Still, the episode resists tidy conclusions, instead languishing in a contemplative, quasi-mystical space: “The fact of the matter is that we’re all walking in the same direction. He extolls the benefits of being kind and nonjudgmental to people in anguish. The same episode contains a floaty piece about death called “How to Inspire,” in which Chappelle asks, “How do you keep a despondent person alive? How do you make somebody want to live? Is there a thing that you can even do for someone like that? Seriously.” Bey is inspired to tell a story about his friend, the late singer Amy Winehouse, and the experience of being in her midst when she was using heavily. Not all of these tales have such levity, though. These are the types of stories that are the bread and butter of “The Midnight Miracle,” a show heavy on misty-eyed reminiscence. “At the end of the night, it was me, Mos, and Robin onstage killing it, just like we’re doing now.” Williams ended up trying to rap alongside Bey. I’m high.” Just as Bey began to make the connection between the cookie and his altered state, Robin Williams joined the stage for a surprise guest set, at which point the two-hundred-and-twenty-seat theatre sounded “like ten thousand,” Chappelle remembers. “Why am I this relaxed? I’m still Black in America. . . . It was only as Bey stood in front of the crowd that he realized what he’d consumed. Chappelle, during his set, called on Bey to entertain his audience while he took a bathroom break. Bey had snacked on a cookie backstage beforehand. In one episode, Bey recalls one of Chappelle’s marathon six-hour standup shows from decades ago. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Chappelle had never listened to a podcast before recording his own. Unlike “Chappelle’s Show,” “The Midnight Miracle” doesn’t explicitly critique the traditional constraints or tropes of the form instead, it has a blue-skies sensibility that simply sidesteps the customary practices of podcasting altogether. (Each episode is a testament to his love of music, and will also be released on vinyl.) The show treats podcasting like an opportunity to make experimental art. Instead, “The Midnight Miracle” drifts from story to story, fading hazily in and out of carefully selected musical interludes. There is none of the traditional scaffolding that we’re accustomed to on podcasts-Chappelle does not bother with overly formal preludes, introductions, or signposts. On “The Midnight Miracle,” Kweli and Bey have been promoted to colleagues and co-stars, and the show draws on decades of friendships and shared histories on the fringes of Hollywood for its stories.Īlthough there is plenty of conversation, “The Midnight Miracle” is not a talk-radio-style podcast, nor is it a narrative show. In the early days of “Chappelle’s Show,” the two guested as Black Star, bringing an earnest and civic-minded hip-hop presence to the program. Chappelle hosts the show alongside two of his oldest friends, the New York rappers Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def). Last month, he launched “ The Midnight Miracle,” an understated, free-form audio show that bears no resemblance to the formulaic shapes that podcasts typically take, particularly those created by celebrities. Nearly two decades later, Chappelle is tackling another format, bringing his rogue sensibility to the world of podcasting. It’s just regular-ass TV.” (“Chappelle’s Show” aired on Comedy Central, after being rejected by HBO.) Often, Chappelle would tell his live audience, in between sketch clips: “I can’t believe we haven’t been cancelled yet.” Now legendary for its rule-breaking spirit, “Chappelle’s Show” was absurdist television that brought to light just how absurd most other television was. In one episode, there was a promotional clip for a fake show with the tagline: “It’s not HBO. Most of the sketches parodied popular TV programs (“Frontline,” “The Real World”) or advertising tropes (QVC, car commercials), taking the ingrained rhythms of the medium and scrambling them. But it also offered a critique of television as a form of entertainment. The show had an effortless, laid-back cool, an unapologetic vulgarity, and a deep sense of mischief as Chappelle and his collaborators explored racial dynamics in America. When “Chappelle’s Show” first aired, in 2003, it was novel for its content and, more crucially, its attitude.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |