Legendary stand-up comic Dave Chapelle had what some are describing as a heckler-fueled “meltdown” onstage in Hartford, Connecticut Thursday night, but which actually appears to have been an interruption-filled encounter with the worst crowd ever. Now, Youtube video has surfaced of Chapelle’s signoff to the unruly crowd, as well as his game attempts to fight through the disruptions.

Advertising

Mixed Martial Arts podcaster Mike Wellman tweeted about the set in real time:

So Dave Chappelle just went on stage, told jokes for around 3 minutes, and the audience wouldnt stop yelling things at him so he stoppedEverybody hates Dave Chappelle now. I dont. People were not heckling the other comediansChappelle tried to work through the yelling, and he told people he wasnt telling any jokes until they quieted down. And they didnt.At one point Chappelle told the crowd “If someone sitting next you is yelling, punch them in the kidney”

Lesli-Ann Lewis, who also attended the show at the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, described the scene for Ebony:

He had started with some Paula Deen jokes

that went over well when he had to stop again. Maybe it was his gratuitous use of the N-word to a mostly White audience. Maybe it was the overpriced beer that, to my amazement, everyone seemed to keep buying. Whatever it was, there was a palpable change. The crowd got rowdier, louder, ruder. Folks started calling out random references to his past work (he informed us that if we ever see him in a Half Baked sequel, that means he’s run completely out of money) and, most bizarrely, his 2006 Oprah interview.After engaging some of the heckling politely, Chappelle had enough. “I’ve been up here a while now and I thought it was me but now I ‘m sure it’s you. There is definitely something wrong with you.” he told us. In other words, ‘shut up and let me perform.’ Not many did. Finally, he gave up and took his cigarettes and his water and sat on stage.

Here’s video of Dave saying good-bye to the crowd after his time was finally up:

Fellow stand-up Patton Oswalt tweeted support for Chappelle, and a handy explanation of the difference between heckling, and what these people were doing:

Dear Dave Chappelle’s fans: He’s one of the best comedians working, & you’re not letting him do what he loves. Stop being assholes.Chappelle’s touring now, trying to do his usual, brilliant

stuff, and the crowds are screaming, “I’m Rick James, bitch!” Idiots.

Another attendee responded to Oswalt:

Matthew O’Brien @pattonoswalt I was there, people were hardly heckling him. Just yelling that they loved him and quoting older material

“In that Tweet, you just perfectly illustrated why people like you are the problem,” Oswalt responded, then retweeted another user who said “I can fart the theme to Cheers on my hand, but I didn’t do when Kelsey Grammer was busy performing Macbeth.”

This is exactly right, because at least a heckler gives you something to work with. Dave Chappelle is a comic genius and a master of the single most difficult performance art there is, so if there was a problem there, it sure as hell wasn’t him. You can yell “Play Freebird!” all day long, you aren’t ever going to hear Freebird.

Here’s some more Youtube video of the set, in which he riffs with the crowd, before finally counting down the minutes until his contractually-obligated time was up:

Part One:

Part Two:

[photo via screengrab]

Tags: Dave Chappelle, Ebony, Festivals, Patton Oswalt