Stand-up comedy today has become the frontier of exploiting the reality behind our great American culture and offers a relief from all the uptight tensions from many beliefs and ideas. Black comedian, Dave Chappelle is arguably one of the best and few jeremiads stand-up comedians in the 21st century that reveal our contract with the god of reason, our list of short-comings, and gives us a vision of hope. Chappelle’s performance in, Killing Them Softly, is performed at Washington D.C. where he delivers strong punch lines that are relevant to the issues and concerns we deal with in our daily lives. He exploits these negative tensions by relating to his audience and creating unity amongst his fans with a knowledgeable flow of jokes. We allow corrupted media to tell us how the world should be through there unethical views and how things must be in order for profitable gains of a certain interest group. Chappelle reveals the corrupted system behind the illusion of a perfect American life that we are all told to follow. He deliberately attacks the way life is today for the typical black person in the United States by conversing with his audience on how life is in the ghetto with drugs, prostitution, law enforcement, robbery, fights, guns, and low income housing.
Chappelle hosted many stand-up comedy performances which are mostly performed in front a predominately black audience. Chappelle, being a black man himself, relates to his audience by experiencing many negative acts that were shared within the black community such as; racism, wrongfully accused, very little of equal opportunity, and many more other acts against the black community. Chappelle (2000) explains the value a black person holds in white America by stating,” In any hostage situation you never see a black man held hostage” (Killin Them Softly). The audience can relate with Chappelle’s view by acknowledging that all American news stations have never shown a stressful situation that dealt with a black...