Flashback: Dave Chappelle’s prophetic view on fame revealed in 1998 HBO special

The other day, I caught the final few minutes of Dave Chappelle’s HBO Comedy Half-Hour from 1998 (taped in San Francisco in 1997). After a routine on racism, Chappelle closes his set wondering what would happen if and when he ever became rich and famous. It rings with so much more truth years later, after seeing Chappelle react to the aftermath of his mega-million Comedy Central deal, and seeing him now.

"I’m nervous. Not about this special. I hope this shit don’t make me famous. You dig? I don’t want to be famous famous. I want people to like me for who I am. Like, famous dude don’t ever know why people like him. That’s why if I ever make it, I’m going to have to like, have to test people…"

Conveniently, HBO Comedy will be playing this half-hour of Chappelle’s several times in May.

And here is a video clip of those final eight minutes I mentioned above:

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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