The news that Dave Chappelle has the unwelcome distinction of being the second big-name stand-up comic to be attacked on stage this year has the worrying signs of a possible trend. The first of course was when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a tasteless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair (or lack of it) at the 2022 Academy Awards.
There is an odd twist of fate about these confrontations though. Back in 1996, Jada Pinkett (as was) played Carla Purty in the remake of Jerry Lewis’s The Nutty Professor.
In one scene, she watches with tears of laughter in her eyes as boyfriend Buddy Love (Eddie Murphy) mounts the stage to beat up cruel night club comedian Reggie Warrington – Dave Chappelle. Spooky.
A quite different scenario for early alternative comedian Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), whose stage routine was considered so shocking that he was arrested by undercover police multiple times after his ‘obscenity’-laced act.
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