Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #31.1 extract: Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth (2004)

Dave Chappelle's For What It's Worth's punch wears away with time and re-watches. 

I remember laughing quite hard when first seeing this, and can still see the mechanics of a strong hour quite clearly with effortless audience interaction, a great stage presence and a well structured (edited) set with a few call backs that still got me laughing. However, knowing where all the jokes end left Chappelle's delivery feeling somewhat contrived. Whilst you may consider him a dirty comic, it usually feels like he's saying something he thinks it naughty; there is no true commitment, seriousness or strength that comes from Chappelle's stage personality; he's clearly a comic's absurdist creation, one that is used perfectly, but lacks a genuine, real force of personality behind it. 

I would usually agree without a thought that Chappelle is one of the greats, but I don't think he holds up too well for me.