Blackcaster

Dave Chappelle Recalls the Racist Rule That Kept Black Comedians From Sharing the Same Comedy Stages as White Comedians “Say the eighties, really the nineties, comedy circuits were segregated. And people don’t know that.” Chappelle explained that Black and white comedians often performed in completely separate rooms. “I started out in what they would call white rooms. I can remember one of the owners saying when I started out that he didn’t like more than one Black comic on the show ’cause he said it would offend his audience.” Chappelle recalled the absurdity of hearing that in Washington, D.C., a majority-Black city. “It’s like, dude, it’s Washington, right?” “But I always played anywhere that anyone would listen.”