May 13, 2005

• Here I thought he was the sanest guy in the whole damn country. I wonder what the hell happened? Another case of smart + creative = doomed?
• aw crap.
• I wish more people would take a little holiday in an institution before things went totally to shit. Come back stronger, dude.
• I....I feel so alone...
• .
• Also: I totally doubt he imploded. E! News does have a reputation of journalistic excellence, but I personally am cool with the idea that he's not crazy, not on drugs, and most likely not even in south africa. I'll bet he's screwing his wife.
• But does it blow like a Monkey?
• Ok Ian. Myself, I've actually come to the conclusion that it's not even Dave Chappelle. The bastards. They're fucking with our heads, man.
• Anybody have The BellRays 'Revolution Get Down'?
• Chappelle's just doing his Richard Pryor impression. Wait till he sets himself on fire, it's a hoot!
• Salon says he's in a South African mental institution.
• I was about to call out moneyjane on an FPP self link when I saw the title, "Well, this blows." My apologies.
• Two weeks ago, Comedy Central filmed a promo for the Chappelle show on my bf's stoop in Chelsea. He watched through his window while they were filming, and said that Chapelle was morose the entire time that he wasn't on film. There were other comedians there cutting up between takes, but Dave just kept to himself. Not that it's related, but I just wanted a reason to tell the story.
• Glad he had the sense to seek help before he really did implode and end his life. Here's to a speedy recovery.
• I was about to call out moneyjane on an FPP self link when I saw the title, "Well, this blows." Thank god we have you to fill the void with humorous quips like this one. And I'll bet he checked himself in to get away from all the fucktards who are still saying "I'm Rick James, bitch." Fucking assholes.
• Or this could be the best publicity stunt evah!
• There aren't even batteries in my sarcasm detector, yet it went off anyway at smallish bear's comment. Perhaps I need a time-out from here.
• Oh for fuck's sake, he's not gonna "end his life" it's just a case of nervous breakdown. This has happened to soooo many performers under pressure that it's not surprising it has happened to Chappelle considering the situation he faces - he was certainly ill-prepared for the scale of his relatively sudden success with the tv show after years of struggling with second fiddle gigs. The signs of this coming have been many for months (remember his dressing down of an audience at one of his stand up gigs?) He'll recover and be fine. Please stay calm. Many, many, many people have breakdowns and some indeed do need hospitalisation for a short period, but it does not mean the person is 'crazy'.
• Oh for fuck's sake, he's not gonna "end his life" it's just a case of nervous breakdown. These two things are not mutually exclusive. A close relative of mine suffered a massive breakdown and tried to commit suicide just a week ago. Much of the reason was that he had problems that were building and building, and he didn't get the right kind of help in time. And he ain't 'crazy' either.
• True enough. Nevertheless the over reaction to this (not necessarily here, but on other blogs) is a little peeving for me (I have bona fide mentally ill people in my family so I tend to react). There's this thing in our culture that if someone gets ill psychologically, it's like they're 'unclean' or something. The irony is that mental illness is absolutely fucking rife in our society, and once you deal a little with the truly mentally ill, or study the field, you begin to recognise low-to-high order personality disorders in your family, your friends, your co-workers.. everywhere. Most are ignored. People suffer because of this, all because of a silly taboo. Chappelle is in no danger since he has recognised the problem and checked himself into a good facility, thankfully far, far away from the US. If it is indeed a breakdown, it might be sometime before he is well again, but it by no means spells the end of his career. It may well spell the end of the Chappelle show, however, but for Dave that is probably a good thing. He would probably be better off doing specials every now and again rather than face the enormous pressure of the series-format show.
• Don't know why the guy checked into a psychiatric hospital but Dave shares a lot of his personal life on stage and will no doubt eventually let all of us speculators know the real deal.
• I'm with Chyren. He's getting help; odds are very good he'll be fine (with maybe a bit more compassion for people in pain than before). Hopefully he'll get the need to "self-medicate" too much out of his system a bit now, too (I'm referencing the many recent news reports I've seen that note that Chappelle's frequently been involved in "heavy partying" of late).
• the story has been updated at time.com dave, it seems, is worried he's becoming a racist. . . among aother things. very interesting 7 page piece covering everything from dave's current drugs of choice (just coffee and cigs folks) to his ill-fated pilgrimage to mecca. go here for a working registration (bypass).
• MonkeyFilter: There aren't even batteries in my sarcasm detector, yet it went off anyway