Dirty Cartoons

Dave Chapelle's Kid's Cartoons stand up draws humor from the very well known fact that some kid's cartoon shows have hidden messages. We do not notice these messages as children, but as adults, we notice how obvious and adult oriented they were. Dave Chapelle pulls several examples from the well known program Sesame Street. He points out that Oscar the Grouch lives in a trashcan and people judge him to his face. He makes it funny by concluding that this character teaches children to jump over the homeless and judge them. Chappelle also points out that the Cookie Monster has his eyes popping out while screaming for cookies. Chappelle notes that chocolate chips do not have those effects on people, thus suggesting that the Cookie Monster is hooked on something other than the average cookie. Chappelle also observes that there is a pimp on Sesame Street. He declares that the Count is a pimp with “a cape and everything” like other known pimps. This observation increases the humor because it is true that the Count has a cape like a pimp therefore he must be a pimp. Chappelle makes up a situation were the Count is pimping and the woman is late paying the Count the money. The Count states that she has been late four times and that he knows because he has been counting. He then slaps her and counts the slaps, ending with his pimp laugh. This situation makes people laugh because it shows that Chappelle's conclusion about the Count being a pimp is credible. The Count counts the number of late payments and the slaps because he is supposed to count. He talks like a pimp and he laughs like a pimp. If he looks like a pimp, acts like a pimp, and sounds like a pimp, he must be a pimp.
In conclusion, Dave Chappelle draws humor from the messages embedded in children's cartoons in the Kid's Cartoons stand up. He pulls examples from the show Sesame Street to illustrate some of the messages. He then adds some commentary to show how these messages are applied in real life. By pointing out the messages, he gets the audience's attention and some laughs. The audience laughs because they acknowledge that he's saying the truth. By applying the messages in a real life scenario, Chappelle increases the humor of the messages.