Dave Chappelle: The Grand Impostor

Dave Chappelle’s “Chappelle’s Show” on Comedy Central is a slaphappy sketch-comedy/variety show that manages to be “racy” and “edgy” (whatever that means, anymore) without ever losing the easy, just-folks sensibilities of vaudeville. The jokes are loud, broad, and obvious, but the laughs just keep coming, even when a bit’s premise, if there is one, has been maxed out. Almost every skit has race and racism in its subtext (if not its title), but the show’s surest attraction is its star’s spot-on impersonations of notorious African-American celebrities. In recent episodes, Chappelle—a former standup comic whose routine was less impressions and more “Ya ever notice how black folks and white folks are different and shit?”—transforms himself, Rich Littlesquely, into an irritable, foul-mouthed Samuel L. Jackson hawking Samuel Adams-like brew (“Mmm-mmm, bitch!”), a dangerous, delirious Rick James partying Rick James-style in the coked-up 80s (“I’m Rick James, bitch!”), a gosh-darn-it Tiger Woods at an ethnic draft (“Fashnizzle!”), and an extra-creepy Prince shooting hoops in full sequins-and-ruffles regalia (“Would you like some pancakes?”).

I was invited to watch the actor rehearse. His creative jam sessions are intense. In a span of five minutes, he’ll try on two dozen characterizations, as if flipping TV channels. Each persona is instantly recognizable: precise, extreme, and funny. When he’s done, you’re almost stumped to think of a black personality, past or present, that’s managed to escape the comic’s savage mockery. Following is a transcript of just some of the many grand impostures that rest in Mr. Chappelle’s bag of tricks: