It is not every comedian who is introduced by Naomi Campbell, but then Dave Chappelle is no ordinary comedian. And this was no ordinary show, featuring not one, but two stand-up superstars as well as a supermodel.
Chappelle’s lifelong friend Jon Stewart was at his intelligent, satirical best. The former Daily Show host bemoaned his avocado-wrinkled skin and swiped at the folly of Brexit before focusing on America’s own self-inflicted wounds. It is a fair bet that after his account of a Twitter beef with Donald Trump he won’t be receiving an Oval Office invite for a while.
If Stewart took time to build momentum Chappelle hit the ground running with uncompromising reflections on the heroin problem in Ohio, where he lives, and school shootings. The multiple Grammy and Emmy winner had an inventive solution to gun control. If every black person registered one he was sure the government would soon curb ownership.
His spellbinding appearance was brief but wide-ranging. One moment he was critiquing a Chuck Berry sex tape, the next calling Kanye West’s behaviour when meeting Donald Trump a “manic episode”, then discussing slavery and #MeToo. Insightful, articulate and at the height of his powers throughout.
The end the evening took a self-indulgent turn when the stars, plus support act Mo Amer and Michelle Wolf, who performed at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, gathered onstage. Amer and Wolf could barely get a word in as the headliners riffed and bantered Rat Pack-style during a fawning Q&A session.
Stewart recalled how he and Chappelle started out gigging in the same Middle Eastern restaurant and were paid in hummus. “The rest of us were doing comedy, he was comedy,” he said. On the basis of tonight’s set he still is.
October 22 (020 7589 8212, royalalberthall.com)
