Dave Chappelle's Stand-Up Falls Flat at Miami Charity Event

Typically hilarious comedian loses his mojo while making an appearance in Miami Friday night

By Brandi Fowler Jul 23, 2011 4:18 PMTags
Dave ChappelleArnold Turner/WireImage.com

Don't call it a comeback…just yet.

Just a month after Dave Chappelle popped up in New York to give a crowd-rousing impromptu performance, the former Chappelle's Show star hit the stage at a Miami charity event to entertain guests with an hour-long comedy act.

But, while he stirred up rumors of a new project in the works with the success of his Big Apple stint…how did the funnyman fare in Miami Friday night?

Let's just say it wasn't so great.

"This Dave Chappelle set is bizarre," CNN reporter Roland S. Martin tweeted Friday night while at former NBA star Alonzo Mourning's Zo's Summer Groove fundraiser. "He's spent more time going back & forth with one audience member, & pretty much stopped telling jokes."

And that wasn't all.

Apparently Chappelle had phone calls to attend to…during the performance.

"One woman just yelled, ‘Can you tell a joke so we can enjoy ourselves!' He got texted four times during his show and actually checked them," Martin continued. "Then Dave started talking to me, asking if I was putting this on CNN. Yes, from the stage! He's been on stage 46 minutes & told one joke."

While Chappelle's reps have yet to comment on the stand-up snafu, Martin went on to say someone in Chappelle's camp told him the comedian hates hecklers, and when he started getting heckled on stage that threw him off and he wasn't able to regain his footing. Eventually, the whole affair turned into a "test of wills," according to Martin, who said Dave kept "staring at the crowd and sighing."

Perhaps, we should give Chappelle a pass, however. If he does indeed have a project in the works, we'd love to see it come to fruition (sans the awkward silence that came with this particular stand-up show).