Comic Sense

Having just powered through two local festivals within a week of each other, it’s easy for fans to forget that comedy shows exist outside the city limits of Denver. Hopefully you’ve saved a few laughs for the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, which arrives in town tonight and stars Dave...

By Josiah Hesse

September 12, 2013

Audio By Carbonatix

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Having just powered through two local festivals within a week of each other, it’s easy for fans to forget that comedy shows exist outside the city limits of Denver. Hopefully you’ve saved a few laughs for the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, which arrives in town tonight and stars Dave Chappelle and Flight of the Conchords.

While Chappelle is most likely glad that he hasn’t been forgotten, he surely wishes his infamous “Rick James” sketch would be. It was the heckling demands for the impression from audiences at his standup shows that originally drove him into a hiatus back in 2005. Now, on his comeback tour, the catcalls have yet to stop, and a recent incident in Connecticut caused Chappelle to reprimand the audience and end his set.

“Being a celebrity is the worst,” he said in a 2004 special, just before he abandoned Chappelle’s Show and a $55 million deal. “I took my kids to Disney World, and fuckin’ everybody at the park was like, ‘Hey! Rick James, bitch!’ And it’s like, ‘Hey, you mind not calling me a bitch in front of my kids?’”

Now that Denver is such a seasoned comedy-festival town, we should be able to provide Chappelle with the audience he deserves. The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival begins at 5 p.m. tonight at Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, 6350 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard in Englewood. Tickets range from $29 to $89.50. For more information, visit oddballfest.com.
Wed., Sept. 18, 5 p.m., 2013

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