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September 21, 2013 by Simon Sweetman

Jason Zinoman: Searching For Dave Chappelle

dave chappelleSearching For Dave Chappelle

Jason Zinoman

Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

This Kindle Single attempts to explain the rise and then disappearance of comedian Dave Chappelle; a disappearance that happened by choice, the comedian walking away from a huge payday, taking off, disgruntled, bored, bemused, not wanting to be a walking catchphrase.

The reason for this e-book – now – is due in part to Chappelle’s very subtle re-emergence. He’s fronting up to comedy clubs, performing; it’s on his terms. He talks about his life, he – like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor – is performing sets that are more conceptually funny than laugh-out-loud funny; full of wry observations and dry laughs, an unpacking of his life and frustrations – he’s driven still by the work, almost entirely uninterested in the celebrity.

Journalist Jason Zinoman does a fine job of condensing down the timeline and contextualising Chappelle’s place as a humourist, as a comedian who died a thousand times on stage and signed up for a sitcom that bombed and a handful of close-to-dud movie appearances before his own show become the cult-hit that would go on to be an influence now on so many TV shows by comedians (Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer).

But in the end Zinoman doesn’t have a lot to say from the sources – he gets interviews with Chappelle ebook coverChappelle’s Show cast and writers but they clearly don’t want to go on the record with a lot. Little bit-sized quote-nibbles are all that’s offered, crumbs of suggestions. Zinoman does a decent job of stitching it all up, of providing the thread to link Chappelle’s rise with his decision to walk away.

But the chances are – if you’ve at all followed Chappelle’s career you don’t really need to read this short book; you won’t really learn a lot. Still, a good attempt at shining the light on one of the most influential comedians of the last decade; something of an inspiring tale too – in that Chappelle (demons to battle and all) had the strength to walk away, to not be reduced to the McMakeMillions pantomime puppet.

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with Amazon, Book Review, Chappelle's Show, Comedy, Dave Chappelle, e-book, Jason Zinoman, Kindle Single, Searching For Dave Chappelle. RSS 2.0 feed.
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