8:46

Looking forward to laughing our heads off, we pulled up Dave Chappelle’s special, recently released for free. It wasn’t funny at all. It was, however, powerfully moving in other ways, sticking with me for days.

The title references the length of time George Floyd had an officer’s knee on his neck, and the entire bit is dedicated to the resulting protests and conversations about racism in our country. Dave’s whole shtick is that this is not the time for celebrities to come and be the heroes, instead for the people to be heard. Yet, he himself spends 30 minutes addressing these issues from his stage…

“These are the streets talking. They don’t need me right now.”

A couple days of reflection revealed what was most powerful to me. In this show, Dave wasn’t a celebrity talking about one of the biggest issues of our day. Arguably the most brilliant comedian took off his comedian hat (truly, we half-laughed once the entire time) and put on his regular-person hat. He got personal and real, tying in his birthday, the minute of his birth (8:46), his great grandpa’s connection to the civil rights movement, even his own ancestor’s enslavement.

He started out with a complaint about celebrities riding in to save the day. Then, taking his own advice, shared an unfeigned and somber side of himself.