Dave’s World

Kirk Baird

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 4:21 a.m.

Bill Cosby changed Dave Chappelle's life.

Although the two had never met, Chappelle read an interview with Cosby in which the legendary comedian discussed growing up poor, but never giving up his dream of telling jokes for a living.

Chappelle related. Raised in a modest-to-poor neighborhood in Washington, he also wanted to be a comic. In Cosby, he found proof he could succeed.

With an HBO special and minor roles in several high-profile movies -- "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "Nutty Professor," "You've Got Mail" and "Con Air" -- to his credit, the standup, who will perform Saturday at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, seems to have done just that.

In a recent phone interview with Chappelle from a hotel lobby in New York City, the Sun talked to the 30-year-old comedian about his film choices, how he's dealing with the events of Sept. 11 and why he has cut back on watching TV:

Las Vegas Sun: Being a stand-up comic, how are you handling the Sept. 11? Is it off-limits in your routine?

Dave Chappelle: I think you have to address it somehow. Not necessarily as a joke, people have to know you're from this planet. It's like this big thing you can't talk about. It's kind of crazy. I think everyone will have to start joking about it. Otherwise, it'll be overwhelming.

I watch the news, man, and the (stuff) is so bad it's ridiculous ... the whole country is in an uproar, but it's never as bad as it seems. There are 280 million people in America, and 40 of them have anthrax exposure. And out of that 40, maybe less than five will die from it. Not the most succesful attack, just by the numbers. There's no reason for all 280 million of us to live in fear.

Sun: Has your life resumed to normalcy?

DC: Yeah, for the most part it has. You'd be surprised, if you don't watch television too much, you can actually almost live.

Sun: So you've cut back on watching TV?

DC: Yeah. I don't mind catching something like "Survivor," but in a time like this, you look at a lot of the (stuff) we watch. I mean, who wants to watch "Fear Factor" now?

Sun: In your material, you've never shied away from addressing racial themes. Is there a difference between what white comedians and black comedians can say?

DC: Naw. (Pause.) That's a good question. I don't think there's a textbook to black comedy. Richard Pryor, he was a comic who transcended all racial boundaries. But the experience he was talking about -- the human experience -- everyone could relate to it.

Sun: For several years you've been trying to put together a film based on your friendship with Charlie Barnett, the legendary New York City street comic who died of AIDS in 1996. How is that progressing?

DC: Hopefully we'll do that soon. We've been trying to do this every year for the last five years. He was a great guy, he was a mentor. On paper he doesn't sound like the best mentor, but like a lot of guys, once you got to know him he was nice and one of most genuine people I've met -- even to this day. He was a brilliant comedian. I saw him do things that I didn't think was possible.

Sun: Such as?

DC: I saw him make an audience cry at a comedy club and then make them laugh. He never used a microphone, indoors or outdoors.

Sun: How do you compare to Barnett?

DC: I was influenced by Charlie a lot, but my aim wasn't to be Charlie. He was plagued by a lot of serious problems, (stuff) I couldn't relate to. He essentially had to raise himself, and he did a pretty good job for a guy who had to raise himself. He could have come out a lot worse.

Sun: In your brief movie career, you've been involved in some box-office hits and misses. When you're reading a script, do you know whether it's funny?

DC: Usually I'd say yeah, but sometimes you can't tell. Sometimes it has all the good ingredients, like this should be incredible, and it doesn't work out. And sometimes you've got something that's mediocre at best, and that turns out to be the funniest stuff. But most of the time you can tell.

Sun: If that's the case, how is it that you choose whether you'll be in a movie or not?

DC: At first, it was just the people involved (in the project). It's like, "Do you want to do a movie with Mel Brooks? Hell, yeah." From there it's like, "Eddie Murphy? 'Nutty Professor?' Yeah, I'll do that." From there it was "Con Air," which was one of the last movies I auditioned for. It was like the script was good, but then you look at the people involved and you're like, "Jerry Bruckheimer? Nic Cage? John Malkovich? I'll do it."

Sun: Are you at a point in your career where you're more concerned with the types of acting roles you choose?

DC: Yeah, but only at this particular juncture. I feel like I'm at a point where I've got everyone's attention. It's like, if you bang a glass at a party and say, "Can I have your attention?" you've got to have something kind of decent to say. It doesn't have to be seriously profound, but it's got to be decent.