James Lipton's Little Blue Cue Cards Have Dave Chappelle's Name All Over Them
Blogger Jezzka's Little Rants was one of the lucky few to attend a recent taping of that celebrated bacchanalia of butt-kissing, Inside the Actors Studio, when the guest of honor was none other than noted conspiracy theory topic, Dave Chappelle. After a three-hour delay with nothing to do but watch old episodes of The Chappelle Show and listen to Lipton's increasingly desperate improvised stalling tactics ("I know, everyone! How about a huge round of Bernard Pivot questionnaire as featured on Bouillon de culture!"), Chappelle finally shows up, and surprise! He's a mensch albeit a trembling, chain-smoking one:
Dave is a thin, lanky fellow and surprisingly a lot taller in person. He is a sweet, humble, and reflectively intelligent. In his early thirties now, he is at the stage of recovering from his naive years of his twenties. Being taken advantage and lied to from people who were suppose to be looking out for him has left him wiser, but not bitter. From the interview, his advice for all the acting students in the audience is genuine, sincere, and cautionary. The never over-pretentious Chappelle sits slumped in his chair, head down, and fumbling with a match book. He lights a cigarette on stage, "This shit is stressing me out" referring to being on Inside the Actor's Studio with Lipton. Lipton, coughs from the smoke, "only two people in the history of this show, that has ever lit up a cigarette on stage. You and Sean Penn." Chappelle continues to light up a cig every 20 minutes and drops his matchbook every 30 minutes.
Chappelle must have relaxed somewhat knowing his disregard for New York's indoor smoking ban put him in the exclusive and illustrious company of "serious thespian" Sean Penn. Indeed, Lipton's unique brand of celebrity confidence-boosting could be just the magic formula to push the jittery, insecure comedian back into the "yes, I am worth $50 mil" spotlight.
