Dave Chappelle’s surprise comedy special appearing on Youtube wasn’t the only comedy news on Friday, as Hannibal Buress announced he would drop a new stand up special on the same platform next month.
Burres shared details Friday about a July 3 release of standup that, like Chappelle’s, is sure to reference police treatment of Black people amid ongoing protests against police brutality and systemic racism. The special, called Miami Nights, references Buress’s 2018 arrest that was captured on a police body camera during Art Basel in Miami. Video of the incident went viral, and the comedian has claimed he didn’t think the arrest was warranted given the circumstances.
From a Miami Sun-Sentinel report at the time:
Minutes later, a crowd of onlookers gathered to witness a handcuffed Buress being lowered into a police cruiser. The comedian hollered, “You don’t have probable cause for anything and you look hella stupid right now.” When bystanders asked Buress why he was being arrested, he laughed again and said, “I’m under arrest right now for calling him a bitch-ass n—-.”
Police later booked Buress at Miami-Dade County jail for disorderly intoxication, a misdemeanor. Reached by phone in Las Vegas on Monday, Buress admits that the body-cam footage looks damaging “out of context.”
The preview video above actually uses some of that footage, which started with him peering into the body camera and saying ““Hey, what’s up? It’s me, Hannibal Buress.” For this video, however, the word “YouTube” is added after “what’s up,” which is a nice touch given the intended release platform. Buress also shared the video on Twitter on Friday, along with a link to a news story about the police officer who arrested him.
— Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) June 12, 2020
It’s clear that the incident and perhaps police brutality as a whole will be addressed during the special when it arrives in early July, which should make it an interesting pairing with Chappelle’s 8:46.