Once upon a time, it was a stand-up comedian's job to simply entertain the audience and make them laugh. That job has evolved over the years, and while it can be argued that stand-up comics have always been provocateurs of a sort, the border between provocation and comedic entertainment has been pushed over the last few decades. Don Rickles introduced the concept of insult comedy in the 50s, Andy Kaufman redefined performance art in the 70s, Andrew Dice Clay pushed the limits further in the 80s as The Diceman, and the 90s saw the rise of stand-up comics becoming TV and movie stars. And it was this upward trend of stand-up comics-turned-actors in the 90s that paved the way for Dave Chappelle and his dominance of the early 2000s.

Now, in the closing year of the 2010s, Chappelle will return to Netflix for his fifth stand-up special, Dave Chappelle's Sticks & Stones. If you're wondering how we got to five Chappelle specials, you'd be forgiven. They all arrived in 2017; the comedian's been relatively quiet since then. Netflix has packaged up the previous four specials in two separate collections: The first is titled simply Dave Chappelle and features The Age of Spin: Dave Chappelle Live at the Hollywood Palladium and Deep in the Heart of Texas: Dave Chappelle Live at Austin City Limits, and the second is Dave Chappelle: Equanimity & The Bird Revelation, with each of those specials contained within. The new special Sticks & Stones arrives on Netflix this August 26th.

Check out the first trailer for Chappelle's new stand-up special:

Legendary comedian Dave Chappelle is back with an all-new stand-up comedy special, Sticks & Stones, his fifth Netflix Original.

 

Unflinching and boundary-pushing, Dave gives his provocative perspective on the tidal wave of celebrity scandals, the opioid crisis, and more -- in trademarked Chappelle fashion. Dave Chappelle’s Sticks & Stones streams August 26, only on Netflix.