Dave Chappelle and Hartford

I'm a standup comedy nerd, so I got a kick out of this one.

A year ago, a friend of mine...we'll call him Trayne...went to see Dave Chappelle in his doomed headliner slot at the Funny or Die Oddball Comedy Fest tour stop in Hartford, CT. Chappelle, who's best known for his performance as Achoo in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (not really), walked out on stage and started his performance, many audience members heckled him with trademark catchphrases from Chappelle's Show, he got pissed, and sat on stage angrily for a while before finally storming off.

Angry fans blamed Chappelle, people questioned his mental health, ticket holders demanded a refund. Chappelle blamed unruly and disrespectful fans, and the population of the city of Hartford. He went on a "Fuck Hartford" tirade, and swore he'd never come back. I can't say I blame him; as "New England's Rising Star," Hartford is about the dimmest thing I've ever seen.

Fast forward 1 year, to very same tour, in the very same city. This year's lineup looked pretty ridiculous: Aziz Ansari, Louis CK, and Hannibal Burress, to name a few. As Redditor mariaavap tells it:

Every comedian killed it and Louis Ck had a great set that overall left everyone in the crowd pretty satisfied. So Louis says goodnight and everyone starts to get up. Then he turns around and adds in something like "Oh yeah. Everyone, Dave Chappelle."

The man who'd swore he'd never come back came back. He came back and he did 15 minutes of hysterical material mixed with self-reflection, apologizing, and reinforcement of his previous observation: fuck Hartford. Famous friends stood by to watch the man work. Aziz, Louis, Jim Norton, Sarah Silverman, Hannibal, Amy Shumer and some others seemed enthralled from backstage (h/t Shullmaster3000)

Hannibal and Amy, where do I get one of those jumpsuits???

You can watch a crappy cell phone video of the surprise performance below. I'm glad one of my comedy idols has rescinded his vow to keep clear of the Nutmeg State, but I would suggest his next visit be to NHV...because fuck Hartford.