Honestly Dave is one of the funniest comedians I’ve seen, he has the wit of us Scots/irish and takes it to the line, its my style of delivery too…
So far I’ve only seen his Netflix show from 2018? And some short clips of his Chappelle Show… And Killing them softly.
I have a lot to catch up on. 
He has been the best part of a few movies, too, if you haven’t yet seen them.
A Star is Born
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
You’ve Got Mail
Con Air
It was wild because before that show IIRC he was a fairly innocuous comedian - funny but not joking about edgy black issues or political issues at all. He was in Half-baked, so my image of him was always just mellow stoner guy.
Then the show came out and he really just let everything out.
I have a friend who’s black and is the nicest easy going guy you’ve ever met. One of those people that you can’t even imagine how someone could not like the guy. Then one night, years after I got to know him, he just let loose with all the bullshit he’s had to deal with in his life and it was heartbreaking. I’m gonna assume pretty much every black person in America has similar stories.
Oof.
Oh yeah forgot about that.
Yeah I’m sorry I don’t agree with the Chapelle hot take here. You don’t agree with him about everything. That’s fine, he’s a comic. You’re allowed to make fun of anyone you want.
You know who has aged well? George Carlin. That guy nailed it.
I’ve loved George my whole life.
Fun fact about Chapelle is that he’s from the small hippy dippy town of Yellow Springs, OH.
Nobody’s stopping him. You’re allowed to think anyone with bad takes has takes that are bad, too.
I actually liked Chappelle’s last special. Think the lgbt stuff was 2 or 3 specials ago and that isnt great, but that community isnt great on that issue.
I like Carlin, but I think he’s the unacknowledged Godfather of clapter. I don’t think he’s ever made me laugh. He’s said a bunch of stuff that I’m like, Well that’s true but hardly anyone says it, kind of thing.
Sometimes edgelording is funny.
He is literally a comedian.
Edit: Comedians also tell the truth about how fucked up our society is.
Carlin’s later specials were like that for me. Totally nailed it in a grumpy old man kind of way but I wasn’t rolling with laughter.
His earlier stuff though - cats and dogs, baseball vs. football, your stuff, 7 dirty words and expanded version - had me laughing to the point of pain. It might be a you-had-to-be there in the late 70s-80s kind of thing.
Comedy is like that - one generation’s side-splitting genius is the next generation’s common sense. Robin Williams, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor round out my comedy Mt. Rushmore. All of them were side-splittingly funny in their early rockstar days. Eddie Murphy was the last rockstar comic like that imo.
Carlin also was the first public figure who made me feel like it was ok to be an atheist. Before him I felt like it was something I had to hide. Well if he can go on Letterman and just casually throw around “make believe sky god” - I guess I don’t have to be ashamed either. That stuff is so important.
The joke in question wasn’t a transphobic joke.
Even if the joke in question is in bad taste (it is in my opinion) he is a comedian. He pushes the envelope.
Man, I tried to listen to some Robin Williams stand-up once. It was just pure coked-out word salad. The crowd were loving it, but I knew if you tapped someone there on the shoulder and asked “What is he actually talking about?” they wouldn’t have been remotely able to say.
Though now I look back on Bill Hicks and a fair amount of it is cringe, honestly - borderline unlistenable. And like you say, bits like Gays In The Military were central to his brand and hilarious, and they’re just clapter-bait now*. After George Michael died, a bunch of stuff came about him doing all kinds of low-key charitable stuff and going out of his way to not make a big deal of it. I saw a tweet that said something like “Maybe growing up is respecting George Michael a little more and Bill Hicks a little less” and yeah, I see their point.
*I’ll correct myself - that bit is clapter-bait in Europe. Probably still pretty controversial in the US, but not because of anything to do with gay people.
Reality What a Concept blew my 5th grade mind to smithereens. I didn’t get half the jokes but the ones I did get were amazing. He does a whole improv thing on Three Mile Island that is just incredible. I am scared to go back and listen to it now though.
It’s probably like me trying to listen to Lenny Bruce - if you weren’t there you’ll never really get it in the moment it was born. Standup is all about context. People used to ask me to tell them a joke - and I’m like it won’t be funny w/o the context that I’m up in front of a bunch of people telling you through a microphone. It’s not the same thing.
Whose Line Is It Anyway made up most of my solid childhood comedy memories. Still holds up decently well.