dave chappelle at the pabst theater

so... i had the opportunity to see dave chappelle at the pabst theater on monday night.  i missed the sold out shows last year so i jumped at the opportunity when the tickets went on sale last week.

i needed a few days to mull over my feelings about the jokes both he and his opener, donnell rawlings, were telling.

i want to start by saying that donnell's jokes were everything BUT funny.  he got on a bill cosby rape rant that seemed never ending.  it was uncomfortable at best.

i should probably state that rape jokes are rarely funny to me.  i mean... maybe one in a million will i find laughable.  likely this comes from some little sick part of me that is self-depreciating given the circumstances of my life that have made me intimately acquainted with such things more often than i intend to discuss in this forum.

imagine my surprise and chagrin when i go to see a comedian that i was excitedly anticipating and i'm slapped in the face with rape jokes?  yeah... it was pretty awesome.

so when dave chappelle takes the stage i've already got a bad taste in my mouth.  he managed to bring it back for awhile with jokes unique to milwaukee history which i LOVED!  then he too jumped on the cosby train.  i understand the whole controversy and wanting to be fearless in touching the hot button topics.  what i don't understand is the insensitivity with rape.  maybe i'm just old?  maybe i'm just over sensitive to it?  the crowd seemed to really like it and laughed it up through all the rapey jokes.  it got great reviews too so...  whatever my hang-ups (if it really is "just me") they really put a damper on the experience for me.  although, to my husband's credit he too was not feeling the rape jokes.

i thought the rest of the show was pretty good.  he did take some silly sex talk on too long, but other than that i had a good time and i'm glad i went.  would i go again?  probably not.  it was a lot of money to not feel good the whole time.

i wonder if people like dave chappelle or donnell rawlings really give a shit about what someone like me thinks?  i feel like rape jokes are self serving and purposeless.  isn't there better material to laugh and poke fun at?  aren't there other dark aspects of our lives that would make better fodder for the comedic pitter patter of an evening?  i could have certainly done without it.  i can't imagine i was the only woman in the audience who felt that way.  i mean... for the life of me i can't come up with anything he talked about other than the rape crap and touching on steven avery (which i thought was hilarious).  that tells me something.  it tells me that he talked about something WAY TOO MUCH.

it speaks volumes to me as a woman and about our culture that a room full of people could sit and laugh about rape jokes dignifying a rapist and vilifying the raped.

it made me uncomfortable, sad, and provoked these thoughts.  although, it also reaffirmed my feelings of helplessness and hopelessness for changing our system, the way men view women, and how our society perpetuates it all.

it is/was kind of heartbreaking in a way... how funny (not funny ha ha)... i left a comedy show feeling heartbroken.  life is weird.