Dave Chappelle getting fed up

[shortylickens]

http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/dave-chappelle-hartford-does-it-hurt-him.html?mid=imdb


He just turned 40 by the way.

 

[Kaido]

I have mixed feelings about this.

This was all over the place (I'm in Hartford) and the knee-jerk reaction is, what kind of comedian would walk off stage? But there is more to the story. Apparently he was getting heckled to the point where it interrupted his show and he started talking to them for like half an hour. Excessive hecklers should be handled by security so that everyone else can continue to enjoy the show. Instead, Chappelle walked off stage and left all of his other paying customers hanging. Kind of a jerk move. I think tickets were at least thirty bucks too.

Although he seems overly sensitive to begin because he's done weird stuff like that before. I can understand why he did it, but there were better ways to handle it. If you are standing in front of people who paid you to do a job, you should finish it unless things are really crazy. It's not like they were throwing rotten vegetables at him. But he is sensitive to racial stuff. And this is an interesting quote from your link:

Many comics get unhappy with a stand-up show or television executives or whatever. The difference is that Chappelle is willing to leave or stop.

I saw a Brian Regan comedy show down in New Haven awhile ago and people started shouting out jokes from his old shows - it totally threw him off mid-skit, you could tell it just totally dropped his train of thought in the middle of his joke, which was kind of mean of the audience members, but he regained his composer, went with it, and then went back to his skit. Near the end of the show he opened it up to the audience to suggest which of his old jokes he should do and that made everyone super happy because he had a lot of adoring fans there that night. So I think there are better ways to handle hecklers and interrupters than ditching.

Chappelle can't really get mad at people shouting Rick James catchphrases because that's part of what got him famous - that's like getting mad at the paparazzi for taking your picture. Those are the people who are keeping you in business and you need to respect the fact that they like your material enough to show up to your shows and shout out funny stuff you've said in the past because they love you. If you don't want that, don't take the job. I think a lot of people were disappointed that night.

 

[Kaido]

Haha, Brian Regan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_V3aDERrE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AeEAzac4Vk

 

[mizzou]

he's still alive and/or showing himself in public? I thought he Gene Wilder'ed himself.

 

[Balt]

Chappelle can't really get mad at people shouting Rick James catchphrases because that's part of what got him famous - that's like getting mad at the paparazzi for taking your picture. Those are the people who are keeping you in business and you need to respect the fact that they like your material enough to show up to your shows and shout out funny stuff you've said in the past because they love you. If you don't want that, don't take the job. I think a lot of people were disappointed that night.

Disagree. Completely. Shouting out old material like an obnoxious/oblivious douchebag when a comedian is trying to work through his set is not a way to show love or respect. And it's not funny when they shout it out. In fact, it was never funny when people repeated it ad nauseum. It's annoying and it always was. Dave Chappelle is funny. People shouting lines from his material are not.

Is Chappelle overly sensitive? Probably. Some of his fans are overly obnoxious though.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I think Chappelle is one of the best comedians I've ever seen when he's on his game, but he's apparently missing something that a lot of other comedians have in terms of dealing with crowds among other issues. I wish he would get whatever it is under control, because I would love to see him make more stuff.

 

[JDawg1536]

Hecklers should be dragged out into the alley and beaten to death. Shut the fuck up.

 

[Kaido]

Disagree. Completely. Shouting out old material like an obnoxious/oblivious douchebag when a comedian is trying to work through his set is not a way to show love or respect. And it's not funny when they shout it out. In fact, it was never funny when people repeated it ad nauseum. It's annoying and it always was. Dave Chappelle is funny. People shouting lines from his material are not.

Is Chappelle overly sensitive? Probably. Some of his fans are overly obnoxious though.

I don't disagree with that, but what you said only makes sense if you're an adult and/or mature. If you're going to see a comedian, you have to expect a certain type of audience to attend as well. It's like going to a rock concert and criticizing a mosh pit - certain things go with the territory, good or bad. You are going to have immature fans who can't keep quiet and you have to deal with that. You can ignore them, you can debate them, you can call security on them, or I guess you can walk off stage after your contracted time is up and leave all of your other paying audience members shortchanged.

I kind of wonder if he suffers from some sort of anxiety. He is sensitive to racial comments (as a human being, racial jokes stink, but as a comedian, you'd think you would have a thicker skin about that stuff - I mean, he brings it up in his own comedy bits) and sensitive to audience disrespect. Plus, he walked away from a $50 million dollar contract to do what he loves. Something is obviously not right.

 

[Balt]

I don't disagree with that, but what you said only makes sense if you're an adult and/or mature. If you're going to see a comedian, you have to expect a certain type of audience to attend as well. It's like going to a rock concert and criticizing a mosh pit - certain things go with the territory, good or bad. You are going to have immature fans who can't keep quiet and you have to deal with that. You can ignore them, you can debate them, you can call security on them, or I guess you can walk off stage after your contracted time is up and leave all of your other paying audience members shortchanged.

Fair enough.

I kind of wonder if he suffers from some sort of anxiety. He is sensitive to racial comments (as a human being, racial jokes stink, but as a comedian, you'd think you would have a thicker skin about that stuff - I mean, he brings it up in his own comedy bits) and sensitive to audience disrespect. Plus, he walked away from a $50 million dollar contract to do what he loves. Something is obviously not right.

Yeah, I don't know if it's anxiety, but there's certainly something going on.

 

[Kaido]

Fair enough.

That's why I'm on the fence about what he did. Publicly, what a joke (no pun intended). What kind of professional comedian walks off stage in the face of hecklers? Privately, he's also just a dude doing a job, and it obviously gets to him sometimes. The worst jobs I've had have been in retail, especially in food services, where you have to deal with the crazy people in public all day long. I became a bit cynical after dealing with people in awhile and seeing how some people think it's okay to behave in public toward other people.

I've always wondered how it seems like all of the celebrities handle the haters and crazy paparazzi without flinching, because it has to get to you after awhile. I think some people's personalities can handle it, but then you get people like Chappelle who have a harder time tolerating the jerks in the business. So I don't really blame him for walking off stage, but I think he could have handled it better and maybe have called security and just told jokes for 25 minutes and then left so that at least people didn't feel alienated at the end of the show.

 

[HeXen]

He has flaws like anyone else and like everyone else we all have different ways of handling different things. I don't think making judgments about it matters in the least since it's the heckler's that are instigating negativity, their the ones who should be put on the spotlight.

 

[JDawg1536]

Nobody should have to put up with that shit, no matter what their profession. People pay money for something and they think they have the right to do whatever the fuck they want. That's not how it works. In this case, behaving like an asshole ruins the night of hundreds of other people. I don't blame him one bit.

 

[Kaido]

I think Chappelle is one of the best comedians I've ever seen when he's on his game, but he's apparently missing something that a lot of other comedians have in terms of dealing with crowds among other issues. I wish he would get whatever it is under control, because I would love to see him make more stuff.

I would love to see him have more roles in movies, where he gets to write his own lines. He's a pretty intelligent guy and could come up with some funny stuff.

 

[Kaido]

Nobody should have to put up with that sstuff, no matter what their profession. People pay money for something and they think they have the right to do whatever they want. That's not how it works. In this case, behaving like a jerk ruins the night of hundreds of other people. I don't blame him one bit.

That's a big reason I don't go to movies as often anymore. I love movies and I always laughed off people's complaints about other people at movies, but lately I've been seeing a lot more of a downward trend at the big screen - people talking loudly during the movie, bringing little kids in and letting them cry, using their cell phones with bright screens that light up the room, taking pictures of the movie in front of you, etc.

Some lady brought an infant and a of couple toddlers to Avatar 3D ($16 a ticket at my local theater in the director's theater, no less) and it got so bad they finally had to get the manager in to talk to her because of the crying and the kids running around kicking people and stealing their popcorn. I don't mind if it's a kid's movie or something, but when I take my wife out and we have to spend $32 just on movie tickets, we get a babysitter and we don't interrupt other people's nights out.

I hope it doesn't get worse in the future, and I'm really glad that stuff like Amazon is making it so I don't even have to go to the store as often anymore haha.

 

[Oceanas]

I have mixed feelings about this.

This was all over the place (I'm in Hartford) and the knee-jerk reaction is, what kind of comedian would walk off stage? But there is more to the story. Apparently he was getting heckled to the point where it interrupted his show and he started talking to them for like half an hour.

He talked for half an hour because his contract was that he was supposed to be on stage for that long.

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Chappelle-heckled-at-Conn-show-stops-performance-4774759.php

Chappelle on Thursday night blamed the hecklers for ruining the Hartford show. He noted his contract mandated that he be on stage for 25 minutes.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to say for 25 minutes," he said.


Later on, he said he didn't blame himself for the situation, which was described as awkward by several fans.
"Hey man, I wanted to do a better show, too," he said, apparently responding to a person in the audience. "It wasn't my fault. Quite noisy in here."

One of those in the audience was Connecticut state Rep. Matthew Lesser.


"He basically stopped his routine and refused to go on and said he was contracted for 25 minutes and said he was just going to sit there," Lesser said. "He was berating the audience and telling them they were a lousy audience. I think it was kind of sad and disappointing."

 

[bradley]

Shame that the greatest comedic mind of the last decade is squandering his talent. From some of his recent quotes, seems like he's is starting to think so too. Otherwise, I admire him greatly.

 

[Doppel]

Sounds like a dick. What sort of asshole does this to an entire crowd of paying customers when, if he actually wanted to, he could have stopped the show, gotten security, and had just the hecklers removed? Total prick move. Dave was always overrated, though. Reminds me of a bitch teacher I had many, many years ago who punished the entire class because one person (and nobody knew who) erased stuff off the board and wouldn't own up. She threw a hissy just like Dave did.

 

[Kaido]

Shame that the greatest comedic mind of the last decade is squandering his talent. From some of his recent quotes, seems like he's is starting to think so too. Otherwise, I admire him greatly.

I read somewhere that the reason he didn't take the $50 million contract is because he felt they couldn't achieve the same level of funny they had been keeping up. If that's true, then he's awesome for ditching when he did and not giving into money. It's like when someone makes a great first movie, then creates a sequel to make money and it's just terrible instead of good (re: Transformers 2), but it's a temporary cash cow in the short-term.

I really liked Harper's Island, a 1-season TV show. 13 episodes & done. It was perfect, unlike Lost which had a great first couple of seasons and then got stretched to the point of having to end in a dumb way.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232320/

 

[Kaido]

He talked for half an hour because his contract was that he was supposed to be on stage for that long.

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Chappelle-heckled-at-Conn-show-stops-performance-4774759.php

Yup. In one of those articles, "He noted his contract mandated that he be on stage for 25 minutes." So he did the bare minimum to meet requirement and then bailed, since his contract didn't specify what he had to do during that time.

My guess is that he won't be invited back :|

 

[Aikouka]

I read somewhere that the reason he didn't take the $50 million contract is because he felt they couldn't achieve the same level of funny they had been keeping up.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232320/

I stumbled across some interview with him (I think it was with Oprah) a few months back on YouTube, and I believe he said that he just didn't like the exploitative culture of the execs. I guess you could say it's about the "level of funny" because they might try to have more influence over his material.

Chappelle can't really get mad at people shouting Rick James catchphrases because that's part of what got him famous - that's like getting mad at the paparazzi for taking your picture.

I thought I remember reading something about him getting really sick of it because people kept coming up to him in person and doing it... even when he was there with his family. I can understand why someone wouldn't like some crazy guy shouting, "I'm Rick James, bitch!", with his kids there.

 

[tynopik]

the greatest mystery to me is: where was security?

surely this venue has it? why didn't they eject the hecklers? massive fail on their part

 

[SunnyD]

Chappelle can't really get mad at people shouting Rick James catchphrases because that's part of what got him famous - that's like getting mad at the paparazzi for taking your picture. Those are the people who are keeping you in business and you need to respect the fact that they like your material enough to show up to your shows and shout out funny stuff you've said in the past because they love you. If you don't want that, don't take the job. I think a lot of people were disappointed that night.

So you're okay with people going to the movie theater when you go, buy a ticket just solely to sit in the theater to talk to one another, text on their phones and make/take phone calls and ignore the movie the whole time?

 

[shortylickens]

the greatest mystery to me is: where was security?

surely this venue has it? why didn't they eject the hecklers? massive fail on their part

Michael Richards didnt eject them......

 

[DrPizza]

Shame that the greatest comedic mind of the last decade is squandering his talent. From some of his recent quotes, seems like he's is starting to think so too. Otherwise, I admire him greatly.

What makes him the greatest comedic mind? He had great delivery on the Chappelle's Show, but he wasn't the sole writer. He had a lot of help from Neal Brennan (I think they agreed they'd never say who wrote what though.)

 

[shortylickens]

yeah he had loads of help on the chappelle show, and even so many of the episodes were only about 16 minutes long (I have the DVD's).

Can you imagine? 14 minutes of commercial breaks and 16 minutes of entertainment?