There is one thing that I’m happy to share with people.. I love stand-up comedy.  I’ve loved it since I was little, idolizing Robin Williams, Sam Kinneson, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor in their uncanny abilities to spin yarns that had you doubled over in laughter.  I watched Paula Poundstone, Ellen DeGeneres, and Rita Rudner and wanted to BE them.  I’ve always LOVED stand-up comedy.

In the BitterHouse, HBO was solely there for the Broadway comedy hours.. Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, John Leguizamo (oh, how I cherish that man).. it was like watching one-man theatre.  I LOVED it.

I have new loves, too.  I’m quite vocal about my lusting after Dane Cook, but he’s not alone.. I’ll shop around to see when Premium Blend is on (it’s the best place to see the up-and-comers), I’m devoted to Demetri Martin, I mourned the loss of Mitch Hedberg (gone WAAAY too soon, and too quietly), and Bryan and I share a common bond when it comes to stand-up comedy.. we both ADORE Dave Chappelle.

I’ve watched Dave since “Killing ‘em Softly” was on HBO, because he was intelligent.  He was witty and irreverent at the same time.  And when he was finally granted a no-holds-barred forum with “The Chappelle Show”, I was instantly hooked.  It used to be a guaranteed weekend activity for us, when the season DVDs would come in from Blockbuster.

Last night, Dave had another forum to himself; he was featured in a two-hour “Inside the Actor’s Studio” on Bravo! network.  Although his behavior was not at all as I expected.. if you’ve ever seen Dave perform, he speaks quickly, succinctly, and articulately, and last night, he was muddled at best.. he spoke with heart.  The last year of the man’s life has been all over the news, and went from concerned journalism to tabloid speculation.  He walked off the set of his third season to escape to Africa, with no word or warning.  He said, “Don’t ever name someone crazy.  It’s dismissive.  Just because you don’t understand someone.. automatically, they’re crazy.  Sometimes, it’s not crazy.. it’s environmental.”  He went on to justify how he felt beaten down by the man, how racism in America is systemic and we all participate, whether we know or not.. how we (and by that, I mean “me” and the rest of White America)made him “crazy”.

And I don’t understand.  I don’t understand how, by renting the DVDs of his show, I’m contributing to his oppression.  I’m not really clear how, by my tuning into every rerun of his show or stand-up specials, I’m making his life harder.  I guess I’m confused on how my attention and support affords him any hardship.  When the special ended, I didn’t feel any more attuned to Dave; if anything, I felt guilty for having watched him for so long.

Here’s the thing; we all have difficulties in life.  We all have hard times.  We all have pressures.  They may appear in different forms for different people, and they may manifest themselves differently.  But they’re all there.  No one coasts.  But placing the blame anywhere, in my eyes, is pointless.  More often than not, that energy could be better spent fixing the problem.. don’t you think?

In other news, we then flipped over to a phenomenal episode of Gray’s Anatomy.  What did you think of the show?  Discuss.