This isn’t a comedy special. It’s a sermon. It is real, it is raw, and it is powerful.

A long time ago, Dave Chappelle asked why we’d ever want to hear from celebrities (like Ja Rule) in a time of crisis. This special, metaphorically and literally, answers that question.

Personally, I think we have reached that time where we listen to comedians and laugh at politicians.

I mean the main point of a stand up routine is to be funny and this was mostly a rant. I agreed with some stuff and disagreed with other shit but it doesn’t matter. To me, comedians should be able to produce their political message sprinkled under jokes because without the comedy it just becomes a political rant and that’s not the reason why I would listen/watch a stand up routine.

I have nothing to add because Dave Chapelle said it best. 8 minutes and 46 seconds feels like a lifetime. Black Lives Matter and if you don’t agree feel free to unfollow. Fair warning don’t go into this ready to laugh.

Dave isn't here to make you laugh this time. He's not trying to take your mind off of shit, or provide some distracting entertainment during the troubling times we find ourselves currently living in. He's here to drop some uncomfortable truths on you, and you need to listen. Just shut up and listen.

Whoever changed the name please change it back. This is NOT the place for you to spread your agendas. @Letterboxd admin, please check on this issue.

Who knew Dave's redemption arc simply needed him talking about how fucking dumb Candace Owens is?

This is incredible work. Going from on the verge of tears to laughing my ass off at this, Dave wrestles with emotion and speculation of motives behind several killings to send a message out to fellow people afraid of the police state and to police themselves, trying to make the latter understand why rioting and protesting is so urgent right now. His ties to the events give him this unique anger and dismay at all the coldness and cruelty, and he answers it with a measured response that feels extremely necessary right now.

Admittedly, I had a little trouble adjusting at first to Dave Chappelle as I have not seen him. He makes a few jokes, but do not come into 8:46 expecting Dave Chappelle the comedian. Something much different is going on here.

In 8:46 we see Dave Chappelle the Preacher, a cool as shit preacher that would change my whole outlook on church. I didn't laugh much in this one, but Chappelle was doing something much more important here. He has a way of putting things into perspective that few possess, and if his words helped anyone feel a bit differently or a bit stronger on these matters that are rightfully under the microscope, then this might be his most important special yet.

Every institution we trust lies to us.
-Dave Chappelle

Possibly the first celebrity to have anything meaningful to say during all of this and the only one actually speaking from the heart.

We saw ourselves like you see yourself.

Eerie. In this bizarre moment we are all currently experiencing, who better to guide us across the River Styx than Dave Chappelle? Here, completely unhinged and brazen, raw as a nerve, angry as shit, but utterly vindicated and proven right by reality time and time again. What he manages to do in less than a half hour of material - connecting the seemingly-disparate dots of Candance Owens, Kobe Bryant, Christopher Dorner, his own father and grandparents, etc. - makes more sense to me than any of the mental gymnastics I, myself, have been doing the last couple of weeks.

The moment is cruel and it doesn't make sense!

RIP George Floyd. Black lives matter.

far and away the best thing dave chappelle has done since he came back (this includes A Star Is Born)

the only worthwhile piece of art yet made about this year

He smokes and he knows things

Indeed unrefined, but with this kind of thing, it didn't need to be.

Incredible.

This is a special that I appreciate every time I think about it. It feels more like a TED Talk than a comedy special. And I enjoy it each time, even though there are a few jokes slipped in. Dave Chapelle knows when it's time to be serious and when to be funny. This is a special everyone needs to see

Not full of jokes, but he made valid points.I wouldn't consider it a stand up though.

This definitely shouldn’t be marked as comedy, which is what I came for, not bad just misleading

I understand Dave.

I mean the main point of a stand up routine is to be funny and this was mostly a rant. I agreed with some stuff and disagreed with other shit but it doesn’t matter. To me, comedians should be able to produce their political message sprinkled under jokes because without the comedy it just becomes a political rant and that’s not the reason why I would listen/watch a stand up routine.

Moved me to tears.

In which a groundbreaking, boundary-pushing comedian confronts the fact that sometimes, “too soon” can last quite a while.

Really powerful stuff.

It’s refreshing that he doesn’t make this about himself. Fuck all the celebrities who think police brutality is a PR opportunity.

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In quarantine, Thetford, Vermont