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An ice cold glass of beer is being poured from the tap by the bartender and buffalo wings are being picked at by a patron who appears more bored than he does hungry as a sparsely populated bar challenges each other to a round of Jeopardy! that is being shown on the TV above the shelves of “potent potables”.  Sounds like the typical scenario one would imagine at the bar of a club that doesn’t really get going until say…around 10, right?  “No, I’m sorry that is incorrect,” as Trebek might say in his Canadian accent.

For this Thursday summer evening, the scene of the bar at the World Famous Improv in Hollywood would change as an icon for our time would walk through the club’s entrance.  Much like you might recall seeing an old Western where a hero moseys through the saloon doors, so did I see a comedic hero enter the Improv.  As the figure approached the bar from the hazy glare of the setting July sun it was then that most in the bar realized it was Dave Chappelle stopping by the Hollywood landmark.

A couple of nonchalant whispers were exchanged among those at the waterhole as not to seem sprung on the once recluse comic genius.  After all this is Hollywood, you have to act cool when spotting a celebrity, even if you are pissing your proverbial pants at the sight of such a star.

Chappelle, dressed casually and adorned with aviator glasses, strolled towards the bar while exchanging hellos as if he were a regular greeting his fellow bar schleps at a local dive.  He focused his iPhone on something and snapped a picture.  I’m not sure if he was asked or if Dave offered the information, but he announced what he was doing.  “I’m taking a picture of myself on the wall,” Chappelle said.  In my fantasy world that would have been followed by “…bitches!”

This Thursday night was getting off to a great start.  I already had a whole night of comedy to look forward to and now I had what might be a surprise guest finishing off the set of semi-pros.  But one must ask himself, why would a major headliner who is planning a surprise guest performance roll into a club an hour prior to the first show of the night?  If one asked himself, one would not know the answer.  So why not go straight to the source.  “Dave, are you going to be performing tonight?” I asked, not in my “reporter” voice but rather my adoring yet trying to seem smooth and natural voice.

“No, I just came to get my sweater,” Chappelle said. The funny part is that Dave was wearing the sweater when he arrived and the temperature was still in the 80s.  In a very down-to-earth way he bid us adieu and went on his way.  I wish I could say he went off into the sunset, but Dave was headed east that evening.  Suddenly, I realized that he wasn’t getting to the club early to prepare for a show that would shock the audience who was most likely expecting a set of amateurs and while in the process take a photo of himself on the wall of famed comedians.  Dave was simply there to take that picture.  Period.

Here was a natural acting (for the most part) guy who was human and innocent enough to want to take a picture of the photographic likeness of himself that hangs above a bar of dudes watching Jeopardy! and eating wings.  Most wannabe celebs would want that picture of themselves even more but would have gone to great lengths to have someone else take it as not to seem desperate.  But, I guess when you’re big enough and don’t give a shit you may as well go for it.  However, I was not there to see the latter but the rather the prior.

To be fair I wasn’t at the Improv to review Dave Chappelle making an appearance, but to see up and coming comedians take the stage.  But let’s be honest Dave was once in the position they all were and one day I’m sure they all hope to be in his position.

Eljaye hosted the 8 o’clock show; his intimidating physique yet warm demeanor welcomed playful jabs from the acts that he was introducing throughout the night.  Acts that mind you could have been snapped in half by this gentle giant who refers to himself as “the Raging Bull of Comedy”.

The only two performances that stood out to me, other than Eljaye’s (and I’m not just saying that because his biceps could smash me like a walnut, but because he was genuinely funny) were those of Ari Shaffir and Duncan Trussell.

It takes balls to remove Eljaye’s padlocked chain from his neck and put it around your scrawny neck for some laughs and that is exactly what comedian Duncan Trussell did when he took his spot on the Improv’s stage. In my humble opinion, Trussell should have been the headliner that night.

Probably, the most original act of the night, Trussell brought a sarcastic and dark charisma to the stage that could be compared to the likes of alternative acts such as Zach Galifianakis or Brian Posehn.

Shaffir, who preceded Trussell, was also a delight with his crude, yet subtly abrasive routine.

Tom Segura and Vinnie Oshana and headliner Erik Griffin were also on the bill that night.  While all of their acts had their moments, none proved to be something exceptional. Luckily the very small crowd didn’t seem to mind, as they obliged to the regulation of the two-drink minimum.

So I can’t say the comedians that night didn’t entertain me, but I can say that I wish Chappelle had not “forgot his sweater” and made an appearance as I thought he would when he slung those double-doors of the saloon open.  Okay there are no double doors and it’s not a saloon, but his appearance would have been just as heroic and would have validated the acts that came before him.  Or if he didn’t perform, maybe in some spiritual and Messianic way he could have sacrificed his comic ingenuity and dispersed it to the other five comedians, to make for an equally balanced night of hilarity.  Maybe, but then again part of fun of seeing amateur acts is sampling from the possibilities of potential talent.