Ryan Patrick Hooper

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Dave Chappelle didn’t waste anytime addressing the elephant in the room.

In front of a capacity crowd at the Fillmore Detroit on Tuesday night, the superstar comedian opened his set by talking about his infamous 2015 show at the same venue – before confidently and masterfully working his way through a 75-minute set that mixed sincere, heartfelt moments with rehearsed material and plenty of crowd work and improv.

“Good to be back,” said Chappelle, lit cigarette in hand. “Sorry about all the (profanity) I talked. So much has happened since we last saw each other.”

That’s certainly true.

During his much-buzzed-about 2015 comeback tour stop in the Motor City, Chappelle was, by his own admission, stoned and slurring his words. The crowd didn’t cut him any breaks (tickets started at $57.50), heckling the comic throughout his set before he ditched rehearsed material in favor of riffing from the perch of his stool on the Fillmore stage.

“That one time I bombed in Detroit,” laughed Chappelle on Tuesday night. “You guys were integral in the conspiracy to make me rich again.”

That’s true, too. In 2017, Chappelle has officially returned to the status of comedic titan with few peers. He reportedly inked a $60-million deal with Netflix for three comedy specials. The first two arrived in March, and he used "The Age of Spin" to address the 2015 Detroit controversy.

"I had smoked some reefer with some rappers,” said Chappelle in the Netflix special, an account later confirmed by Detroit rapper Danny Brown. “I don’t know if you know anything about hanging out with rappers, but their weed is very strong — stronger than I was accustomed to.”

On Tuesday night – the first of six Detroit shows at the Fillmore – the audience was ready to forgive and forget. Chappelle returned the love with a strong, confident performance — but not before he ribbed the Motor City crowd.

“Detroit is so weird. Driving in, I thought I was in Aleppo,” laughed Chappelle. “Don’t worry — you’re coming back. Before Eminem comes back, Detroit will be back.”

Chappelle helped the audience wash down the early jab with more sincere offerings, drawing comparisons to the city’s issues with his own career struggles.

“Detroit reminds me of myself. I want you guys to know I understand,” said Chappelle. “Hub of Americana. (Detroit) made our cars, made our motorcycles, made our music. When Detroit went bankrupt, America went bankrupt. Y’all lost your show.”

Over the course of the set, Chappelle covered myriad topics ranging from the Zika virus to Donald Trump’s presidency. The performance was fluid with changes of pace throughout, but it was clear Chappelle favors a loose approach. He is the king of the pregnant pause and can treat a packed theater crowd like an intimate conversation among friends. He didn’t shy away from engaging the crowd, anchoring some of his best material of the night with his responses.

“Detroit is one of the toughest crowds in the country for comedy,” said Chappelle. “It keeps people coming back. No matter how hard it is, I’m going to do this.”

Chappelle ended the show with a somber, heart-wrenching segment that was more social commentary than joke. He signed off to a standing ovation with a simple promise: “I’ll rock with you till the wheels fall off.”

Judging from the audience response after the show, the feeling was mutual.

Steve McQueen of Canton attended the 2015 show at the Fillmore and said he enjoyed it, but admitted Tuesday was a different animal.

“(The 2015 Chappelle show) went off the track, but it was still something to watch,” said McQueen. “Even though it went that route, I still found what he did funny. Tonight was put-together and polished.”

Latanya Minter of Detroit said she felt like she saw a living legend perform on Tuesday night, calling Chappelle’s performance “real and raw.”

“I think it’s what people need to hear,” said Minter. “You just can’t deny it. It’s what people think and what people want to say but are too afraid to say. That’s why it’s funny.”

Dave Chappelle

Additional shows 7 p.m. Wed. & Thu., 7 & 10 p.m. Fri., 7 p.m. Sat.

The Fillmore Detroit

313-961-5450

livenation.com

$69.50 and up.