I’ve noticed that once comedians “hit it big” and can live off of the royalties that their specials generate, their comedy tends to go way downhill and they start using future performances as almost soapbox-adjacent platforms rather than writing actual jokes that people find funny. They don’t need to write funny material to live off of anymore, they can just ride on their fame and sell out venues wherever they go, so it becomes more of a speaking gig rather than an act.
Like, I remember sitting down during the pandemic with a few friends to watch one of Chappell’s new specials and it was just him ranting the whole time, there might have been one or two jokes in there, but I think that was just his personality coming forward and not any conscious effort to deliver a setup and a punchline. It was such a letdown, because we were set for a night of comedy and it was just an angry rant with serious undertones.
Maybe just anecdotal, but that’s how I see it going for a lot of famous comedians - not all of them, of course, but a lot of the household names from the past two decades have gone this route rather than segueing into showbiz like comics from the 90’s era.
He was always this way. Born to upper-middle-class parents, growing up in the suburbs, cosplaying aa an urban poor black person to grift white people put of their money. Punching down on Mexicans and Asians, anyone he could to be profitable. Now it’s trans people, but the grift has always been the same.
He has a pretty well known interview where he whines about not being able to make fun of gay people and says something about how Comedy Central didn’t mind him making fun of black people and…
Well, Dave, I don’t know if anyone mentioned this to you but you’re black and not gay.
If he’s always at some level just never really identified with other black people, or at least the poor ones, that would make a lot of things about that disconnect make sense.
When they become too rich they start making bits like “isn’t going to the Bentley dealership the worst?” or “oh I hate it when I can’t book first class and I have to travel on business cramped with all the others”
While I still think Chappell is talented if he actually put more effort,
Man his comedy has gone downhill. It’s not a skill thing, it’s a: “I care about money and I know I’m gonna make enough anyway” kind of attitude.
IMO this is why artists should never be payed too much. They should make what a good doctor makes, not enough to “build a brand”
I’ve noticed that once comedians “hit it big” and can live off of the royalties that their specials generate, their comedy tends to go way downhill and they start using future performances as almost soapbox-adjacent platforms rather than writing actual jokes that people find funny. They don’t need to write funny material to live off of anymore, they can just ride on their fame and sell out venues wherever they go, so it becomes more of a speaking gig rather than an act.
Like, I remember sitting down during the pandemic with a few friends to watch one of Chappell’s new specials and it was just him ranting the whole time, there might have been one or two jokes in there, but I think that was just his personality coming forward and not any conscious effort to deliver a setup and a punchline. It was such a letdown, because we were set for a night of comedy and it was just an angry rant with serious undertones.
Maybe just anecdotal, but that’s how I see it going for a lot of famous comedians - not all of them, of course, but a lot of the household names from the past two decades have gone this route rather than segueing into showbiz like comics from the 90’s era.
Well, yeah, if I could stop doing real work and just use my soapbox to yell at people I’d do it too.
He was always this way. Born to upper-middle-class parents, growing up in the suburbs, cosplaying aa an urban poor black person to grift white people put of their money. Punching down on Mexicans and Asians, anyone he could to be profitable. Now it’s trans people, but the grift has always been the same.
He has a pretty well known interview where he whines about not being able to make fun of gay people and says something about how Comedy Central didn’t mind him making fun of black people and…
Well, Dave, I don’t know if anyone mentioned this to you but you’re black and not gay.
If he’s always at some level just never really identified with other black people, or at least the poor ones, that would make a lot of things about that disconnect make sense.
When they become too rich they start making bits like “isn’t going to the Bentley dealership the worst?” or “oh I hate it when I can’t book first class and I have to travel on business cramped with all the others”