Dave Chappelle’s stand-up comedy run with Netflix has been a lucrative one for both parties. This combined body of work includes The Age of Spin, Deep in the Heart of Texas, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation, and Sticks & Stones, and the supposed final chapter is called The Closer. It’s coming soon, very soon (this week, in fact) with a teaser revealing that Dave’s absolutely had it up to here while enduring the guiding and authoritative voice of God Morgan Freeman during a road trip.
This special, of course, follows a high-profile clash between Chappelle and multiple streaming services. In the end, he thanked Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for helping him get paid after a sketchy licensing deal involving The Chappelle Show and the place where it originally aired, Comedy Central. This not only gave Chappelle his license back to his widely popular classic sketch-comedy brainchild, but he received millions of dollars. There’s no telling whether Chappelle and Netflix’s common goodwill will result in a re-upping of a deal beyond this sixth stand-up special, but for now, the The Closer (with returning, Emmy-award winning director Stan Lathan) is closing things out.
Enter the voice of Freeman: “This is Dave. He tells jokes for a living. Driving down these country roads is a lot like a meditation. He’s deep in thought. Back in the trance… [insert fed-up, shouty moment from Chappelle]… Carry on, Dave.”
Netflix’s The Closer streams on October 5.