Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan’s arena show in New Orleans, announced in June and later delayed after Rogan contracted COVID-19 in August, finally took place Thursday night.
Both comedians made damn sure everybody was aware of the hot water they’ve found themselves in — Rogan for his spurious vaccine alternative claims, and, more recently, Chappelle for the controversy surrounding his Netflix special standup, The Closer. But the sold-out crowd of nearly 17,000 people was fervent in its support for the queer theory-questioning, gender binary-reinforcing comics. The fans were also adamant in their collective reasoning that nothing that’s been said warranted introspection or criticism.
The show came less than a month after the release of The Closer, Chappelle’s sixth and final Netflix standup special that netted him over $20 million. The special is a largely unfunny, often unsettling look at a comedian whose fame, fortune, and reputation ensures he, for better or worse, never needs to evolve or self-reflect again.
The majority of The Closer’s 72 minutes are spent justifying Chappelle’s antiquated views on gender, particularly his frustrations towards a trans community who “doesn’t get” his schtick. It closes with a straw person argument regarding a white trans woman fan-turned-close friend who recently died by suicide.
Netflix’s fallout from the special — and its subsequent fallout from handling of that fallout — has been as absurd as it has been infuriating and avoidable. In an Internet of reinforcing bubbles, one might think that the online response perhaps ensured actual consequences for both the streaming giant and the self-ascribed G.O.A.T. comedian. Chappelle’s tone and demeanor last night suggested no such reflection, something that didn’t come as any real surprise, but was all the more unnerving amongst a crowd of thousands applauding for Hannah Gadsby gags and “I’m gonna get cancelled for this one” punchlines.
Chappelle and Rogan were prefaced by a trio of heavy-hitting, controversy-stoking comedians: Jeffrey Ross, Donnell Rawlings, and Tom Segura. Each laid into their own brand of aggressively masculine material, although Segura was the only one who could adequately justify the jokes. The rest regularly defaulted to a string of punchlines involving stereotypes, effeminate men, and nagging women.
Joe Rogan was Joe Rogan. That is to say, the walking id of semi-literate machismo with just enough self-awareness to make him culpable for their outsized influence on pop culture.
“If you’re getting your vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault?” Rogan asked to uproarious laughter. To answer briefly: Yes. The Joe Rogan Experience is far and away the most listened-to podcast in America, with guests ranging from Elon Musk to Bernie Sanders to Ben Shapiro. Hearing Rogan hawk Ivermectin treatments for COVID-19 in lieu of provenly effective vaccines makes him an unequivocal accomplice to misinformation peddling and pseudoscience. But, y’know, it’s all for the LOLZ.
Chappelle, unsurprisingly, took to the stage to a standing ovation.
“I haven’t been in this much trouble in my life,” he quipped early on to enthusiastic applause. On the one hand, it was refreshing to see the comedian perform a set without retreading his past material verbatim. On the other hand, his past performances would have been more palatable than listening to this hour-long roast of a supposed “PC culture.” A culture that, in all actuality, is really only asking for influential icons like Chappelle to acknowledge their humanity and quit with the cheap open-mic jokes at other’s expense.
Unfortunately, at this stage in their respective careers, both Chappelle and Rogan will, in all likelihood, continue to rake in obscene amounts of money in literal echo chamber arenas across the country. Despite what left-leaning social media bubbles may say otherwise, Chappelle has not only escaped this latest queer-phobic controversy unscathed, but is now bolstered by his fans, friends, and newly minted TERF allies. Shows like last night’s in New Orleans make it well-known that the only thing “cancelled” comedians have to fear are stale punch-lines and one-note sets. And even then, it’s hard to fear something that still makes you so much money.