Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock crack jokes about Queen's death in Amsterdam show
Just hours after the announcement from the British Royal Family that Queen Elizabeth II died, two of the world's top comedians were on stage in Amsterdam delivering a few jokes about the news. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle performed the second of two shows at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam on Thursday night, as part of their two-week European tour, which started last week in the United Kingdom, before continuing with months of shows primarily in the United States.
"Queen died today. Where was Meghan? I'm just saying... let's just check," said Chris Rock. "Just asking a question. I'm not making accusations," he continued to laughs and applause. The jokes were early on in his hour-long set, and were part of a lengthy bit about people being addicted to attention. He spoke about people claiming they are victims as a way of generating likes, follows, and putting the spotlight on themselves, including over three minutes just on Meghan Markle and her turbulent relationship with the Royal Family.
Markle married Elizabeth's grandson, Harry, less than five years ago. The couple have two children, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, the latter having been named after Elizabeth.
"I watch her on TV, crying. 'I couldn't believe how racist they were!" he said, imitating Markle. "It's the Royal Family! At least Google these motherfuckers," Rock continued. "They invented colonialism. They're the original racists. They're The Sugarhill Gang of racism."
The lines drew heavy laughs from the thousands in attendance. Rock went on impersonating the Duchess of Sussex, crying, "'I can't believe they're so racist. They wanted to know how brown the baby's gonna be,'" he said, then responding in his own voice, "That's not racist, 'cause even Black people want to know how brown's the baby gonna be!"
After Rock's hour, Dave Chappelle took the stage for another 50 minutes. "All right, before we start, let's do the housekeeping. I'm so sorry to hear about the Queen of England's passing. Shocking!" he joked about the 96-year-old's death. "I don't know what they're gonna do without her. My guess is: save a little money."
Although the jokes were well-received, Chapelle left the subject of the British Royal Family alone after that. Like with Rock's performance, there were no groans from the audience, and nobody yelled out, "Too soon."
Over 10,000 people attended the performance at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, after a sold out show the night before. The show included performances by comedians Ali Wong, Donnell Rawlings, and EarthQuake, as well as a brief set by Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli. The two musicians perform both as solo rappers, and as a hip hop duo known as Black Star.
