thoughts on the black unrest in the US. Dave can take all the time he needs to get it right.

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.