Dave Chappelle Announces Stand-Up Dates At Gramercy Theatre In New York City
Dave Chappelle is back with three new dates in New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.
For fans who missed the 42-year-old comedian at Radio City Music Hall in 2014, Chappelle will be back on stage next week. The first show starts on Monday (Aug. 29) with a follow-up on Tuesday (Aug. 30), and a final show on Thursday (Sept. 1).
This is hardly the first sighting of Chappelle in the Big City. Three weeks ago, Chappelle appeared in the iconic comedy club, The Comedy Cellar. Chris Rock and Haitian comedian Wil Sylvince were also in attendance. Sylvince went on to post about the rare event.
“Funny thing happen last night, lightening struck 3 times at the @nyccomedycellar! The Comedy Gods – Dave Chappelle, @DaveAttell, and@ChrisRock went on stage together. Talk about comedy overload!” read the caption of his Instagram post.
Chappelle has become an enigma after he walked away from the ever-popular series, Chappelle’s Show. Through the show, Chappelle gave fans a number of skits that went on to be famous on their own including “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories,” “A Moment in the Life of Lil Jon,” and “The Wayne Brady Show.”
But after three successful seasons, Chappelle left the show. Since the abrupt end, Chappelle has cited the pressures of Hollywood and misdirection with the show as reasons for his departure.
It’s still unclear whether or not Chappelle will ever return to television, but it seems that he can’t keep away from stand-up.
“When I’m onstage, I get real happy up there,” he said in a 2006 interview on Inside The Actor’s Studio. “Maybe that’s the only time in my adult life that I feel like myself. You’re standing up there — you know what I mean — like a gladiator, and them lights is on you, and you look down and everyone’s looking up at you… and it’s all these smiles around you. And they get dressed and they put perfume on and stuff, and they’re going to see your show. That feels good, man. These people, you know, they love you. Even if it’s for a minute, they really do. They love you, man. You know, it’s like a love-fest… It’s the best feeling, man. I love stand-up.”
NEW SHOW — #DaveChappelle at Gramercy Theatre on 8/29, 30 and 9/1! On sale Wednesday: https://t.co/DbydndaDlt pic.twitter.com/6q6Sgvfp9u
— Gramercy Theatre (@GramercyTheatre) August 22, 2016
Chappelle isn’t the only comedian returning to the stage, though. Martin Lawrence returned to stand-up as well with a Showtime special, Martin Lawrence Doin’ Time: Uncut. This will be the first time in 14 years that Lawrence will be on stage for the world to see after 2002’s Runteldat. It’s scheduled to air on Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. EST/PST.
“I look forward to having my third concert film premiere on Showtime…,” said Lawrence in a press statement. “Fourteen years is a long time between concert specials and I am excited to know that my TV audience will be able to enjoy this show as if they came to see me live.”
Comedians D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Charlie Murphy, George Lopez, and Eddie Griffin will also be touring together in a tour dubbed “The Comedy Get Down.” Get information here.
As for Chappelle, it’ll be a little harder to acquire tickets since they’ve already sold old within 30 seconds of going on sale on Wednesday (Aug. 24). However, fans may still be able to snag resale tickets on Stubhub.
And one thing is for sure, there’s a lot of real life to use for material.
“This is a very surprisingly emotionally charged time, so people like me, I think, are very relevant and necessary in sorting through all this information and emotional content. And when we are at our best, hopefully we are doing a great service to many people,” said Chappelle in a speech during the Russell Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation at the Art For Life event earlier this year. “The biggest enemy of an artist is apathy. A kid gets killed by the police and I buy a T-shirt and before I can wear that one, there’s another kid (killed) and I’m running out of closet space.”
[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]
