De Von Lang, a finance senior, and his roommates gather every Wednesday night at 9:30 to watch “Chappelle’s Show,” a comedy series starring the uninhibited comedian Dave Chappelle.
Lang and roommates Richard Harsch, a secondary education senior, and Jonathan Butts, a theatre sophomore, all from different cultures, equally find humor in Chappelle’s on-edge comedy.
Stepping from the shadows of Richard Pryor and George Carlin, Dave Chappelle challenges viewers to look at race and culture from a different, comedic perspective.
Chappelle’s series, “Chappelle’s Show,” has found a home on Comedy Central. The cable channel is known to air risque shows such as “South Park” and “Crank Yankers.”
“Chappelle’s Show” first aired Jan. 22, 2003 and included one of his most offensive sketches to date. In a skit, Chappelle played a blind, black man who became an influential white supremacist.
“He was raised in an orphanage in a rural white town and no one ever told him he was black,” Lang explains. “He grew up hating blacks all his life and he’s actually hating himself. It’s kind of an ironic twist.”
The sketch, which used the n-word repeatedly, served as a precursor of what was to come.
Chappelle feared an immediate cancellation after the show aired.
A year later, Chappelle is still making some laugh and others uncomfortable, with season two of “Chappelle’s Show.”
“We have peculiar idiosyncrasies about ourselves that are very funny,” Butts said. “He’s not making this up, just showing it in a different perspective we’re not accustomed to.”
Harsch has been a fan since he saw Chappelle’s stand up special, “Killing Them Softly.”
“He pushes the envelope,” Harsch said. “But he’s not obnoxious. He makes fun of human nature. He portrays things that are wrong”
In “Killing Them Softly,” Chappelle tackled the same issues he brings up on “Chappelle’s Show,” including the differences between cultures, the ghetto, men and women and even Sesame Street.
“It was hilarious, absolutely hilarious,” Butts said. “He’s doing a lot of things Richard Pryor did, but he’s putting a new spin on it, since a lot of people don’t know who Richard Pryor is.”
Similar to Pryor, Chappelle usually brings up issues most Americans only discuss in the privacy of their homes. One such issue is how he addresses the differences between races.
“He portrays white people a little skewed, but it’s funny regardless,” Harsch said. “Sometimes you wonder if he’s racist by heart.”
Chappelle also frequently uses the n-word, uncensored, in his sketches, which many people find unacceptable. While Lang, Harsch and Butts live together, they each share their own viewpoint of Chappelle’s usage of the n-word.
“It’s really funny to watch people of other races react to some of the humor,” Lang said. “In an episode a couple weeks back, Dave did a skit about a white family named the ‘Niggars.’ The n-word was said repeatedly throughout the skit and a white friend of mine kept saying, ‘Oh my god, are you offended?’ I was cracking up.”
However, Lang does not believe the word is ready for public, everyday use in the English vernacular.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” Lang said. “If I’m around someone that I feel very comfortable with, it usually doesn’t really bother me that much if they’re quoting a skit. But, if not already in a comfort zone with a person, it does bother me some. The word usually makes African-Americans tense up. His use of the word just loosens up that tension. He also does point out that it is controversial and it’s all in good fun.”
Butts agrees Chappelle is “desensitizing” the word, but has no plans to incorporate the word into his vocabulary.
“I’ll never call anyone a…,” Butts said. “Even if it’s a buddy I’ve known from kindergarten.”
While Chappelle’s comedy has garnered many fans, some people are offended.
Danielle Johnson, an interior design sophomore, has no further plans to tune in to the show.
“It’s so offensive to me,” Johnson said. “It’s gross.”
Johnson admits enjoying “Half Baked,” a movie in which Chappelle stars as a “fundraiser” who sells marijuana to bail a friend out of jail. But, she does not like his television show.
“I think, by himself, he’s not that great of a comedian,” Johnson said. “I don’t find it funny.”
But Chappelle was not the first to tackle these topics.
Comics like Pryor and George Carlin were forerunners in trying to dissolve the tension between races, cultures, even religion, with humor. Chappelle keeps their legacy alive, for today’s more accepting audience.
“When you get down to the root, Dave Chappelle is funny,” Butts said. “There’s a magnetism, an aura that puts him on a higher level than other comedians. Chappelle sticks with you, maybe because his material, his perspective, is so different. Maybe one day we’ll talk about him the way we talk about Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Bill Cosby, and George Carlin.”