Dave Chappelle’s newest special on Netflix, “The Dreamer,” opens with a quote from Henry David Thoreau: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Then the comedian takes the stage and begins reminiscing about his career. Almost 24 years ago, he was on the same stage — the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. — taping his first special, “Killin’ Them Softly.”
His girlfriend, now wife, was in the audience, pregnant with their first child. He couldn’t fill the room and had to hand out tickets on the street to get people into the seats. He was still grieving his father’s death, an event that left Chappelle unsure of his ability to smile or laugh again, and of his ability to make it as a comedian. The “late, great Norm Macdonald” came to his rescue, inviting him to meet Jim Carey, one of Chappelle’s favorite comedians. The experience, while not exactly what Chappelle had envisioned, lifted him from his funk and helped him endeavor to live the life he had imagined.
When the meeting occurred, Carey was playing comedian Andy Kaufman in “Man on the Moon,” a role for which he spent every waking moment in character. Chappelle says that in hindsight, it was a special moment, as he got to see “one of the greatest artists of my time immersed in one of his most challenging processes ever.”
