Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Comedian of the Decade (2000-2010): Dave Chappelle by Peter Commons

               Comedians are essential to our culture because their unique perspectives shed light on our collective cultural mores, behaviors, trends, and nuissances. However, the rise and fall of comedians is swift and like a flash of lightning, so before you know it, the encore is over and our once heralded Philosopher Kings are villians, lost in translation, or simply gone from the limelight. From the years 2000-2010, powerhouse comedians blessed the stages of America, from the Kings of Comedy (2000) with its infamous lineup, DL Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac, and Steve Harvey, to the Comedy Giant and Genius of Chris Rock with his sensational Stand-up routines and hit show, Everybody Hates Chris. We discovered independent giants like Katt Williams, Eddie Griffin, Bill Burr and Louis CK. Comedians John Stewart and Stephen Colbert, made a seismic impact on the genre, with their satire hits, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which called into question American society and politics at hand, modelled largely after Bill Maher's show.
              Female Comedians, Sommore, Sheryl Underwood, Aisha Tyler, Luenell, and Melanie Comarcho were so funny, they brought the comedy game to a balance equation with their routines. Monique, Wanda Skyes, Rosie O Donnell, and Ellen Degeneres, were so funny, we brought them inside with television talk shows just to show our appreciation. Female comedians today are able to grace our stages without the heckle or paycut because of these ladies.
           Jamie Foxx and Earthquake have such timely routines, that rewind time and take you back to the exact feelings you had during the first air. Who can forget the Comedy Royal Family of the Wayans, Keenen, Damon, Kim, Marlon, Shawn, and everyone whose careers blossomed because of their genius and support. There isn't a more important family to comedy than the Wayans and due to their long list of comedy masterpieces, following the airing of their 90's hit show, In Living Color, its simply an insult to only mention that Scary Movie 1-2, will forever rank as one of the funniest parodies of all time.Speaking of influences, Tommy Davidson, The Great David Allen Grier and the Great Jim Carrey, ascended from comedy heroes to legends during this decade. If a comedian can have you laugh so hard that you clinch your stomach for the entire movie or routine, they have obtained the status the these guys have worked hard to craft and maintain.
              Chris Tucker was able to capture this ability, even if it was for a moment. Who can deny, that Adam Sandler, who got his start on one of the Comedy God's, Bill Cosby's, Cosby Show, was anything other than crafty, hilarious, and timely. Another giant, who went from hero to legend during this decade, George Lopez, who confirmed his place at the table with his show, The George Lopez Show. Latinos have always been on the comedy scene (Desi Arnez) giving a great opportunity for Gabriel Iglesias, to catapult us to laughter as, Fluffy, and giving voice to overweight Americans, alongside Ralphie May. So, while being fat was becoming culturally prevalent but still taboo in American society, these comedians including Bruce Bruce, made fat sexy again, relevant, and most of all valuable. But before we escape those comedians whose mark on television or the silverscreen, was nothing less than meteoric, we won't forget Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), and Kevin James (King of Queens).
             The creator geniuses of Family Guy (Seth McFarland), South Park (Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Brian Graden) and The Boondocks (Aaron McGruder) cartoons, probably saved America from their destructive self righteousness . A sentence ending with, wtf, can only explain the laughter those cartoon creators gave viewers, wtf.
             What is a article about comedy without Saturday Night Live, who during this decade gave us the half retarded Tina Fey, the sensational Aries Spears, and Hood Crossover Tracy Morgan to name a few. Just the mention of Saturday Night Live reminds us, Will Ferrell, may ascend and burst into a skittles bag of laughter before the next decade is out. So, in this article, we won't debate the greatness of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jerry Seinfield, or Dave Attell, or explain why we reserve the category of the greatest comedian of all time, for Eddie Murphy. In a given decade, viewers watched the coming and going of huge stars. Thus, to announce the Comedian of the Decade is a powerful marker, worthy of consideration of widespread influence, commercial cross over affect, substance, and finally, the simple, is he or she funny? The Blue Collar Comedy Tour gave us one notable comedian and it wasn't Larry the Cable Guy or Jeff Foxworthy. It was Ron White, with his cigar and cup of liquor style which was the cigarette breath of comedy genuis of that group. He was like the "white Robin Harris," telling us like it is and not how it isn't. And the blue collar comedy movement opened the genre to Christian comedians, like Jeff Allen, Gilbert Esquivel, and the sensational Michael Jr.
            Last, because we can go forever about this decade, and throw in some George Carlin quotes, or apologize for the names we missed, like the retarded funny, Lisa Lampanelli, Keith Robinson, and Greg Giraldo, but Mike Epps, cracked us up from the silver screen in How High, The Friday After Next, and All About the Benjamins, to now as we go bonkers at his stand up routines. Given the huge net of talent during this decade, America also lost "Comedy Gods," during this time, most notably, Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield, and the legendary Bernie Mac. Patrice Oneal (Elephant in the Room 2011), would briefly break down the audience before looking him in the next decade 2011. So, finally, no one will deny the rise of  Aziz Ansari, South Africa's Trevor Noah, or the new King of Comedy Kevin Hart. We only celebrate as the newbies for this current decade continue, Hannibal Buress gets funnier each routine, we look for Steve Byrne, whose rise and fall was truly too quick, and how Theo Von is truly on crack or something. We continue to thirst for the original player, Bill Bellemy to return to the stand up game, anticipate more killer routines from DL Hughley, and ask ourselves how many movies does Tyler Perry have? This Memorial Weekend, we at West Oakland Imports Publishers would like to celebrate our Comedian of the Decade (2000-2010)... Dave Chappelle.

The following stand up, was performed in the Bay Area and our community is represented in the Bay. So, we want to feature this routine by Dave, which captures a pivotal moment in his career immediately after the end of his widely successful and genius critically acclaimed show, the Chappelle Show.  We give you and uplift the comedy God, Dave Chappelle.

For What Its Worth (2004)

Next, Killing Them Softly (2000)

For the full article, please email Peter Commons at
WestOaklandImports@gmail.com

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