Chappelle from “The Closer.”
- “The Dreamer,” Dave Chappelle’s first new comedy special, is available on Netflix in two years.
- He covers a wide range of topics, but he never stops making offensive transgender jokes.
- Other “anti-woke” comedy specials have recently been released on Netflix, including those by Ricky Gervais and Matt Rife.
Dave Chappelle has another stand-up special available on Netflix, and in recent years, he hasn’t backed down from “punching down” jokes that have hurt both him and Netflix.
He takes aim at the transgender and gay communities as well as disabled people in “The Dreamer,” which was released on December 31. “I’m doing all disabled jokes now,” he says. “They lack the same level of organization as the gays, and I enjoy punching them.”
Despite claiming he was “doing trans jokes no longer,” Chappelle doesn’t waste time by focusing on trans people in the first 12 minutes of the hour-long special, which is his seventh Netflix exclusive.
He also discusses Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock on stage in 2022 and how he was tackled that same year at the Hollywood Bowl.
“The Dreamer” is a sequel to Chappelle’s controversial 2021 special “The Closer” and “Sticks and Stones” from 2019, in which he made jokes about transgender people, Michael Jackson accusers, and the #MeToo movement, among other things.
Following Chappelle’s “The Closer,” Netflix employees staged a walkout in 2021, but the fallout didn’t seem to have much of an effect.
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, initially defended Chappelle’s specials citing artistic freedom but later admitted he “screwed up” by failing to acknowledge the pain some employees experienced as a result.
The debate over whether comedians can “punch up,” or make jokes about underprivileged or disadvantaged groups, has gained traction in the cultural conversation. Recently, Netflix has found a niche for other “anti-woke” comedies, such as those starring Ricky Gervais and Matt Rife.
And while “The Dreamer” was criticized online for being “lazy,” the audience seems to be enjoying it. Two days into “The Dreamer,” his other most recent specials have an audience rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gervais and Rife haven’t fared as well, receiving 61% and 18% audience ratings, respectively.
Disclosure: Axel Springer, the parent company of Business Insider, and Mathias Döpfner are both committee members of Netflix.
