Dave Chappelle has been getting a of attention as of late. After news of his monstrous Netflix deal broke in November, the Chappelle’s Show co-creator and stand-up comedian debuted a short teaser for two of the three hours in early March. Almost a week later, he appeared before the lectern at his local Yellow Springs, Ohio town hall meeting to discuss racism and police reform. These two incidents are by no means related. Though considering the new trailer for his Deep in the Heart of Texas and The Age of Spin specials, which stream March 21st, the latter’s subject matter is sure to make an appearance in Chappelle’s routines.
Originally planned as an HBO special, Chappelle and director Stan Lathan shot Texas at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater in April 2015. Per the new trailer, the fraught relationship between African Americans and the nation’s police forces immediately comes up during a bit about the negative effects of table salt. As for Spin, which Chappelle filmed in Los Angeles almost a year later, the comic tells an anecdote about O.J. Simpson and his then-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Considering the subsequent murder trial and the attention it gave the ’90s era relations between African-American communities and the police, there’s no doubt the topic was just as much on Chappelle’s mind then as it was last week in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
