Dave Chapelle makes come back on Netflix with it's signature style

Dave Chappelle's new stand-up special, The Dreamer, covers a wider range of topics than his last few Netflix efforts while maintaining his signature style.

The Dreamer, the controversial comedian's first full-length stand-up special in two years, made his Netflix comeback on Sunday.

Though the comic still targets marginalised groups, such as the disabled, The Dreamer plays more like a standard comedy special than 2021's very contentious The Closer, which was criticised for being hyper-focused on the trans community and Chappelle defensively responding to his critics. 

The new programme includes a lengthy segment about former Republican representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who is paraplegic and famous for his allegations that he was invited to s*x parties in Washington.

“I don’t doubt they do this shit in Washington [but] who the fuck invites a paraplegic to an orgy?” Chappelle wondered, and, at one point, declared: “I love punching down!”

After telling one story that leads to a punchline about the trans community, Chappelle says, “Now if you guys came here to this show tonight thinking I’m gonna make fun of those people again, I’m not fucking with those people anymore. It wasn’t worth the trouble.”

“It’s a funny thing if you feel you’re absolutely right; you can get drunk at the feeling of how right you are — it’s why gay people are so mean,” he says at one point.

The comedian said, "If this is what being cancelled is, I love it," while performing at the Hollywood Bowl in 2021. It appears that he has made a great deal of money off of his culture war controversies. According to a recent Wall Street Journal feature on the comedian, Chappelle made $62 million in revenue from 31 gigs in 2023 by selling more tickets than any other comedic headlining act.