Comedian Michelle Buteau epically schooled veteran stand-up comic Dave Chappelle on the basic rules of comedy on her new Netflix special, Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall.
In recent years, Chappelle, who was the 2019 recipient of the distinguished Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, fell under scrutiny for making demeaning jokes in his 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, targeting the transgender community, mainly transgender women.
He was further denounced for sarcastically expressing regret for his transphobic remarks in his next comedy special, The Dreamer, during which he mocked the same marginalized community in addition to making fun of disabled people.
Buteau addressed the controversy of Chappelle's anti-trans jokes in her new stand-up special.
She informed her audience:
“We can tell jokes and stories and not disparage a whole community."
"We can do that. We can make it funny, we just have to work at it."
Buteau added:
“So, if you ever run into Dave Chappelle, can you let him know that sh*t? I don’t think he knows that sh*t.”
The host of the Late Night Whenever! podcast also called Chappelle "The GOAT," but instead of the acronym meaning the "greatest of all time," Buteau changed it for Chappelle to "going off about trans-people."
She continued:
“Dave, it’s not funny. It’s dangerous. Make it funny."
"I can’t believe somebody would make millions and millions of dollars for making people feel unsafe. That is so wild to me."
Buteau added:
“I’m manifesting this sh*t tonight. This is a Radio City Music Hall takeover, and I’m gonna tell everybody I wanna make millions and millions of dollars for making people feel safe, seen, secure, heard and entertained.”
Fans shouted praise.
The comedian doubled down on her position regarding what makes certain jokes less humorous than others in an interview with USA Today.
Said Buteau:
“I’m not saying you can’t say things, I’m just saying: ‘Can you make it funny?’ Because it doesn’t feel funny."
"You’re hurting people and you’re making it dangerous."
While no one is safe in the world of stand-up, many felt Chappelle's jokes at the expense of trans people in The Closer —including one in which he declared himself as "team TERF," an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminists”—were humorless and uninspiring.
It also resulted in staged walkouts from trans Netflix employees and their allies who joined protests in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
People shared their thoughts on Chappelle's comedy.
Buteau, who at 47 became the first woman to film a comedy special at the famed Radio City Music Hall, relayed an important message in her comedy special: That anti-trans jokes can reinforce harmful stereotypes the transgender community has fought against.
Transphobic punchlines can also invalidate an individual's trans identity and embolden others to discriminate against them and cause harm.
