Inside the Actor's Studio: Dave Chappelle DVD: Review By Mushy

Inside the Actor's Studio: Dave Chappelle is an up close and personal look at the popular actor/comedian who created one of the most successful and groundbreaking shows of recent memory. With $50 million dollars in his pocket, the Chappelle's Show being the top rated TV on DVD release, and it's cable audience continuing to grow, the actor/creator walked away from all of it, decamping to Africa. Rumors spread that he was crazy, a drug addict... nobody could understand why this brilliant man was suddenly turning his back on the fortune he so rightly deserved.

Chappelle gives Inside the The Actor's Studio host James Lipton all the answers he is seeking, but those people expecting a tabloid-like expose, where Chappelle names names might be disappointed. First of all, Lipton has a genuine reverence for performers. He hasn't invited Chappelle on to talk about the rumors and innuendo. He starts at the beginning and has the actor talk about his youth, getting into standup comedy, losing his father, and then what it was like to leave Chappelle's Show.

All in all, Inside the Actor's Studio: Dave Chappelle was enlightening, entertaining and illuminating.

James Lipton: Flashbacks

I thought that these were going to be flashbacks that the host had of doing the show, but they were instead 6 deleted scenes from the Chappelle interview. They have titles like "Pitching Chappelle Show" and "Men In Tights." Why these didn't make the cut of the DVD is anyone's guess. Perhaps they wanted to preserve the version that played on TV? This doesn't make sense because DVDs by there very nature are meant to play extended versions of things we otherwise wouldn't get to see. Either way, check these out as Chappelle gives some more interesting anecdotes about his life, the show, and his career.

Full Screen - It is James Lipton's demeanor, his love of performing, creative types, and everything in between, that really gives this show it's shape. The look and set up was quite simple. It's two people talking in front of a room full of onlookers. However, Lipton has such a command of the interview process, this never gets old or feels claustrophobic.

Close Captioned. Sadly, I can't really tell you much more about the audio than that. They don't list out what kind of sound this DVD has, so it makes it very hard to speak in specifics. I will say that I didn't have problem hearing either Lipton or Chappelle, but it isn't like there was much in the way of the audio to really get engaged.

They have given this cover an arty look by making it seem like something that would be on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. There is just one shot of Dave Chappelle and then some text to go with it. The back features text only giving us a description of the show, a Special Features listing, and some minute technical specs. Nothing too special about the packaging, but with Dave Chappelle involved I don't think there needs to be.

I remember seeing a 60 Minutes expose on Dave Chappelle. It was right around the time of his $50 million dollar deal with Comedy Central. He seemed overwhelmed by his newfound status as a celebrity and rich man. It was as if he didn't understand. His mindset seemed to have been in underdog mode so long, that by the time he got to where he thought he'd wanted to be, his priorities had changed. He even talks about it in his interview with Lipton in regards to the problems and meltdowns other celebrities have had. Chappelle talks about how people like Martin Lawrence are strong people, yet somehow Hollywood broke them down. He concludes by saying that that environment is pretty sick. Which, thinking back to the 60 Minutes interview, it seems now we had first witnessed a man who had come face to face with the illness.

This is an interesting and thoughtful DVD release and I think Inside the Actor's Studio: Dave Chappelle is a nice exclamation point on this whole chapter in the performers life.