all of these comedians are different. I'm not looking for the "best" one, just opinions on them.
EDDIE GRIFFIN: i know if him from the stand up flick DYSFUNKTIONAL FAMILY. he is raw, touching on topics of seeing his own uncle shoot heroin and graphic sexually. no doubt he is funny. i would say he (and this is from a "white" perspectice, his audience is mostly black. he is talented and definitely keeps it real. does his shows like a rockstar. high emotion, much yelling, and physical energy.
CHRIS ROCK: i know of his albums and "BIGGER AND BLACKER" (brilliant) he is undoubtedly funny and can command a "rock show" stand up act like eddie murphy could. he is kinda "on the fence" touching on racial topics that "make fun" of whites and blacks as well as other races. an equal opportunity comedian. the one thing though is that i find he isn't very funny doing characters in skits, as murphy was on SNL.
CHAPPELLE: he is hilarious in skits. when he plays a black blind white supremicist, he is that supremisist. his co-writer is white, often appearing in chappelle's skits. when he plays rick james, he is rick james...check out the season one dvd set for commentary and unedited footage. chappelle can really improvise. he can say almost anything and make it funny. his stand up is less "rock star" than the rest, he doesn't wear leather outfits, but his low key humour is just as funny. the cool thing is that he's still pretty young (young 30's)...for his third season of CAPPELLE SHOW comedy central is paying him around 20 million and his co-writer several million. for dave, a season of CHAPELLE SHOW is 10 shows, so for two seasons that's 20 shows at ONE MILLION per show...each show only runs around 20 minutes..and if he has a rap guest...15 minutes. so he's making over 1 million dollars per fifteen minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'd just like to hear others' opinions (not judgements) on these talented comics.
take care,
mr. henry
www.310am.com
Post Edited (09-06-04 03:43)
Griffin is annoying, Rock is so-so, Chappelle..well what can I say. He's actually the best of the three really. I like the fact hes a versitile comedian where rock and Griffin just rely on how annoying their voices are.
Rock used to be funny, now he just shows his teeth, like there's something funny about them.
Griffin: Never cared for him much. There's that old saying that comedians' styles tend to fall into two camps, material or personality. Although some of the best mix the two. I've always considered Griffin a personality comedian, few of whom I like. And the comedian as rockstar thing annoys me. Hate it when Griffin, Jim Bruer, Sandler, or even the king of the gimmick, Andrew Dice Clay, does it. Just comes across to me as an ego trip usually, again I want good material not the kind of stage show you'd get at a Toms Jones or Rod Stewart concert. As for his acting, the few times I tried to watch it I found "Malcolm and Eddie" painful to watch, can't remember seeing any of his movies al the way through .Although his joke about getting a "hot pocket" in his wetsuit when he and his wife went swimming with sharks on a vacation and the sharks started attacking the cage was pretty clever.
Rock: Love his standup, like him on shows as himself especially in interviews (as guest or interviewer). Love the fact that he asked Jesse Jackson what he actually does for a living. Perceptive, insightful with something meaningful to say while still able to be funny, which is hard to do since many people just get preachy or turn into nags. Always loved his bit defining minimum wage as "We wouldn't pay you with real money if the law didn't require it." Should avoid acting all together, his style is too broad, to the point of distraction even in broad comedies like Kevin Smith films, he comes across like he's still trying to do SNL skits. It embarasses me to see him hamming it up in lame stuff like "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Down to Earth".
Chappelle: When "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" first came out, I saw Mel Brooks on a show telling people that Dave (who was unknown at the time) was going to be a huge star, I remember wondering how many times have we heard that one. But Old Mel was right. I'd say Chappelle is the best all-round performer of the three. He's good comic relief in movies like RHMIT, even in so-so stuff like "Con Air", and he's the only part of "Half-Baked" that I cared for. Love his show, too many bits to run down, but the other day during the "Chappelle's Show" marathon bits like the Player Haters Ball, the Racial Draft, Reparations, WacArnold's, White People Dancing, etc. still crack me up even after multiple viewings. I'm just sorry I didn't make the trip to B'ham about a year ago to see his standup act.
Yaddo42 wrote:
Love his show, too many bits to
> run down, but the other day during the "Chappelle's Show"
> marathon bits like the Player Haters Ball, the Racial Draft,
> Reparations, WacArnold's, White People Dancing, etc. still
> crack me up even after multiple viewings. I'm just sorry I
> didn't make the trip to B'ham about a year ago to see his
> standup act.
if you get a chance to view his DVD series, the commentary is hilarious...the improvised outtakes from show are hilarious...the player haters' ball is great...osama bin laden...chappelle "i take yoga classes from him" and the "photo flip" of rosy odannel (sp?) "it's boy george"and "she's so tough she wears underwear with d*ck holes in 'em".,..chappell is still young and i think he'll only get better stand up wise...hopefully the next two seasons of his show are as good as the first two...
i also like the way he participates with the musical (read rappers) guests on his shows...i heard somewhere that dave is "too white for a black audience and too black for a white audience"...complete crap of course...a funny thing, my sister worked in a mostly black neighborhood in chicago, quite rough and full of graffiti on the subway posters...but the subway poster for the CHAPPELLE show was left completely clean...he's got street cred...what else can you say about a guy that calls out R. Kelly in TWO!!! skits and also incorporates PAUL MOONEY's "ask a black dude" or NEGRODAMOS...not to mention getting wayne brady to play a gangster/pimp.
mr. henry
www.310am.com
Post Edited (09-07-04 11:04)
Griffin - I don't care for most of his stand up, but he can be quite funny if given the right role. Case in point is Undercover Brother. Not a great piece of cinema, but Griffin does elicit some great laughs.
Rock - Genius when it comes to comedy. This guy's stand up is searing and perfect. Not much of an actor, but damn his shows are funny.
Chappelle - By far my favorite of the three. He just has a laid back sensability about him that is so easy to relate with. His show is hilarious as are his parts in films and stand up. He has the ability to view all races with equal criticiasm on all. That's something to admire.
...undercover brother...chappelle was also funny in that as well as griffin. i think chappelle was CONSPIRACY BROTHER.
i just bought tickets to see CHAPPELLE on sunday at champaign, IL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a feeling the show will be basically the show that showtime has hired him to air.
mr. henry
www.310am.com
Post Edited (09-07-04 12:29)