Footage shared Monday shows the moment Dave Chappelle invited cancelled “Saturday Night Live” writer Shane Gillis up on stage at the Comedy Cellar. What came next was pure comedy gold.
Gillis was dropped as a writer by the sketch comedy show after footage of him making jokes about Asians resurfaced. Despite Gillis immediately saying that the joke was a “miss,” and inviting others to call out any aspect of his writing and stand-up that could help him be more culturally sensitive, the fun-police decided to wet their pants and fire him.
But that didn’t stop Chappelle from bringing him up on stage, calling him “so funny that he got cancelled at the beginning of his career.” The crowd whooped and cheered as Gillis took the mic. Once he was up there, Chappelle requested he “do a joke about Donald Trump getting shot.”
objectively the funniest clip out there @Shanemgillis pic.twitter.com/rCjGuMZeoJ
— YAK DON (@RyaninCleveland) May 29, 2023
Apparently, Gillis had done the bit before, but that didn’t make it any less hysterical. And not for the reasons you might be thinking. The crowd clearly didn’t think the set-up was funny, but once Gillis got into the joke, he couldn’t be stopped. It has to be watched to be properly enjoyed.
No amount of transcription will ever do justice to what comes out of Gillis’s mouth, which includes one of the best Trump impressions I’ve ever seen. (RELATED: REPORT: Dave Chappelle Breaks His Silence On Violent Attack In Leaked Audio)
“But, the rest of the joke, which is my favorite part that didn’t really … a lot of people didn’t like, was [that] Biden … I think Biden is the first president you could punch-assassinate,” Gillis continued. This is where Chappelle truly crumpled, and so did we.
The clip appears to have been taken on May 27, but that might just be when it was watermarked (not that anyone cares. It could be super old). Just watch it and have a good day, okay? Cool.