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Big Ups to Dave Chappelle
03 Aug 2004 by Jason Fried
Dave Chappelle, a bona fide laugh factory, finally gets his due. $50,000,000 of it. He even gets a chunk of the DVD sales (including a retroactive cut from the first season):
Chappelle’s original deal reaped barely a fraction of DVD revenues — a source of frustration to the comedian as his second one-year deal with Comedy expired. The new deal cuts Chappelle not only a larger portion of DVD sales — including retroactively to the first and second seasons — but revenue from merchandising and events as well.
The deal also includes this nugget:
Another component sets up Chappelle with a multimillion-dollar deal at Paramount Pictures to star in an adaptation of the autobiography of Rick James, the funk veteran whom Chappelle has lampooned on “Chappelle’s Show.”
Good humor on the way.
19 comments so far (Post a Comment)
03 Aug 2004 | JF said...
Yep, you caught me before I fixed that!! I have a weird habit of publishing my drafts and then fixing them live. I must change that ;)
03 Aug 2004 | Darrel said...
All great, but do we REALLY need a Rick James biography?
03 Aug 2004 | Austin Moody said...
"All great, but do we REALLY need a Rick James biography?"
If it is half as funny as the Rick James skits on the Chappelle Show... well then we FOR SURE need a Rick James biography.
03 Aug 2004 | ML said...
No mention of it in that piece but I sure hope Dave Chappelle's Family History of the World is still on.
Dave Chappelle is talking with New Line to pen and star in Dave Chappelles Family History of the World, a chronicle of his family's role in important historical events. Chappelle plays different family members from biblical times to the 21st century.
03 Aug 2004 | Dr_God said...
I'm Wayne Brady, bitch!
Sorry. That just comes out every time Dave Chappelle is mentioned now. :)
03 Aug 2004 | Mike said...
Dave Chappelle is a weekly staple of college life for me. All my boys and I get together to watch it, and then we repeat phrases he says verbatim and ad nauseum for months and months afterwards :)
I'm really excited to see he re-signed, because those "highlight" shows were getting pretty slow.
03 Aug 2004 | CliffM said...
I'm really surprised to hear him doing a movie involving Rick James. I saw him live in Orlando at a comedy club a few months ago and his show got really ugly. A few people started yelled out "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" and he totally freaked out. He said he was so sick of it and would not do stand-up anymore like he hated what he had done. It all went downhill from there and most of the people at the show were pretty disappointed. I know I went there to hear his act and really wasn't expecting the "Show" but it really came down to a few people in the crowd ruining it for the rest of us.
03 Aug 2004 | LNJ said...
OH goody!
Years more of listening to people walk around thinking they are an obnoxious black guy from Comedy Central.
Just a reminder, Crank Yankers was funny and fresh it's first season too. It's when it didn't get funnier or stay fresh that it jumped the shark. 50 mil is a lot to pay for someone who was funny once.
04 Aug 2004 | The D Chapelle Army said...
LNJ, why so bitter? Jealous?
04 Aug 2004 | LNJ said...
Jealous? Nope. I've had Dave Chapelle on my radar since I was about 16 and ten years ago he was funny. The entire Chapelle Show was a fluke and Dave was simply doing the SAME routine he was doing 10 years ago... only now and on TV.
The guy has had the same act for years. Like Carrot Top, Chapelle has NOTHING becuase he never learned to grow as a comic.
Besides, as I said... Crank Yankers was funny once as well. Comedy Central rolled out the same old for that show and it went down hill, pretty quick. If Chapelle doesn't come up with some new stuff quick, he'll go the way of Crank Yankers. 50 mil is a lot to pay for a bad show/comedian.
04 Aug 2004 | The D Chapelle Army said...
Good point. Most comedians hit a ceiling and then stop... look at Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy... Maybe it's the thing to do when the $50 million check is on the horizon.
05 Aug 2004 | Darrel said...
"Just a reminder, Crank Yankers was funny"
Just because you say it over and over doesn't make it true.
;o)
06 Aug 2004 | LNJ said...
Fine, let's get touchy...
Crack Yanker (imho) was once funny. Chapelle (imho) early in his career was funny. Cheese (imho) make for good grilled cheese sandwhiches. Shoes (imho) go on my feet.
Aren't I posting here to express my take and opinion on things? Or to disagree and counter point yours? Isn't it ALL in my humble OPINION?
06 Aug 2004 | LNJ said...
and No Darrel, I'm not angry at you, just kinda throwin it out there.
06 Aug 2004 | Darrel said...
;o)
06 Aug 2004 | charlie murphy said...
Well Rick James is dead. Now what...
26 Aug 2004 | shante said...
I think all you guys should stop hating on dave. A person can't maintain a career for 10 years with out having some kind of talent right? i personally think that dave chappelle is very funny and deserves everything he's gotten. I think there is a lot of jealousy because half you guys wsh you had the balls to go up and do what he does night after night am i right ?...i think I am
26 Aug 2004 | shante said...
oh yeah! that tyrone biggins sketch is some funny shit man. am I right? and crank yankers is not that goddamn... funny get over it!
