Inside the Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle  (DVD)  2006

In the vein of such contemporaries as Martin Lawrence, Eddie Griffin and Norm McDonald, African American comic Dave Chappelle launched himself as a stand-up act, then segued into movies with turns in such comedies as Mel Brooks's Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) (as one of the Merry Men Rappers), Eddie Murphy's The Nutty Professor (1996) (as a standup who ruins the title character's date, and is then tortured by his alter ego), and Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail (as Tom Hanks's wisecracking assistant). As the new millennium dawned, Chappelle established himself on Crank Yankers, Comedy Central's gutterbucket answer to The Jerky Boys, as one of the recurring prank phone callers. The success of this turn induced the network to give Chappelle his own sketch comedy program, The Dave Chappelle Show, in which he used a cutting, acerbic wit and keen insights to examine racial attitudes and African American icons, such as Prince and Rick James. Then, the comedian suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the limelight, abandoned the program and took a pilgrimage to Africa. In Inside the Actor's Studio: Dave Chappelle, taped in early 2006, the talented comedian sits on the infamous stage opposite 12+ year series host James Lipton and discusses his life, his career accomplishments, and what he learned from his African journey. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi