Dave Chappelle closed out the 20th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend with a surprise 30-minute concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring Fat Joe, Q-Tip, Ghostface Killah, De La Soul, ASAP Ferg, Redman, Talib Kweli, and DJ Clark Kent.
As reported by Variety, Documentary filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, who previously made American Factory, closed out the weekend festivities at Radio City by introducing their new film. “We live in a small town in Ohio,” Bognar told the 6,000 person crowd. “We have a neighbor. His name is Dave. We see him at the grocery store.”
It turned out that the aforementioned “Dave” was none other than Dave Chappelle, who soon took the stage after being introduced. Apparently, the comedian stopped by the filmmaker’s homes to ask if they’d be interested in documenting his experience of trying to bring back live entertainment while in the throws of quarantine. His efforts, meant to be only a weekend-long event, resulted in more than 50 sold-out socially distanced comedy shows in Yellow Springs last summer. The comedy shows took place in a five-acre cornfield, and Chappelle hosted other famous comedians such as Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Jon Stewart, Michelle Wolf, and Tiffany Haddish. “I literally just knocked on their door the same way Black people do when they’re having barbecues,” Chappelle said to the audience. “Hey, I’m having a barbecue. Can I borrow some hotdogs, neighbor?”
The film, titled This Time This Place, is meant to examine how the COVID crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement impacted this small town. Bob Saget, who briefly appeared in the movie, said the film serves as a “time capsule” and told Variety that “Davie is someone who is passionate, poignant and has such clear messaging.” As the credits rolled at the end of the film, Dave ended the evening on a more sullen note. “I’m so grateful we all survived this, and I’m so sorry for any of you who lost someone or lost something due to this pandemic. But man, let’s get up. Let’s get up.”
The concert featuring the aforementioned artists went down after the documentary was filed. Unfortunately for us, audience members weren’t allowed to have their cellphones during the screening and performance so there’s no footage of the evening on social media.
