Fearless Facts About Dave Chappelle, The Say Anything Comedian
Comedian Dave Chappelle shows little discrimination when choosing the targets of his acerbic wit. And yet somehow, no one has been able to bring Chappelle’s own personal life into the fray.
Well, it’s hard to get the dirt on the Chappelle family: They’re holed up in Ohio surrounded by a buffer of farmland as far as the eye can see. I think it’s time to deep dive into the facts about Dave Chappelle and find out what he’s hiding.
1. They Were Serious
David Chappelle—or David Khari Webber Chappelle as his parents named him—was born in Washington DC on August 24, 1973. Chappelle’s parents were both professionals.
His dad was a music professor and his mom was many things: a Unitarian Minister, a professor of history, she even worked in the cabinet of the prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
With parents as accomplished and serious as his, you may wonder how Chappelle ended up in comedy. Well, while his parents may have been working stiffs, they had some seriously good connections.
2. He Guessed Right
Chappelle’s parents were both politically active, but also found time to have music in their lives. While growing up in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Chappelles had musical visitors to their home.
Social activist and musician Pete Seeger dropped by from time to time, and so did jazz singer Johnny Hartman. Hartman saw something in young Dave Chappelle and even made an ominous prediction: Chappelle would be a comedian one day.
3. He Was Obsessed
It actually wasn’t that difficult for Hartman to make the prediction about Chappelle, because as a child Chappelle was obsessed with comedians like Eddy Murphy and Richard Pryor. Well, it was good that Chappelle had a sense of humor—he’d need it for his next few years. Sadly, Chappelle's parents separated, and Chappelle began a new life with a difficult arrangement: Summers with his dad in Ohio and the rest of the year with his mom in Washington.
4. He Was Random
In spite of his difficult home life, Chappelle was getting more and more serious about being a performer of some kind. To make this happen, he switched from a regular high school to Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Before Chappelle even graduated from high school, he had his first TV appearance. America’s Funniest People was a spin-off of the immensely popular America’s Funniest Videos. In 1990, a 17-year-old Chappelle got a chance to show off his humor.
However, when Chappelle sat in front of the TV to see himself, he was in for a disappointment: The show had buried his spot in a montage alongside many random people telling jokes. Chappelle, however, had the bug, he knew wanted to make people laugh.
