A Masterclass in Storytelling from Dave Chappelle

For the first time in awhile (certainly within the last year) my husband and I sat down and watched a show together.

Something other than Gabby Gabby’s Playhouse or Sonic the Hedgehog.

We sat down and watched a comedy special from Dave Chappelle.

I’ll skip over the content of it. I know Chappelle can bring out strong emotions both for and against his work.

Instead, I have to sit back and admire the storytelling structure he used.

Here’s story A. Story A is about an injustice he suffered at the beginning of his career in his teens.

Not terribly funny. A context setter. He finishes the episode with a lesson learned. Not much clapping. A few grins. Nothing to write home about.

But it’s Chappelle, so the audience is ready to do some waiting.

Then we go to story B. Here’s another experience in my life many years later. Another injustice. Delivered in a way to ensure a little giggle giggle, hiccup snort from the audience.

Not a mic dropper, but it’s still Chappelle, so we’re ready to do a bit more waiting to see where this goes.

We take these two very different stories, and we go to story C. Here’s story C and here’s how story A and story B are like story C in kind of weird way you didn’t see coming. Here’s how I took the lessons from A and B and applied it to the context of story C.

And then let’s bring it in real intimate. Let me sprinkle in some more context so you understand my point of view. And pepper in some special words that can’t be posted in a polite forum.

Spoiler alert, the entertainment business is a MONSTER!

And the audience is with him. They’re grinning. They understand the monster. They understand the injustice. They’re on their feet cheering him on in his charge against the monster.

And with that said, he flips the microphone and walks off stage.

He says what he needs to say and not a word more.

Maybe not the funniest of funnies, but a masterclass in storytelling none the less.

Another Gabby Gabby-less date night success.