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but my statement has nothing to do with their personal relationship. I can't imagine any comedian coming up (or out there now) who doesn't have mad respect for DC.
That being said, that doesn't mean they weren't coming for his neck artistically. Not many will admit it, but artists can be competitive.
It's why Gore Vidal said “Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.”
It's why MJJ said that when he had an idea for a song he has to go record it straight away or else god will give it to Prince.
You know as much mutual respect Jay and Big had for each other, you know they were trying to outshine each other on Brooklyn's Finest.
So I don't buy the idea that Jak wouldn't come at DC. I mean he calls him out by name in the clip. And I don't think that means he doesn't respect Chappelle or doesn't consider him a friend. It's All Art.
And Art at its best is a conversation between greats. Chappelle plopped a big flag down on this LGBT issues and it warranted a response. And I personally am not interested in a Roxanne Gay thought piece response. I am not even interested in seeing a Tig Notaro stand-up response. I want to see black men respond. And we are seeing it. I think Jerrod Carmichael did a great job of responding without mentioning DC or his standup. Telling stories and jokes and giving a first person perspective on homophobia is a powerful retort without mentioning DC by name (and he was less effective talking about it in an interview and explicitly mentioning DC). It's no coincidence that he got the platform and interest he did at the time he did it. It is a reaction to DC.
And JK's special is a direct response. He mentions DC by name. So there is no getting around he intended to be a response to DC. But more so then what he directly says about DC, the whole standup was a response IMHOP.
And my opinion is...he did it better. I thought that the JK standup I just shared is funnier, faster, more thoughtful, more joyful, more energetic, bolder and more shocking that anything I've seen in the last few DC specials. That's my opinion I am entitled to and I am unbothered and not surprised that a bunch of 40+ old heads on OKP can't see it. As a comedy head, as much as I can still enjoy Louis CK, Bill Burr and DC, they still come off to me as grumpy old men caught up on the world changing around them in ways they don't understand. And I all see them trying to maintain their edge by somewhat lazily seeking out the most shocking thing they can say over just genuinely bold and funny material. I mean DC has just dropped the pretense of calling it standup comedy and just released a lecture on Netflix. SMH.
And it's funny to me because I would bet my life savings that DC has had some gay sex experiences, he kinda dances around it in his stand up, but isn't as bold as Jak Knight was in his special talking about it positively.
Jak Knight telling the story about telling his boys at the barbershop about his experience with a transwoman is as bold a bit I've seen a straight presenting black male comedian do since Richard Pryor talking about sucking d*ck. Don't underestimate how bold that is.
Anyway, DC has been sucking so much of the air in black comedy and is no doubt the biggest name in Comedy today and has earned his accolades and Mark Twain award, but (i) it's wild to me the pearl-clutching in here about the idea of comparing anyone to DC and (ii) as big as he is today, he isn't the future of Black Comedy.
Somebody on twitter today said Desus and Mero were regular dudes who managed to be funny as hell without being misogynistic or homophobic. I never even noticed that was true until I read it. That's the future to me.
I get the chance to hang out with NYC black artsy kids and their humor is more Langston Kerman and Jak Night than Dave Chappelle.
Again, giving you know the people involved it doesn't seem appropriate to "argue" with you about how great I think Jak Knight routine was, but...this OKP...and if I want to say the routine I saw I thought was better than the last 3 DC specials on the same topic, I am going to double down and say it unrepentantly.
Condolences for your personal loss.
>But I assure you that not only was Jak the biggest Chappelle
>fan I knew, they were also friends.
>
>Like Dave, Jak was a purist who really got mad at needing to
>compromise his art in any way. He'd be open and honest about
>if he thought someone or something sucked, even if it was his
>hero. And he never said that about any of the new specials.
>
>Dave saw Jak as an 18 or 19 year old on the front patio of the
>Comedy Store and wondered why he was there - so he told the
>club to let him in and he did a minute or two on stage. That
>was his introduction to the Comedy Store - because he couldn't
>get in otherwise.
>
>So...as others have said - you really don't need to compare
>the two guys or tear one down at the expense of the other.
>It's probably best to not, honestly.
**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson
"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"
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