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==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*Revealed on ''Chappelle's Show'' [[DVD commentary]] that he was once drinking buddies with [[Slash (musician)|Slash]] from [[Guns N' Roses]]
*It was revealed on ''Chappelle's Show'' [[DVD commentary]] that he is a fan of the band [[Guns N' Roses]]. He was once drinking buddies with [[Slash (musician)|Slash]] from the band.
*Is a fan of band Guns N Roses (revealed on DVD Commentaries).
*He said that sketch comedy is not his favorite form of comedy, though his show is somewhat like short films.
*He said that sketch comedy is not his favorite form of comedy, though his show is somewhat like short films.
*Chappelle lives with his wife Elaine (who is of [[Filipino people|Filipino]] descent[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/arts/television/27itzkoff.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5090&en=d4621faea456d339&ex=1290747600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss]) and two sons (one is named Sulayman[http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22774]) on a [[farm]] just outside [[Yellow Springs, Ohio]]. When he is not touring or engaged in filming for television or the big screen, he can be seen in the shops and markets of the small [[college town]].
*Chappelle lives with his wife Elaine (who is of [[Filipino people|Filipino]] descent[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/arts/television/27itzkoff.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5090&en=d4621faea456d339&ex=1290747600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss]) and two sons (one is named Sulayman[http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22774]) on a [[farm]] just outside [[Yellow Springs, Ohio]]. When he is not touring or engaged in filming for television or the big screen, he can be seen in the shops and markets of the small [[college town]].

Revision as of 18:29, 28 July 2006

For the director and photographer, see David LaChapelle.
File:Chappelle23.jpg
Dave Chappelle

David 'Dave' Chappelle (born August 24, 1973 in Washington, D.C.) is an American comedian and actor.

Early life

David Chappelle has been fascinated with stand-up comedy since his days as an elementary school student at Woodlin Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and a middle school student in Yellow Springs, Ohio. His inspiration came from his favorite comedians and idols, Queens own Robert Diaz and Ill Syl. His father, William, was a professor of voice and music at Antioch College in Yellow Springs. At 14, Chappelle gathered the courage to perform on stage at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Chappelle was booed off stage, but described this experience on Inside the Actors Studio as an enlightening experience that gave him courage to continue on. After his parents' divorce, Chappelle moved to Washington, D.C., with his mother, Yvonne Seon (a Unitarian Universalist minister). He spent summers with his father in Yellow Springs and graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts (a renowned performing arts high school in Washington, DC), where he majored in literary and theatre arts.

Actor and stand-up

In 1992, Chappelle made his first TV appearance on Def Comedy Jam. In the next year Dave made his first appearance as an actor in Robin Hood: Men in Tights as Ahchoo, and then in Undercover Blues as Ozzie. The period from 1994 to 1997 for Dave was mostly a repetitive cycle of TV appearances, fairly minor stand-up shows, and rather low-budget films. He was also given his first shot at his own show, The Dave Chappelle Project but the pilot was not picked up. Another opportunity at a sitcom resulted in the much-hyped but short-lived series Buddies on ABC. He then had a role in the 1996 remake The Nutty Professor. In 1998, however, Dave became a hit cult movie star in Half Baked, a film Dave co-wrote (with Neal Brennan) and produced (uncredited), which follows the lives of four stoners. After Half Baked, Chappelle did more TV appearances, stand-up shows, and films. In 2000, he made a rather large impression on his HBO stand-up special, Killin' Them Softly. Dave did not achieve commercial appeal and superstardom until obtaining his own show; but had been embraced as a comedic figure within smaller circles.

File:Dave Chappelle.jpg
Dave Chappelle.

Television stardom

In 2003, Chappelle debuted his own weekly television show on Comedy Central, Chappelle's Show. His sketch comedy heavily skewers racial stereotypes and slurs, including Chappelle's African-American heritage. This, combined with pointed social and political commentary, quickly gained the show great popularity. By the end of the second season, it was one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable, and second only to South Park on Comedy Central. Additionally, the DVD set of the first season became the best-selling DVD of a television show to date. Due to the show's popularity, Comedy Central's parent company Viacom reportedly offered Chappelle a $55 million contract (giving Chappelle a share of DVD sales) to continue production of Chappelle's Show for two more years while allowing him to do side projects.

File:I'm RickJames Bitch!.jpg
"I'm Rick James, Bitch!"

One of Chappelle's most widely-known bits has Chappelle portraying late funk musician Rick James during his drug-abusing years in the Rick James sketch. "I'm Rick James, Bitch!"—which James himself acknowledged was a direct quote—has become a part of popular culture, as have many other Chappelle characters and sketches. Unfortunately, this type of popularity has not always sat well with Chappelle himself. At an appearance at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Chappelle stopped the show to deal with an audience member who would not stop repeating the Rick James phrase, he even took the gesture a step further at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, CA, where he berated the crowd and walked off the stage for overusing it during his act.

Season 3 turbulence

The comedian stunned fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production of the third season of Chappelle's Show. Chappelle has said he was unhappy with the direction of his show. He has recently claimed that he felt pressured by network executives regarding the show's content. He spent two weeks in South Africa before returning home to his 65-acre farm near Yellow Springs, and then returned to standup comedy. His decision triggered reports that he had mental or drug problems, which he denied. On May 11, 2005, news sources (most notably Entertainment Weekly) reported that Chappelle had checked himself into a psychiatric facility in South Africa. Chappelle denies this. On May 14, 2005, Time Magazine announced that one of their reporters had interviewed Chappelle in South Africa, and the comedian said no psychiatric treatments were occurring or necessary. Chappelle reportedly went to South Africa to purify himself and to do some soul searching. He converted to the Muslim faith in 1998, helping him reflect during his time in South Africa.

On August 3, 2005, co-star Charlie Murphy gave an interview to TV Guide stating that he believed that Dave Chappelle was finished with Chappelle's Show and would not be returning. Although Chappelle might have been done with filming the show, Comedy Central decided to release the unaired sketches of the third season. A season three trailer was shown on Comedy Central during their Last Laugh '05 special and then on their website.

Chappelle himself, however, has expressed disdain at the possibility of his material from the unfinished third season being aired, saying not only does he feel that it is "a bully move", but also that he would not return to the show if Comedy Central were to air the unfinished material, which they subsequently did.

On July 9, 2006, Comedy Central aired the first episode of Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. An uncensored DVD release of the episodes was made available on July 25, 2006.

Return

In late 2005, Chappelle was reported to be back in the United States, at his house in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and performing impromptu shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Newport, Kentucky.

Chappelle was interviewed for Inside the Actors Studio on December 18, 2005, at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts. The show premiered on February 12, 2006.

He was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on her show on February 3, 2006 in the first televised interview with Chappelle since he left Chappelle's Show. He stated in the interview that he "wasn't crazy" but the environment was "incredibly stressful". He continued:

"I would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that's not the way it was. ... I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I'm going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching."

Chappelle also mentioned to Oprah that he felt some of his sketches were socially irresponsible. He singled out the "pixie sketch" and said during the filming of the blackface pixie sketch a white crew member was laughing. Chappelle said " it was the first time I felt that someone was not laughing with me but laughing at me"[1][2]


He did not rule out returning to Chappelle's Show to "finish what we started", but only under certain circumstances such as a better working environment. One of these circumstances, however, was that Comedy Central would not release the Season 3 episodes that had already been filmed; the planned release of the "Lost Episodes" DVD is a sure sign that the production of future episodes is not hopeful. He also stated he would like to donate half of the DVD sales to charity, and to people that supported him. During an interview Chappelle said how the death of his father had an impact in his decision to go to South Africa to get away from the stress of stardom. Chappelle looked up to his father for advice during his life and said in an interview at Inside the Actors Studio that he never had the chance to mourn his father's death. He also said the rumors that he was in drug treatment only persuaded him to stay in South Africa.

http://www.buzznet.com/buzzwords/chappelle/video/2504/

Chappelle wrote and starred in a Michel Gondry-directed film titled Dave Chappelle's Block Party that chronicles a Chappelle-hosted event, from September 2004, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The highlight of the event was the reunion of popular '90s hip hop group The Fugees. Chappelle toured several cities in February and March 2006 to promote the film under the moniker "Block Party All-Stars featuring Dave Chappelle." The movie was released on March 3, 2006.

According to IMDB, Dave is set to star in a sports comedy film, Ballers in 2007.

During late July of 2006, Dave Chappelle has toured several major cities in the South performing many stand-up routines at Atlanta, Georgia's The Tabernacle with special appearences by Hip Hop recording artist Mos Def and will continue his legacy of stand-up after ticketmaster.com posted ticket sales for 15 shows at the Punchline Comedy Club, San Francisco hosted by Mr. Chappelle. The shows are scheduled between July 28 - Aug 9 at the club.

Chappelle DVDs

  • Chappelle's Show - Season One, 2004
  • Chappelle's Show - Season Two, 2004
  • Chappelle's Show - Lost Episodes, July 25, 2006
  • Dave Chappelle - Killin' Them Softly, 2000
  • Dave Chappelle - For What It's Worth, 2004
  • Dave Chappelle's Block Party, 2006

Filmography

Trivia

  • It was revealed on Chappelle's Show DVD commentary that he is a fan of the band Guns N' Roses. He was once drinking buddies with Slash from the band.
  • He said that sketch comedy is not his favorite form of comedy, though his show is somewhat like short films.
  • Chappelle lives with his wife Elaine (who is of Filipino descent[3]) and two sons (one is named Sulayman[4]) on a farm just outside Yellow Springs, Ohio. When he is not touring or engaged in filming for television or the big screen, he can be seen in the shops and markets of the small college town.
  • He converted to Islam around 1998. He told Time magazine in a May 2005 interview "I don't normally talk about my religion publicly because I don't want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is a beautiful religion if you learn it the right way." [5]
  • Chappelle's Show has a large hip-hop following and has featured such progressive rappers as: Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Mos Def, and Kanye West. The show has also spotlighted musical guests such as 50 Cent, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Outkast, Common, De La Soul, Fat Joe, Anthony Hamilton, DMX, Snoop Dogg, and Erykah Badu.
  • Chappelle is a computer and video game enthusiast, including an affinity for World of Warcraft, NBA Street, Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto. On Chappelle's Show, he paid homage to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in a sketch. He has also done a sketch in which he challenges and beats a child with cancer in the video game Street Hoops. In the final sketch for the first lost episode, one can hear a lyric mention, "run up in yo spot like CJ from San Andreas".
  • Chappelle's Show Season One Uncensored! DVD box set is the best-selling TV show on DVD with over 3 million copies sold.[6]
  • Chappelle appeared on Def Poetry. He performed two poems, titled Fuck Ashton Kutcher and How I Got the Lead on "Jeopardy!."
  • Richard Pryor said that he has passed the torch to Dave Chappelle. [7]
  • Dave Chappelle created an iTunes Celebrity Playlist and selected the DangerDoom track Mince Meat for his Block Party Picks. He stated, "Two very consistently good artists collaborate to make my head nod. Doom, Mouse - Thank You. Wherever you are, nice album."
  • Dave Chapelle skateboards as a hobby and says he tries to find skateparks in the cities he performs in. He has also made an appearance skateboarding in the Signature Video Magazine Volume 1. The video features a short clip of Dave skating at Project 58 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He made another appearance skating on the first episode of Chappelle's Show during the credits as Clayton.
  • According to Celebheights.com, Dave Chappelle is 5 ft 11.5 in (182 cm) in height. [8]
  • In the skit entitled "Hip Hop Newsbreak" (the first episode of the Lost Episodes), the premise is centered around the song "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man" by Wu-Tang Clan. The intro to the song has Method Man and Raekwon discussing how they would torture one another - all of the actions described by Method Man are those mentioned by Tron, played by Chappelle, as being inflicted upon him by Method Man.

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Dave Chappelle.

Official websites

Additional websites

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