Dave Chappelle El Capitan of Comedy

Thursday night Dave Chappelle played in Santa Rosa to a packed house.  Chappelle, loved by millions of fans for his brilliant, irreverent and uproarious comedy.  Chappelle had walked away from his highly successfully and lucrative sketch show "Chappelle's Show (2003-06) midseason.  His career has been steered by his genius.  It's been skyrocketing ever since.  His numerous accolades include 3 Grammy Awards and 5 Emmy Awards.  In 2019, Dave was honored with the Mark Twain Comedy Award at the Kennedy Center.  I bestow the title, greatest working comic today and arguably greatest of all-time.  He has the gift for making people laugh, think and feel great while doing both.  Making people laugh together and feel good is a great gift to have and bestow.  The evening started rather slow.  The doors were to open at 7PM.  The lines wrapped around the parking lot.  We were held while phones were locked down despite being forewarned not to bring them.  Chappelle didn't appear on stage until 8:30PM.  Was it worth the wait?  Hell, yes!  The first warm-up comedian, Marshall Wiggins, a name I hadn't heard but a name to remember, was disarmingly funny.  He opened by telling the audience, "My 24 year old daughter just pierced her nipples.  I don't have a joke for that, I just needed to share."  He tied this quip into his hilarious short set with a routine involving aliens and an acceptable usage of the word, nigger.  Chappelle got onstage, with his signature cigarette and tequila drink in hand.  (He lit up and was not ejected.  Two people near me were escorted out for using their phones). Chappelle began saying, "This is one nigger free city.  I haven't seen a nigger in 3 days."  Chappelle's arms were ripped under his white T-shirt.  It looked as if he was sporting a bullet-proof vest.  Chappelle was recently attacked while on stage at the Hollywood Bowl this summer.  He worked this incident into his routine complaining Chris Rock stole the spotlight by asking the Bowl audience, if it was Will Smith.  "Man, I was pissed, after 2 months of silence, now he has something to say. The mother-fucker stole my limelight."  Dave also said his attacker is now suing him for being roughed up by his security people.  Chappelle's been married for 20+ years and admitted he's cheated.  "Whoops!  My wife wasn't all that upset, after all, she's not out on the road making the money."  Dave shared a glass of tequila with a man in the front row.  He as a pro handling boisterous hecklers.  "Man, I gotta raise my ticket prices."  I would go again, at double the going price.  The evening was priceless; one for the memory books.  "Thanks for the memory, Awfully glad I met you. Thank you." (Bob Hope)