Dave Chappelle has released a new Netflix special, The Dreamer, which is full of jokes about the trans community and disabled people.

“I love punching down!” he tells the audience, in a one-hour show that landed on the streaming service today (31 December).

It’s his seventh special for Netflix and comes two years after his last one, the highly controversial release The Closer.

That programme was criticised for its relentless jokes about the trans community, and Chappelle revisits the topic in his new show.

He tells jokes about trans women in prison, and about trans people “pretending” to be somebody they are not.

  • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    ITT: People who suck out all of the context and humor out of a joke and then insist it was never funny (even though the dude sells out arenas and everyone laughs and he’s widely considered by comedy fans and other comics to be a living GOAT). Comedy is democratic. You can’t say the stand up comedian is this or that, because he is telling jokes.

    • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      Comedy is part of a conversation, all art is, an artist is using their medium to say something. He has a massive platform and he is choosing to encourage even more hate against trans people. Even if his jokes about it weren’t so played out and dumb there are endless things he could joke about. It’s an asshole move and he chooses this topic probably because he knows it riles people up, because he is lazy and has nothing better to joke about.

      He is one of the GOATs if you look at his history and he probably can still make good jokes about better topics if he chose to. Massive assholes have had huge crowds plenty throughout history, it just proves that plenty of people are dicks too.

    • glimse@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      You can’t say the stand up comedian is this or that, because he is telling jokes.

      Yes you can lol

      He wasn’t hired to read a script. He wrote and rehearsed the jokes he chooses to tell

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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        11 months ago

        Does that mean Anthony Jeselnik is a literal Nazi because he wrote jokes about the Holocaust and being the grandson of a Nazi? Or that Don Rickles was really an asshole for being an insult comic?

        I do think Dave is bigoted, but I don’t agree with this particular argument since insult comics and offensive comics don’t have to believe the dark shit they write for the sake of humor. It’s what Dave says and does off stage that shows he actually believes the shit he says.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I haven’t heard Jesselnik’s routine, but the Rickles comparison is not apt because Rickles was an insult comic, which is a form of doing a character, and Chapelle is a topical comedian in the vein of Pryor and Carlin. Much like Pryor and Carlin, his comedy is also a platform to express his actual views. Unlike Pryor and Carlin, he is using that platform to specifically express bigoted views. I don’t think anyone would expect you to divorce Carlin’s or Pryor’s jokes from their politics. They make absolutely profound statements with their jokes. Listen to Pryor talk about why he won’t say the N-word anymore. It’s funny, and at the same time it will make you want to cry because it’s so insightful.

          So I think you absolutely can associate the character of a topical comedian with the content of their comedy. Because the best topical comedians out there make their comedy about their personality and opinions.

        • glimse@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I wouldn’t call him a literal Nazi but I can still get an idea of who he is as a person by the jokes he chooses to tell

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            You couldn’t possibly be more wrong about Jeselnik or the style of black humor that he does so well.

            This is boomer-tier missing the plot.

            • glimse@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I have always found him to be obnoxious even at the height of his fame. It’s bro “aren’t I so edgy?” humor. Those kind of jokes just became boring for me after freshman year

              I’m not missing the plot at all - I get what he’s doing. I’m just not his target demographic because I matured past high school

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                because I matured past high school

                I don’t believe you.

                If you had, you’d be able to recognize that his style of humor isn’t yours and that’s ok. You wouldn’t think “man this guy must really be a Nazi.”

                • glimse@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  Are you replying to the right person? My comment - that you replied to - said the following:

                  I wouldn’t call him a literal Nazi but I can still get an idea of who he is as a person by the jokes he chooses to tell

                  I’m not sure how you could have possibly read that and thought, “this guy thinks jezelnik is a Nazi!”

    • Tropic420@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      To be fair, Just because poeple Like it doesnt mean it is good. Hitler was elected too. Im Not saying he is a bad comedian, i dont know him. I Just think the Argument “it is good because its popular” ist Bad.

        • Tropic420@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          He did try to coup in 1923, but that failed and which ended him in “jail”,where he wrote Mein Kampf. And He was appointed as “Reichskanzler” in 1933. The nsdap got about 17.4 Million votes that year. Wikipedia page

        • Zozano@lemy.lol
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          11 months ago

          Pretty much. Look at Kevin Hart.

          Is there a more boring comedian? I have not found a single joke of his even mildly funny.

        • Tropic420@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          You want me to read a book, but you cant even read my other comment in which i wrote he was appointed. My Point was that his ideology was widely supported.

      • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I see. My argument here is more like “many diverse groups of people basically unanimously had the same involuntary reaction to the jokes, therefore the jokes are funny.”

        If I show a steak to a room full of people and 99% of their mouths water, we can safely say that the steak is appetizing.

        My other point is when you strip away from a joke the context, innuendo, voice, and attitude, or you go in prejudging the comedian, you have so altered the material that it cannot be fairly judged.

        I’ve seen all the specials and he’s never struck me as any sort of bigot.

        • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          11 months ago

          As a queer who has watched essentially everything he’s released in his career, he has always had material that came off as bigoted against queer and trans people, and I’ve still been a fan of his until recently but I don’t have a strong judgement on what his actual views might be, comedians always try to be controversial. What are the diverse groups you are talking about? Has there been some kind of objective study on the average response to his comedy? It’s always been popular among a decent number to make fun of queers and trans people, women, disabled people, other groups, does that mean we can’t still say “wow fuck that guy” when they do it?

    • owenfromcanada@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      By that logic, your comment having more downvotes than upvotes means it’s a bad take.

      He sells out arenas because there are a lot of assholes who think his bigotry is funny. Or people who didn’t realize he was gonna keep on that line and left disappointed.

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      considered by comedy fans and other comics to be a living GOAT

      I hope someday people go back and look at all of these goats in their writing that aren’t referring to farm animals and wind up with the greatest cringe of all time.

      EDIT: Seriously, “GOAT” is a stupid acronym that I blame crappy sports punditry for…people sound like idiots saying it.