Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Chappelle’s Home Team – Earthquake: Legendary’ On Netflix, A Comedian More Than Ready For His Close-Up

In 2021, Netflix announced the last stand-up special in its deal with Dave Chappelle. Too soon!? Turns out Chappelle has a new four-special deal, but it’s him presenting other stand-up comedians in their own specials for the streaming giant. The first in that deal is Earthquake.

CHAPPELLE’S HOME TEAM – EARTHQUAKE: LEGENDARY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: We open with a close-up of Dave Chappelle, in his customary pose, sitting on a stool and smoking a cigarette, announcing the date he first met the comedian known as Earthquake. “July 28, 1993.” Earthquake picked Chappelle up in Atlanta, driving him in a Lexus to the comedy club that Earthquake co-owned. And then Chappelle saw Earthquake perform. “Now, the guy was a beast, onstage and off.”
Born Nathaniel Stroman, the 58-year-old nicknamed for a natural disaster hosts a radio show on Kevin Hart’s SiriusXM satellite radio station. You may have seen him in a half-hour special for HBO back in 2005, in Shaquille O’Neals all-star comedy jams, or perhaps more recently in recurring sitcom roles on Everybody Hates Chris or The Neighborhood.

What Comedy Specials Will It Remind You Of?: The Chappelle series is reminiscent of Netflix’s previous deal with Tiffany Haddish (They Ready), except the comedians Chappelle has handpicked are more than ready already for their close-ups.
Memorable Jokes: “These ain’t jokes” may remain his catchphrase, but Earthquake also makes a case right from the jump that “health is wealth,” emphasizing the importance of not only getting vaccinated for COVID-19, but also for basic health care such as acquiring insurance and getting an annual physical.

To any Black Americans still suspicious about the vaccine, Earthquake does, indeed, have jokes. He’ll chastise his friends and family right back, noting, for instance, how easily they put drugs up their nose or continue living with contaminated water in Flint, Mich. He doubles down, too. How can anyone think Benadryl will solve your diabetes? “Everything ain’t your allergies!” Obamacare is President Barack Obama’s legacy, so how can you not have health insurance or get basic care by now?!

And by practicing what he preaches himself, Earthquake, though “rich of the blessing of my God,” finds he needs a prostate exam, which male comedians cannot help but mine for act-outs and laughs.
The comedian also takes issue with Trump and his supporters, reminding the audience that Republicans today are changing the rules for voting because “we showed the f up,” and imagining how he would’ve reacted were he a Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6, 2021. In case you weren’t aware that Earthquake spent 11 years in the U.S. Air Force after high school, he’ll make it clear by spelling out once more why the late John McCain was a true war hero.
There’s some stuff about fatherhood in here, too, but it’s not quite as memorable as the bit before that, in which he relates sitting through the long long funeral for Aretha Franklin, and using that as a segue into wondering what it’d be like if he showed up late at Heaven’s Gate, complete with a zinger about the guy standing next to him, stuck outside the gates.
Our Take: Any quibbles I might have with this special are relatively minor.
It’s a quick 36 minutes, actually only maybe 33 minutes of stand-up once you discount Chappelle’s intro (which, while we’re here, why didn’t he record his intro there in DC?) and the end credits, although Earthquake makes short set feel as full as any hour on Netflix.
And yes, it might be more than a bit hack at this point for a guy in comedy to be so overdramatic in re-enacting a rectal exam. And yet, at least Earthquake doesn’t lean too much into the stereotypically superficial homophobic take that too many others do. Instead, he leans in, saluting gay men afterward as if they were brave soldiers. He may be naturally outrageous, but he’s also playful and purposeful.
So the name Earthquake still fits.
Our Call: STREAM IT. It’s unclear if the rest of “Chappelle’s Home Team” will be as strong as this first installment, but you don’t have to worry about that to enjoy Earthquake. If this is your first time experiencing his comedy, then Chappelle’s deal already is a winner.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.