Why did I want to talk with Dave Chappelle?
It’s true that Chappelle’s Show, his sketch comedy show that ran on Comedy Central from 2003 to 2006, was one of those shows that you had to watch if you wanted to know what the culture was up to. And it’s also true that his standup specials are the kind of shows that almost feel like samizdat —-underground literature passed hand to hand in defiance of the state — even though his shows are advertised at bus stops, held in arenas and thousands of people attend.
But that’s not why.
I wanted to ask him why he spent $15 million of his own money to give the tiny WYSO public radio station a new home. And I wanted to know whether he saw it as a contradiction when, as a person known for his uncompromising, take-no-prisoners style, he’s chosen to perform in places that are decidedly unfree when it comes to speech about certain subjects.
And I really wanted to know why a person who travels everywhere and could afford to live anywhere decided to move his family to tiny Yellow Springs, Ohio.
So I asked him all of those questions in the latest interview for NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast – which we recorded at WYSO’s brand new station in Yellow Springs. You can listen to the interview to hear what he has to say yourself. I’ll just say this, though. If you expect to hear Dave Chappelle “performing” Dave Chappelle, I think you’re going to be disappointed. But if you are open to hearing a seriously funny man seriously engage with issues like free speech, the purpose of comedy, the weaponization of jokes and the search for oneself — then I think you will be as intrigued as I was.
Also, when it comes to Yellow Springs, he might be on to something. It’s … great. But I don’t think he wants us all to know that — just yet.
