4B —Thursday, September 14, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

NETFLIX

Comedy icon Dave Chappelle
Seeing Dave Chappelle: 

Hip-hop’s favorite 

comedian hits the road

Dave Chappelle — the bold-

faced funny man who emerged 
in 
the 
early-2000s 
as 
an 

Afrocentric satirist, unafraid 
to 
squeeze 
risqué 
racial 

commentary 
into 
his 
now-

legendary sketch comedy show 
— has long been an important 
figure in hip-hop. The first 
season of Chappelle’s Show 
(which briefly aired on Comedy 
Central) 
featured 
musical 

guests such as Mos Def, Talib 
Kweli, Busta Rhymes and The 
Roots, while its second included 
DMX, Erykah Badu and Kanye 
West (to name a few). Yet, unlike 
so many artists who haunt the 
primetime late-night sets of 
Jimmys (Fallon and Kimmel) — 
often seeming so out-of-context 
during 
their 
promotional 

performances that one wonders 
if the hosts even knew who they 
had invited — artists’s arrivals 
at Chappelle’s Show felt like 
pointed 
recommendations. 

Their performances served as 
punctuation marks for each 
episode.

So, 
a 
true 
Chappelle 

fan 
should 
not 
have 
been 

overwhelmingly 
surprised 

when 
hip-hop 
legends 
Ms. 

Lauryn Hill and Nas announced 
— just days before the launching 
of their joint PowerNomics Tour 
— that the notoriously-reclusive 
comedian would be joining 
them on the road. In fact, the 
closer that one has been paying 
attention, the less surprised 
they ought to be: Since June, 
Chappelle has performed aside 
Ms. Hill, Chance the Rapper, 
Childish Gambino and more 
during a residency at Radio City 
Music Hall; he has questioned 
Kendrick Lamar for Interview 
Magazine, an already-historic 
conversation in its own right; 
and he has continuously owned 
up to his role as a musical 
gatekeeper, like when he labeled 
Lil Wayne “one of the most 
clever 
motherfuckers 
ever” 

during an appearance on Sway 
In The Morning. Much like 
modern rappers, who can earn 
enough clout through their 
craft to eventually expand into 
other ventures (think fashion, 
film and Diddy’s Ciroc vodka), 
Chappelle became so deeply 
embedded into hip-hop through 
humor that his position aside 
two historic emcees just feels 
natural.

For 
anyone 
who’s 
ever 

nostalgically 
wondered 
how 

Chappelle’s Show accomplished 
its 
near-perfect 
roster 
of 

conscious Black musicians, or 
has hoped for a similarly prolific 
blending of hip-hop and comedy 
to occur today, the PowerNomics 
Tour — which touched down 
at 
the 
Michigan 
Lottery 

Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill 
in Sterling Heights on Fri., Sept. 
8th — represents a perhaps once-
in-a-lifetime 
opportunity 
to 

travel back in time and become 
a witness to history. Both Nas 
— whose debut LP, Illmatic, 
is commonly considered the 
best rap album of all time — 
and Lauryn Hill — whose only 
solo LP, The Miseducation of 
Lauryn Hill, was the first hip-
hop project to win Album of the 
Year at the Grammy’s — are like 
walking relics from a former 
version 
of 
hip-hop, 
hardly 

recognizable against modern 
standards. 
But 
performing 

after Chappelle, who is himself 
also representative of a long-
gone era, one in which impolite 
humor 
and 
cable 
television 

ruled supreme, the pair truly 
succeeded in establishing a 
sense of then.

Throughout 
his 
forty-five 

minute set, Chappelle appeared 
in full-form, talking through 
even the touchiest of subjects 
in his classically casual tone 
and unflinching against today’s 
heightened 
expectations 

for 
correctness. 
Skewering 

the 
famous 
sexual 
assault 

allegations 
against 
Michael 

Jackson, 
he 
minimized 
the 

late, great pop star into the 
“Jay-Z” of hanging with kids, 
drawing parallels between MJ’s 
odd indulgence in children’s 
fantasies (he owned a monkey, 
an amusement park and beds 
dedicated 
exclusively 
to 

jumping on) and the veteran 
Brooklyn 
rapper’s 
similar 

obsession with luxury goods 
(references to cars, yachts and 
watches decorate his every 
album). 
Traversing 
through 

race-relations, 
Chappelle 

laughed off the time that a 
pregnant Asian women (who is 
married to a Black man) became 
so offended by his commentary 
on interracial marriages that she 
went home to write a complaint 
to his promoter. And, finally, 
sweating through a bit that he 
swore he wouldn’t have told if 
attendees’s phones had not been 
locked into inaccessible pouches 
upon their arrival, Chappelle 
cringed at memories from a 
night of clubbing in Hollywood 
during 
which 
he 
danced 

(initially unbeknownst) with a 
transsexual woman.

Clearly, Dave Chappelle was 

simply being Dave Chappelle, 
but in 2017 that’s a major 
accomplishment 
in 
its 
own 

right. Throughout the next 
month, the PowerNomics Tour 
will bring him — along with 
two equally historic and fabled 
musicians — into fifteen more 
cities, fifteen more jam-packed 
theaters filled with thousands 
of 
people, 
old 
and 
young, 

who could’ve probably never 
predicted such an opportunity 
would 
arise. 
But 
more 

importantly, it will also generate 
millions of dollars worth of 
proceeds, a major portion of 
which its team has pledged 
to 
donate 
towards 
further 

enfranchisement 
of 
African-

American communities.

This tour is not simply a parade 

of nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, 
and it’s also not an attempt by 
old artists to collect new cash. 
Rather, it’s a strong-handed 
effort by a legendary team of 
Black entertainers to merge 
their platforms and heighten 
their impacts — both on the 
crowds they entertain and the 
communities that they will 
assist. This point was hinted at 
by a briefly serious Chappelle 
in the final moments of his set. 
Addressing Detroit, he professed 
how proud he is to be among 
residents of the largest Black 
community in American history, 
then reminded attendees that 
Motown — which was launched 
right here in our own backyard 
— is still the most quintessential 
example of a Black cultural 
enterprise, period.

“Detroit, I’m gon’ fuck with 

you until the wheels fall off!”

Just like that, it was time for 

Nas and Lauryn.

COURTESY OF THE SECOND CITY

Second City performing at their various venues
The Second City brings 
laughs, love to The Ark

The legendary improvisation group that has birthed comedians 
like Tina Fey and Amy Poeher came to Ann Arbor last weekend

I’m second row and center for 

The Second City. It’s really the 
best seat in the house, because 
sitting front row risks getting 
heckled at by the troupe. Before 
the show starts, the crowd is 
already pulsing with noise and 
laughter, eagerly awaiting the 
comedy stars of tomorrow. I 
held expectations of seeing 
something similar to “Saturday 
Night Live,” a favorite show of 
mine. Since this performance 

was actually live for me, I feel 
no remorse in saying that The 
Second City blew present-day 
SNL out of the water.

Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Bill 

Murray, 
Keegan-Michael 

Key: These are just a few of 
the hilarious stars born out 
of The Second City. Based in 
Chicago, this comedy troupe 
has produced original, satirical 
and comedic pieces for nearly 
sixty years. This past Friday, 
the national tour “The Best of 
The Second City” made a stop 
here at Ann Arbor’s The Ark, 
which was recently renovated. 
Amidst the typical musicians 
and theatrical plays, we finally 
had a notable comedy revue in 
A2, bringing diversity to the 
entertainment scene.

Improv is what makes The 

Second City legendary. The 
actors can instantly come up 

with a catchy song in relation to 
whatever an audience member 
shouts out, like a dog eating 
your 
boyfriend’s 
plant 
and 

having a fight about it (true 
story). The actors can flip 
between two separate scenes, 
from a horror porn movie with 
a boob-sucking dracula to two 
astronauts trying to contact 
Houston while it’s underwater. 
Both scenes are given to the 
actors on the spot and they 
immediately make it uniquely 
hilarious.

Not 
many 
actors 
are 

comfortable with calling an 
audience member a bastard 
or having an elderly audience 
member (deemed the baddest 
boy) spank them on stage. 
Both were achieved during 
the performance, and both 
had me laughing until my 
mouth hurt from smiling. This 
troupe of comedians are able 
to connect personally with 
the audience, making local 
references, 
shaking 
hands, 

asking questions and being real. 
It’s this connection that lights 
the audience on fire, creating 
moments of high energy and 
fun that you wish would never 
end.

With three girls and three 

guys, the faces of comedy’s 
new generation are memorable. 
Each has such likable charisma, 
the kind I want to see more of 
in the film industry. Alison 
Gates, Adam Archer, Danny 
Catlow, Eve Krueger, Greg 
Ott, and Lauren Walker are all 
experienced comedians; many 
participate in iO Chicago and 
The Annoyance. The director, 
Tyler Samples, teaches and 
performs at The Second City 
and hosts the Rabbit Hole 
podcast with other Second City 
guests.

“The Best of The Second 

City” features classic skits that 
helped launch the careers of 
comedy’s best and brightest, 
along with skits distinct to 
this tour. The style of the 

show was very similar to that 
of 
“Saturday 
Night 
Live”; 

both 
have 
an 
arrangement 

of different comedy sketches 
that usually reflect on current 
political, social and economic 
happenings 
in 
America. 

Many of the actors currently 
performing with SNL made 
their start with The Second 
City.

I not sure how anyone else 

feels, but to me, SNL has been 
lacking in delivery in recent 
years, 
dwindling 
down 
to 

repetitive skits and jokes that 

just aren’t that funny. After 
seeing The Second City, I have 
hope again for a better comedic 
future. A hope of SNL returning 
to the hype of Will Ferrell, 
Eddie Murphy, Amy Poehler 
and Chris Farley. I think we all 
miss those days. 

With classes not quite in 

full swing, now is the time to 
explore all the amazing venues 
that Ann Arbor. While comedy 
may not be as common as other 
shows, nothing will bring you 
into good spirits better than 
laughter. 
People 
love 
The 

Second City not just for its 
humor, but for its creativity. 
It’s different every time, and 
it’s different from the comedy 
you see on TV. You may have to 
reach into the deep corners of 
A2 to find comedy, but I assure 
you, the search is worth it.

FALLON GATES
Daily Arts Writer

SALVATORE DIGIOIA

Daily Arts Writer

I feel no remorse 
in saying that The 
Second City blew 
present-day SNL 
out of the water

With three girls 
and three guys, 

the faces of 

comedy’s new 
generation are 

memorable

This tour is not 
simply a parade 
of nostalgia for 
nostalgia’s sake, 
and it’s also not 
an attempt by old 
artists to collect 

new cash

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