[Demko]

Not a ton of time this morning. Will post comments later. Just FYI, I'm going by the suggested brackets instead of my originals. Here are two videos for each:

Chappelle:




Hedberg:




Poll will stay open until next Saturday night at midnight EST. Until then feel free to make whatever arguments you like. YouTube clips are encouraged to support your argument.

[Batman]

Fuck. The two best new voices in comedy and they're up against each other.

I'm tempted to abstain. But as great as Chappelle is, most of his best stuff is sketch comedy, not stand-up, so I'm going with Rock.

[punk/core]

Woah woah woah Serg... let's not get crazy here.

Grape drink, baby:



Monkey pussy:

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Rock is new? He's been doing stand-up for over 20 years.

[Chris Eco]

By the way, to my friend Dave Chappelle: I ate fried chicken and watermelon for dinner tonight.

Chris Rock is WAY funnier though.

[Riot Act]

Jun 8, 2008 11:18:31 GMT -5 Batman said:

But as great as Chappelle is, most of his best stuff is sketch comedy, not stand-up

I like Chappelle much better as a stand-up than Rock. His set-ups are better and his casual delivery is great.

[Batman]

Jun 8, 2008 11:43:06 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

Rock is new? He's been doing stand-up for over 20 years.

New as in the latest generation of comics pretty widely acknowledged as great. Newer than Eddie Murphy.

[salmonjunkie]

I love Chappelle's stand up - just as much if not more than his sketch comedy. I actually like Chappelle's laid back delivery than Rock's and his silliness really fits my cup of tea but I love the way Rock examines our society. they both make me laugh a lot and I've paid decent money to see them both live.

I'm picking Rock by a hair.

[creepy]

Rock is good. Chappelle is great. Do the math.



More of a skit guy my ass.

[Batman]

I don't mean that as any kind of a knock. None of his stand-up routines compare to the brilliance of sketches like "Blind, Black White Supremacist" or "The real Sesame Street" or "Internet." That's no knock, that's just where the man's talents lie.

[Lucky]

But that he has a greater skill than standup shouldn't matter. I know I'm likely to vote Chappelle at first reaction in large part pushed by his sketches. It elevates him. But you should take it out of the equation, not use it against him. You sound like you're arguing that because Chappelle was a better sketch writer than standup comic while Rock was a better standup comic than other stuff that Rock is a better standup comic than Chappelle. Which just doesn't make sense.

Although personally I'm not sure I believe sketch and standup are as dramatically different as people seem to think. I mean, the Racial Draft is a full blown sketch. Rick James Behind the Music is a full blown sketch. But the Blind, Black White Supremacist is basically just a standup bit done into a sketch. Which is why I'm not so comfortable divorcing sketch entirely. Much of it is like watching the first few episodes of a standup comic's sitcom where all you're doing is watching him perform his standup material on a set with actors in context. Sometimes sketch is just the standup routine played off someone or wearing a costume.

I like Rock a lot. I loved Chappelle well before he proved himself a genius on TV.

[Batman]

Let me put it this way. He always did a little stand-up on his show. That was almost always my least favorite segment. (Not counting the musical guest.)

[creepy]

More meet and greet and introducing sketches than standup.

It's like saying since most of Rock's movies are crappy, it makes his standup even better. Makes no sense. Don't judge a standup comics side projects with his standup in a standup showdown.

[Batman]

So that wasn't stand-up? Or even if it was, maybe it wasn't representative of his best work?

Maybe not. Let me try to be clear here. I'm not trying to make a case against Chappelle. Chappelle's awesome. I'm only explaining why I chose Rock over Chappelle. It was very close, but the fact that most of my liking for Chappelle was not based on his stand-up just barely gave Rock the edge for me.