Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle (born on August 24, 1973) is a Grammy award winning comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist from Washington, D.C.

His career began in New York City performing in various stand up clubs. His first big performance was him being booed off stage at the Harlem Apollo Theater in the early 1990’s. Chappelle described the failure as the “best thing to happen to him” creating a bold sense of fearlessness in himself which later launched his career to critical and popular acclaim.

The entire 1990’s decade was filled with Chappelle acting in many films such as Robin Hood: Men In Tights, The Nutty Professor, Blue Streak, You’ve Got Mail, and Half Baked.

In the year of 2000, he recorded his first hour-long HBO special Killin' Them Softly performed live in Washington D.C. Three years later, he would go on to debut his popular sketch show Chappelle’s Show. The show was most known for its parodies and commentary on American culture diving into topics that dealt with race, politics, and music.

Although the show generated much positive praise and financial success, Dave would go on to walk away from the show leaving a $50 Million dollar contract offer from Comedy Central in 2005 to travel to South Africa.

Years later, he would go on to avoid the spotlight in mainstream media, but would be often seen performing hour long sets at comedy clubs such as the Laugh Factory on Sunset Strip.

His comeback as a full-time tour headliner would be in the year of 2013. In 2014, his first major appearance on television would be aired on late night shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Show with David Letterman. In 2018, he received a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his two 2017 Netflix specials The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas. He would also go on to receive an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special for his Netflix special Equanimity.