TIME.com - Questions for Christopher John Farley on Dave Chappelle

Dave Speaks
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May 15, 2005

What's Up With Dave Chappelle?

In this week's TIME, Christopher John Farley reveals why Dave Chappelle decided to leave his hit show and what he's been up to since he disappeared to South Africa two weeks ago. Send your questions to Chris about Chappelle and the story. Here are a few of Chris' responses:

Send us your thoughts

Did Chappelle approach you for a forum to speak out or did you seak him out?
Dan Noecker
Houston, Texas

CHRIS FARLEY: I sought him out. Dave doesn't really care for the press too much and doesn't do a whole lot of interviews.

Did Dave mention either wanting to change, or being pressured to change his acts to be more Islamically compliant? Or did he mention which type of sketches he's received flak for by other Muslims? One Muslim youth who met him at the mosque told him that he loves his show, and in response [Chappelle] told him "You shouldn't be watching that".
Azeem Khan
Brooklyn, N.Y.

CHRIS FARLEY: Dave is now a practicing Muslim. I think his religiosity does have something to do with his misgivings about his show's possible direction. His show is a comedy show after all, and he's serious about his religion.

Mr. Farley: I'm from Miamisburg, Ohio, about 20-25 miles from Dave Chappelle's home in Yellow Springs. Let him know that we all are praying and supporting him. Just let him know that the next time he needs to get away to clear his mind and get his thoughts together to get ahold of me and we'll go for a nice long Harley ride! (I'm sure he owns one) That de-stresses me and clears my head. Thanks, Dave Chappelle, for the laughs!
Pete McGuire
Miamisburg, Ohio

CHRIS FARLEY: Shout out to Yellow Springs!

With all of the pressure to put out quality material, did Dave suffer from writers block?
Darren Gibson
Chicago, Ill.

CHRIS FARLEY: Yes and no. Dave told me that he wasn't sure about the quality of the sketches he had written for the third season. He felt like he needed more time to write more material. But his co-writer, and the president of Comedy Central told me it was as good as his best stuff. The new material that I've seen and had described to me sounds pretty good—so Dave may be overreacting.

Is Dave having any problems with co-writer Neal Brennan?
Don
San Francisco, Calif.

CHRIS FARLEY: Neal Brennan is very angry at Dave and perhaps with good reason; they've known each other for 14 years and Dave took off for South Africa without telling Neal where he was going. Neal puts his heart and his soul into the show, so he's taken the whole controversy very personally.

Did Dave comment on his thoughts about returning to the show in the near future?
Brian
Bremerton, Wash.

CHRIS FARLEY: Yes—when he gets back to America, he's going to see about getting the show back on.

Dec. 25, 2006	Dec. 18, 2006	Dec. 11, 2006	Dec. 4, 2006
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