Series review
Dave Chappelle's return reminds us why he's 'one of the true originals'
The most biting satirist of a generation has re-entered a world which has changed drastically since he fell from view 12 years ago, writes Tymon Smith
It's the sort-of-but-not-quite JD Salinger story of the comedy world - a lanky, buck-toothed, slightly vampire-eared goofy young man from a middle-class black American family who started doing standup at the age of 14 rises to become within a decade the most biting satirist in a generation.
Lauded by fellow comedians, beloved by audiences and given the opportunity by Comedy Central to produce a skit show that dissects the racial politics of America so raucously and irreverently that it makes even the most liberal of the African-American cultural establishment uncomfortable and becomes a touchstone of television in the early days of the millennium, going on to become the biggest-selling TV series on DVD for years.
But that success scares off the lanky young comedian who, to the amazement of fans and colleagues, walks away from a $50-million dollar offer to produce a fourth season of his show and disappears, resurfacing for a few weeks in Durban, holing up on his farm in Ohio, refusing interviews and doing his best not to have to answer the increasing swirl of rumours surrounding him which include murmurs of crack addiction, mental breakdown and general lack of confidence...
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