I was mesmerized by the vibe.

I won't say we haven't had that spirit here in music since 1969, but it's been gone for quite a while.

You didn't know what to expect. When it comes to a music show of an established act... The set list is online, as are YouTube videos, and it's a rare act that delivers unexpected songs. If you want to succeed, you give the public what it wants. As for jamming, exploring...that was a thing in the late sixties and early seventies, but it was killed by MTV, with worldwide hits by acts who felt they had to replicate the sound, if not the look, of the video. And sure, you'll get experimentation in clubs, from some of the jam band acts, never mind the EDM acts, but major stars? The more major, the more calcified. At these costs and these ticket prices, you don't want to take any risk.

Not that the Queen Elizabeth Theatre is huge. Research tells me there are 1,250 seats, although it felt a bit bigger than that, but it definitely didn't feel like a club. Comedy clubs are small and intimate. But tonight's show was very intimate. I wondered how it would play in an arena...I felt the jokes would translate, but really playing big halls like that negates the essence, it's one of the reasons Steve Martin gave up standup. Comedy is not broad... Well, there are broad comedians, although a lot of them died with the Catskills, but what I'm saying is it's one to one, from the performer to the listener. There's no talking during the show, and no taking videos either, because you had to put your phone in a Yondr pouch. Primarily so Dave's routines will not show up on the internet, so they can be fresh when aired as specials on Netflix.

But this show was very different from any Netflix special I've seen from Dave. In the specials, there are longer breaks, Dave cracks up at his jokes even more. Tonight there was more of a flow, it was continuous. He was playing for us, but...

He knew who he was.

At the end he referenced that he was the most famous comedian in the world. Dave is confident in who he is and at this point he's transcended the gatekeepers. Dave can be himself, because Dave is bigger than...

All the musical acts. The new ones, anyway. Because the new acts don't reach everybody and are usually selling artifice, whereas Dave specializes in truth, he's an equal-opportunity offender. You're left wondering whether you're offended or not. Certain jokes can be interpreted in multiple ways.

But that's the genius of Chappelle.

But who is Chappelle? I don't mean where did he come from, but more how did he make it?

Yes, yes, he had that sketch show on TV, and that boosted his popularity, and he took off for Africa rather than work himself to death and O.D., but how do you follow this path?

I mean he talked about coming up in New York's comedy clubs. But you can't exactly slot Chappelle, there's no one exactly like him. He's basically a storyteller, but not like those of yore, maybe because of the constant digressions. How did he develop this persona?

And it is a persona.

Last week we watched Bill Burr's new Hulu special. Thinking about it, I felt it was more attitude than jokes. Bill's got a persona. Angry guy removed from everybody else who points out the insanity of life. But Bill puts himself down here and there, Chappelle does not.

And Chappelle tells more jokes.

But watching him tonight you realized that the laugh is almost always a throwaway at the end. Which made me wonder how much was pure delivery/timing. Jokes are one thing, being a comedian is quite another.

And a lot of comedians work fast, fearful of dead spots, expressing their anxiety about acceptance. But Chappelle works slowly with complete confidence. He knows you're going to laugh... It's like an elite sports star, give Steph Curry the ball with no one on the court and he knows he's going to sink it.

So how do you do this?

We all grew up with funny people, maybe you're funny yourself. What does it take to make it on the stage?

Of course you need punchlines, but you can buy jokes. How do you let your personality shine? So many who try freeze on stage. God, you have to work for years to get over the stage fright, to feel comfortable, to believe it's your stage and you set the mood and you're in control.

So I'm watching Chappelle tonight and I realize he's bigger than any musical star. And he too is rich, he told us so. What are the odds he flew here commercial? ZERO! But that's just how much money is in it, there are almost zero costs, but he does travel with a deejay.

And being Black... He's successful, but still feared. He's rich but giving us the perspective of a...sometimes rich Black man and other times just another Black man. This is not Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan shying away from race.

And Chappelle's star will never fade. Do you axe your friends? Of course not, you evolve with them. Sometimes you like them more than others, but you don't cut them loose.

So we're looking for a truth sayer. And Chappelle says we're living in a conspiracy theory but then undercuts this later. That's a feature of his act, he has you convinced of one thing and then he contradicts it long thereafter.

So what are we looking for?

Humanity. Dave is very real. He hangs with the rich and famous but he doesn't evidence airs. You really feel like you're in his living room listening to him. And it's not blind listening, Chappelle makes you think.

It's both an amazing and confounding experience. Because on some levels he's just telling stories, and he's got his smoking shtick for pauses, but then he drops truth bombs and you realize this is more than entertainment.

I felt like I lived through something. It was a sensation more than laughs. It's not like I left the building feeling good, rather a bit numb floating in my own bubble. An elusive feeling that I'd love to experience again. Kind of like sex. You can't have it all the time, but you're always on the lookout for it, and when you can't get it, it's oftentimes all you can think about.

So tonight's show is in the ether. There are no recordings. You had to be there. And if you were not, you completely missed out.

It's kind of like pre-internet shows, then again if they have Yondr pouches at a music show you don't leave with the same feeling. The acts and their music are all over the web, you need this to be successful. That bond with your fans. But Chappelle keeps his fans at arm's length at the same time he draws them in. That's one of the elements of the offending material. Sometimes you snicker along with him, other times you're saying wait a minute here, let me think about this, I'm not sure I'm down with that.

I felt like comedy was the only place I could get this feeling. Being at a standup show. There was a visceral quality absent from the music business. And the audience knows this. They're riveted, along for the ride, anything but bored. In fact, they're tingling!

And all this from a guy who lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio?

There's more to America than Trump.

But in order to learn that you have to listen to someone like Chappelle, who can divide the word of truth.

Yes, that's a Bob Dylan reference. We used to hang on the words of wisdom of Bob. Who do we listen to today? Sure, there are some rappers, but too much hip-hop has become a cartoon, whereas Chappelle isn't playing a character, you know it's him, and it's deadly real.

It was an amazing experience.


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