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Brick Wall Comedy

The Bird Revelation

Dave Chappelle

Netflix · 2017 · 49 min

An intimate, quiet club set about power in Hollywood.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Dave Chappelle spends the climax of this set holding a copy of Iceberg Slim’s 1967 memoir Pimp, using its cold-blooded rules of psychological manipulation to explain why he walked away from $50 million in 2005. It is a quiet, loose, late-night club set that feels more like an intimate debrief than a polished stand-up show. Sitting on a stool in a small, dimly lit room at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, Chappelle uses the book’s harrowing anecdote about a pimp tricking a sex worker into staying loyal to lay bare how Hollywood networks grind down and trap talent. Taped on November 20, 2017, and released as a surprise alongside Equanimity on New Year’s Eve, the special capped off a massive comeback year of four Netflix releases. Because it was captured in the immediate wake of early #MeToo allegations, much of the performance is a controversial response to the scandals surrounding figures like Harvey Weinstein and Louis C.K. His framing of C.K.’s victims as “weak” drew intense criticism, making this one of his most polarized releases. While some critics found his commentary off-the-cuff and dismissive, the double-feature release eventually won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Louis C.K. sexual misconduct allegations

    Contrasts the allegations and notes that Louis C.K.'s was the only one that made him laugh, questioning whether watching someone masturbate should shatter someone's dreams while comparing it to Martin Luther King Jr.'s resilience and walking away from a $50 million contract.

  2. R. Kelly's misconduct versus his musical legacy

    Explores cognitive dissonance and separating art from the artist, noting R. Kelly peed on a 15-year-old girl but also wrote 'I Believe I Can Fly,' physically act-outing singing the track while pantomiming urinating on the crowd.

  3. Colin Kaepernick kneeling and the price of heroism

    Praises Kaepernick for risking his career during the national anthem and suggests launching a GoFundMe for him, observing that heroes typically face uncomfortable fates.

  4. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    The Iceberg Slim pimp parable closer

    Recounts a story from Iceberg Slim's memoir 'Pimp' about a sex worker manipulated by her pimp through a staged death, serving as an allegorical revelation about why Chappelle walked away from his $50 million Comedy Central contract.

How it plays

Tone
Intimate, provocative, dark, contemplative, and audaciously candid.
On stage
Low-key, reflective, unapologetic, and intimate, seated on a stool and speaking directly to a tiny room.
Pace
Deliberate, conversational, ruminative, and subdued compared to arena standup.
About
#MeToo movement and sexual misconduct scandals, Hollywood power dynamics and exploitation, Walking away from Chappelle's Show, Racial inequality and heroes in America, The role and responsibility of comedians to speak recklessly

What the critics said

Polarized; some critics praised its raw intimacy, audacity, and deep metaphorical storytelling, while others argued it was reactionary, disappointing, and insensitive regarding transgender individuals and victims of sexual misconduct.

In the room: Deeply intimate and quiet, filmed before an audience of roughly 50 people in the Belly Room upstairs at The Comedy Store.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, themoviedb.org, decider.com, vulture.com, nytimes.com.

Backstory

Filmed in November 2017 amidst the height of the #MeToo reckoning against sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood, NFL anthem kneeling protests, and the first year of the Donald Trump presidency.

Details

Released
Taped
The Comedy Store (The Belly Room), Los Angeles
Runtime
49 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Stan Lathan
Topics
Before
Equanimity (2017)
After
Sticks & Stones (2019)

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