Los Angeles (E! Online) - Dying is easy, and comedy is hard. By
that calculus, telling jokes for six-plus hours would appear
downright impossible--unless youre Dave Chappelle.
The 34-year-old funnyman returned to his old stomping grounds at
Hollywoods Laugh Factory Sunday and accomplished the feat for second
time. Chappelle performed a 6-hour, 12-minute stand-up routine,
breaking the record he set last April by five minutes.
Dave was determined to keep his record because he recently heard
that Dane Cook was planning on trying to break [his] record, club
owner Jamie Masada told the Associated Press.
Chappelle and Cook, 35, have something of a rivalry going when it
comes to marathon sets.
The latter was the first to shatter the longstanding record of 2
hours, 41 minutes set by Richard Pryor in 1980, clocking in at 3
hours and 50 minutes in early April.
But he was one-upped by Chappelle Apr. 15. The outspoken comic
cracked wise for nearly double Cooks mark, starting at 10:30 p.m. and
finishing up six hours and seven minutes later--and with nary a
bathroom break.
Masada says that the Block Party emcee had plenty of new material
for his latest endeavor, after extensive traveling of late, including
a recent trip to Ecuador.
There was no immediate commment from Chappelle, who in 2005 bailed
on a $50 million deal with Comedy Central for two more seasons of
Chappelles Show and hightailed it to Africa.
Chappelle shot down reports that he suffered a breakdown, telling
Esquire in 2006 that he turned his back on Chappelles Show for
professional and personal reasons.
Aside from hosting Block Party, the 2005 Michel Gondry-helmed
documentary about Chappelles all-star Brooklyn street bash and
occasional stand-up sets in clubs across the country, the comic has
been mostly lying low since his great escape.
