When a man ran on stage and attacked Dave Chappelle during a live stand-up routine, everyone was always going to mention the name Will Smith. The comedian was delivering a routine on 3 May at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as part of the Netflix is a Joke festival. The man who attacked him was later said by police to be carrying a knife blade and replica gun. It’s less than six weeks since the Oscars, when Smith walked up to another comedian, Chris Rock, onstage and struck him. Rock had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock was, in a strange coincidence, in attendance at Chappelle’s gig in LA, and appeared on stage after the attack to crack the obvious joke: “Was that Will Smith?” He was, as all comedians strive to, simply saying what we’re all thinking. The incident appeared to confirm the worst fears that had been voiced after the Oscars – that Smith’s brazen slap could encourage copycat violence. And that comedians would be less safe on stage: say what you want but suffer the physical consequences.
