Comedian Dave Chappelle joins the show to talk about his comedy career, his stand-up, and his new Netflix special. He also talks about how he got his start in comedy and how he went from a small town kid to becoming one of the most successful comedians of all time.
00:00:08.000We haven't done one of these in a while, but really excited to have my guests on.
00:00:11.000First, I should mention, not an official sponsor or anything to the show, but if you go to cigarsdaily.com, enter in the promo code Crowdery, you get 15% off this Oliva Milano.
00:00:20.000It's a smaller cigar, and they sell them in boxes of 10.
00:00:23.000So, just a buddy of mine, good guy, he's really nice, helped me actually after the surgery with some stuff.
00:00:27.000Cigarsdaily.com, enter in the promo code.
00:02:19.000And for people who are, and I don't think a lot of them are, but maybe they're not as intensely familiar with you, like obviously stand-up comedy, people have probably seen you, right, in Half-Baked and seen your stuff on TV, but now you've been in the news a little bit lately just for stances that are, seeing someone as controversial, you know, chose to do shows where they didn't have the vaccine deal, and then next thing you know, you're in the news, which, you're not a news guy.
00:04:07.000I'm more impressed by your impression.
00:04:09.000I had Mick DiPaolo call me furious because we had him on a podcast one time and that was the same show on YouTube where I did Bob Ross painting Muhammad.
00:08:23.000Dude, I would just get on planes and it'd be like camera crews going to report and me getting bumped to first class because no one was on the planes.
00:08:38.000I mean, we started here at this, to give you an idea, here, I came in with the employees and I said, look, Just so you know, if you want to stay home, that's fine.
00:09:01.000And the numbers that we saw during that time, that was kind of the shift with this company.
00:09:06.000We went from maybe having 30, 40,000 people watching live at that, you know, any given second.
00:09:11.000To 150, because people were locked in at home.
00:09:14.000And it's just, to me, I kind of thought, like, wow, I'm sort of surprised that I'm one of the few people doing this, when big names in the industry you would think would understand their job is to serve people, not themselves.
00:09:25.000And a lot of art becomes self-important.
00:09:26.000But I wanted to get into, you mentioned your audience, like 40, 50, a lot of them, a lot of people are familiar with you from, like, Half-Baked.
00:13:32.000And actually, when things really changed for me, Stand-up wise and everything was it was 2008.
00:13:38.000I would go to this bar in town Chester, New Jersey was a little country town middle nowhere and There was a we would do dad's night out so a couple dads in town and went there with drank him hanging out and then all of a sudden a woman goes Oh, you're the famous guy in town.
00:13:59.000And I always try to down like, ah, no, I'm just a regular.
00:14:02.000They're like, no, you're, but you're like the drug and blue guy.
00:14:07.000Like, I can't bring my kids to you because you're filthy.
00:15:41.000He came in, he talked about his horrible time in life and blah, blah, blah, and he goes, you know, you look great and the stuff you're doing is amazing.
00:15:48.000You're not like all religious and stuff, right?
00:15:53.000But that persona, like if you just say, nah, you know, I do believe in this, and immediately, it's like politics.
00:16:01.000It's like any category, oh, you're this, you're out.
00:16:06.000Like you don't even, everything's been categorized.
00:16:09.000So there definitely was a fear in me, Steve, where I'm like, oh my God, how am I gonna, am I gonna lose this whole thing?
00:16:16.000And that lasted all the way until Covid.
00:17:02.000Not only am I not in control, but now we're not even in control of who decides how we're going to work, where you're going to work, what we're going to take away, what we're going to censor, how we're going to control your life.
00:17:49.000It's like you're going to take away anybody's ability to be able to make a living, fulfill anything, or do anything with their life when anything could happen.
00:17:58.000Based on a vaccine where my entire life, I took every vaccine because my mom wanted me to, and they all had, you know, they all worked.
00:18:05.000You know, I do bits even in my stand-up where it's like, yeah, if polio came out and everybody had noodley legs and was FDRing all over the house, you'd be like, these don't work too well, do they?
00:18:15.000But now people keep getting COVID and it's like, well, you could have got, maybe your one leg works.
00:18:21.000If you got the fifth, you'd have gotten the fifth booster.
00:18:27.000Which blows my mind because there was, we had a group of friends in New Jersey, we'd do coffee every day.
00:18:32.000And there was one guy that would always say, well, I, I've been, I get all my shots and I'm just saying I'm the only one that hasn't got it.
00:18:42.000And he would continue to say this and I'd always just keep quiet, well guess who got it and he got it worse than anyone else.
00:18:48.000He's four shots in, boosters and all that.
00:19:46.000I realized a long time ago, me trying to appease other comedians, they're not the ones paying for my bills, they're not the ones paying to come see me.
00:20:13.000But I will say this, you're incredibly respected by that community too.
00:20:16.000So, in other words, if a big name comic called you, like I remember hearing Jim Norton just talk about, you know, what a great storyteller you were.
00:20:21.000Pete, your name always comes up, whenever we even have someone on the show.
00:20:26.000Even if you're not seeking their approval, but that's why I think someone like you is so important, because it's very easy for them to dismiss an up-and-comer and go, they're not one of us.
00:20:35.000It's very clear you're at that top tier, and you're off the reservation as far as things that are permissible to say.
00:22:48.000And you're not even, before YouTube gets mad at this, because we always have to understand what their rules are, even though they're supposed to be a platform, not a publisher.
00:25:01.000Oh my god, Richard Pryor was hilarious.
00:25:03.000I always wondered if he was around today and still, you know, lucid.
00:25:07.000You always wonder, a lot of the guys who were sort of venerated as heroes, would they still have been, because back then being progressive or more liberal was seen as sort of counterculture, but today it's the opposite.
00:25:15.000You wonder if they would have shifted with that.
00:26:41.000I think a lot of them didn't foresee because he would say all that and then Republicans and not realize that you have this incredible, just this authoritarian left wing today.
00:26:52.000I don't necessarily know that they If they didn't see it coming, I maintain that, honestly, the parties haven't switched.
00:28:55.000And I remember having these conversations, and it's sort of, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
00:29:01.000The progressive left, they get their d*** in a ringer where they're saying, okay, all cultures are equal and they're pro-migrant of any kind, and then they have to defend the culture that a lot of these people—and I don't just mean Islamic terrorist culture.
00:29:11.000I mean, in South America, much more machismo, traditional gender roles, and now they're saying, what's the LGBTQAIP, like Mexican Catholic voters, and it's backfiring on them!
00:32:02.000And it constantly was getting into trouble, because in their culture, it's like, well, look, make use of what you have, which also was resourceful.
00:32:09.000But you have a bunch of angry white bitches in Canada.
00:33:08.000It was... And I swear, Dave, the reason I did it was to put the light on him and the light on anyone That becomes a caretaker, because that's what it was.
00:33:24.000It was becoming a caretaker, and it was the greatest thing I ever got to do in my whole life.
00:33:29.000I begged God my whole life, don't leave this man alone.
00:34:28.000What I loved about putting that documentary was And Steve, I didn't know your dad.
00:34:35.000I met your dad, and there's something deeper when I meet someone.
00:34:41.000I have a comedian in Open for me, Joe Sibb, and Joe Sibb doesn't even realize when he came to Open for me this one time, I gave him a shot, he brought his dad.
00:34:50.000And he didn't realize, like, dude, unless they throw shit at you tonight, you're already in.
00:34:55.000The fact that out of all the people you could have brought to the show, you brought your dad?
00:35:00.000Well, you know what, and also, I appreciate you saying that because Dave knows this, you know, Darren, my dad, first off, he's been on the show, he's wickedly funny.
00:35:08.000I always say he's like me, but more affable.
00:35:10.000Like, everyone likes him, you know, he doesn't have the low-grade irritation that I constantly have, but he's the- It's true.
00:35:16.000It's true, he's been, he's far more likable.
00:35:18.000But he's been the booker on the show for a long time because we had a booker who was a booker for The View and Meredith, and bookers just kept dropping out because they were saying people are afraid to book this show.
00:35:27.000And so I said, Dad, you're a people person, like, do you think you could?
00:35:30.000And then, you know, he was getting these big names on.
00:35:33.000And people on the left, that's one of their attacks is like, oh, you have your dad working for you?
00:35:42.000So it really genuinely doesn't bother me.
00:35:45.000And I'm glad to hear that you had a relationship like that because everyone often thinks that comics are broken and a broken family life and household.
00:36:15.000Yeah, it also shows the connection you should have with your father.
00:36:18.000If you still have your parents, it shows how important that connection is and how you can be there for them.
00:36:24.000So many people think it's a burden, and it's like, And also, as somebody who doesn't have their dad, you're very lucky, you know, like, if you still have your dad, seriously, thank your lucky stars, because it's something that you... It's so wonderful to have your family, and it's great that your dad books your show.
00:37:32.000Agent Orange is what your dad called his shotgun.
00:37:34.000His dad, I reached out to his dad and then his dad watched my stand-up and became a fan.
00:37:44.000He was like, I really liked your comedy, I want you to meet... so that's how I even met him was because his dad was the booker.
00:37:50.000If you're going through a typical Hollywood booker, I don't think I ever would have met him.
00:37:54.000Because it was somebody who actually took the time to be like, he's right for the show.
00:37:57.000No, he really cares, and I will say this too, I don't know if it was like this with your dad, but my dad was a very, very high-level hockey player, and he'll never talk about it.
00:38:06.000I brag on him, and right now he's probably embarrassed if he's watching the feed.
00:38:11.000He was on scholarship at U of M, and back then they only drafted Canadians, and Americans go to this kind of summer training camp, and he was picked for that for the New York Rangers.
00:38:18.000But he had a dad who really discouraged him, like, chasing a hockey puck around.
00:38:21.000So he actually just didn't lie his way, but charmed his way to the corner office at EF Hutton
00:38:27.000and then Dean Witter and kind of left hockey by the wayside.
00:38:30.000And I think because he could have been so good at hockey, and he was, and his dad discouraged him,
00:38:36.000he decided that he wasn't going to push me into hockey, but whatever it was that I was passionate about,
00:40:38.000Like, I understand if patriarchy means that women are second-class citizens, like Saudi Arabia, but patriarchy meaning that you need a strong father figure, that it can make or break somebody.
00:42:42.000My mom did wardrobe and costumes for the Just for Laughs.
00:42:45.000Norm was when I decided I wanted to do stand-up comedy.
00:42:48.000I started writing stand-up at 13 or 14, but it was because Norm did a joke, and I still remember to this day, it was 1993, maybe 94, and it was about... because everyone else was going up kind of, you know, short, tight set, right?
00:43:02.000And then Norm went up and he did this long workaround joke.
00:43:05.000I read in the news that this guy killed his family and chopped them up and put them in a devil bag because the devil told him to.
00:43:15.000What if the devil just took off his mask and said, hey, it's me, Bob!
00:43:22.000But the funny part to me was after he goes, Oh Bob, I got my family here in a duffel bag.
00:43:27.000Oh, that's one for you, Bob. That's one for you.
00:43:30.000And I said, what is this? You know, I didn't know what it was.
00:43:33.000And, uh, talk about a guy who just had balls of steel.
00:43:49.000Well, if you don't want to get Chris Kattan, if you don't want to get Abhishek, you can tell any Norm story you want, because he was my white whale.
00:47:16.000Like we're all, me and Colin, Colin's like, I don't know, maybe he's uh, I don't know, maybe he found God, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I'm not saying anything.
00:47:24.000And then now we're at the dress show, and Catan's non-stop, non-stop.
00:47:29.000God, Norm, sketch, man, try to sell it, it's the only thing I'm in, God, I'm fine.
00:49:01.000You can't even try- Oh my God, Pamela, you're so hot, you're so sexy, you're so beautiful, I love you, oh my God, if Tommy Lee ever- 30 seconds!
00:50:13.000To this day, if you watch that show and that sketch, you'll see my shoulders doing this because I'm uncontrollably laughing at what just went down.
00:50:23.000I have so many moments like that on SNL that were so much better than the real life stuff.
00:53:26.000None of that Milwaukee ice s**t. I sprung for it.
00:53:29.000I went ape s**t. Dude, and that, as embarrassed as I was at that moment, as time went on, I couldn't believe what a, what a damn hero and a real man he was.
00:53:43.000Yeah, because that's your first episode and greatest story I've heard of SNL so far.
00:54:02.000He's more like my, you know, we'll sit down and talk with my dad before, I know we have to go after this, but he has more stories like that, too.
00:54:10.000My dad is, you know, he's so likable, he's nice, he's charming.
00:54:13.000And I will tell you this, when I grew up, he would find a way, he could find your weak point and cut you down so deeply in a nice way, where it doesn't really matter what you were saying.
00:54:24.000Like, I think I said, you know, one time when I was a teenager, once ever, like, oh, I hate you.
00:54:29.000He said something like, yeah, that cyst isn't quite going down like you thought it would on your nose, is it?
00:54:33.000You know, that kind of thing, where it's like, oh my god, this is my dad, and he's worse than any comic I've ever seen.
00:54:39.000He would just pick your weak point, and I've watched him get into it with executives, with, I won't say the names, but politicians, national level politicians, and their handlers here.
00:54:48.000There is something with maybe just being at that age where you just decide, I don't care.
00:54:54.000And I think I started that early on because I watched him and I didn't realize I couldn't get away with it.
00:55:27.000If you have to be, let me ask you this, because you've done so, and I'm not saying this to shine your ass, but you've done so much, okay, SNL and you've done the stuff with Dave Chappelle, but you've also done these specials, so many specials, and you've sold out these huge theaters, and then now you're in this chapter where you sort of You know, inadvertently became controversial.
00:55:45.000Again, for people who don't know, go watch some of his commentary and watch his specials.
00:55:50.000And it's nothing that should be offensive, but to some people it was.
00:55:53.000If you had to pick, considering how multifaceted your career has been, what would you want to, how would you want to be remembered?
00:55:59.000If people say Jim Brewer is, what would you want that to be?
00:56:04.000To be dead honest, I'd rather my kids be Learned from me as a, that I was a hero for them.
00:56:19.000And then I was a hero for my wife and family.
00:56:22.000As far as the rest of the world, um, I've always, I, I feel like 90% of the time I put a good human vibe out there.
00:58:49.000I love the saying, this is one of the sayings that changed my life, one person can change the whole world for the better as long as they don't give a damn who takes the credit.
00:59:03.000And that was a, that moment and just my friend Larry's like, bro.