*Comedian Donnell Rawlings will debut his first stand-up special, “A New Day,” for Netflix on February 27 — produced by his long-time friend Dave Chappelle.
“It’s a new day, and Donnell Rawlings is feeling good. Dressed in a bl ue suit, red socks and lotioned ankles, he’s here to discuss toxic relationships, traveling to New Zealand, aging, co-parenting and much more,” reads the special’s synopsis.
In our exclusive interview with Rawlings, the comic known for his sharp wit and infectious humor offers a candid insight into his creative process and the excitement of bringing laughter to fans. He also explains why he and Dave filmed the special three times.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and comedians like Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career,” Chappelle said in a statement, per Variety. “Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue. I am proud to be a part of this moment.”
Check out what Rawlings had to say about his new Netflix special in our Q&A below.
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What are you most excited about fans experiencing when your stand-up special drops on Netflix?
Donnell Rawlings: The thing that I’m most excited about is feeding the appetite of people who have been following my career to now, to 32 years ago. Somebody said, “How do you feel about a special?” My trajectory for success was already on a good path without a special. I noticed an increase in my ticket sales, attendance and everything. But this right now, the thing that makes it feel special … when I posted that it was coming out, so many people were like, “It’s about time. Deserved. Underrated. We love you. You’ve always been funny,” blah blah, blah, blah. I think what makes this special, it’s the perfect moment to bring all my fans together on the biggest platform for standup. I’m so happy for the fans more than anything.
There’s something for everybody with this special. I talk about mental health. I talk about the addiction that people have with Taylor Swift. I talk about being an older dad. I talk about co-parenting. I think with this special, there’s something that could resonate with anybody anywhere in the world.
Did cancel culture influence your approach to crafting the material for this special?
Yes, it did. It did. Cancel culture was 100% why I said I’m going to stay true to myself. I think the media has given cancel culture a platform to think that they can’t be stopped — that everything they say means something. For example, one of Dave Chappelle’s most controversial specials is The Closer, right? People had mixed feelings about it. If 100 people watched that special (and) three people didn’t like the special, and 97 people loved it, the (media) don’t give a f*ck about 97, they’re going for the three.
Negativity sells in this business. We are such a toxic community. We are such a toxic audience. Negativity is the most engaging thing that you could have now. When I was growing up, the bad guy did not win. Now the bad guy, the negative person, wins because it’s all about engagement. Most of these articles that come out, it’s clickbait. We only focusing on a small percentage. What’s happening with comedy now, it has is turned, and people like Dave Chappelle, people like Chris Rock, people like Louis CK, they are saying, “I don’t have time to think about that 3%. I want to rock with this 97%.”
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Do you avoid certain specific topics due to potential backlash?
No, never. The reason why, I don’t make corporate money, I don’t make network money. My boss is the people who pay for tickets. You can limit what Louis CK gets on TV, you cannot stop his fan base. You can have Dave not in a movie or something. You can’t stop his fan base. At the end of the day, as long as I’m making those people happy, I’m good. What cancel culture wants to do, they want to see you fall apart. They don’t want you to make money.
Guess what? Donnell doesn’t have those deals. So Donnell doesn’t have to do that. Donnell is, as they say, from the mud, from grit. Donnell has got this audience from going to these improvs every year, from always being funny, always doing new material. I don’t even audition anymore (because) anybody I’ve worked with for the last seven years said, “This is the guy. We don’t want to talk about anybody else.”
I don’t care about being a film star or TV star. I don’t even care about the word “star.” But if you want to put me in those boats, I would much rather be a comedy star. That means I control my schedule, I control everything. You can’t tell me no, you can’t tell people to stop seeing me, and I’m cool with that.
How do you see the relationship between comedy and cancel culture evolving overtime?
It’s not going to evolve. Cancel culture, they’re just going to have to take a seat because nobody’s going to hear them screaming no more. They have to take a backseat to what reality is. Even with comedy, “You can’t say that, you can’t say that;” no, whatca you can do is go to church and stop going to a f*cking comedy club. That’s what you could do.
So the evolution is letting the cancel culture die out and then it will go back to what comedy used to be. Dave told me years ago, he said, “Donnell, it’s our job as comedians to make fun of things that are troubling the world.” Cancel culture, they can’t beat that. They had a run.
How would you say your comedic style in your new special compares to your previous work?
I’ll tell you what makes this special so special. Two years ago, they wanted to do a special with me, and we did it. It was at the end of the pandemic. We did it in Charlotte, North Carolina. I had what I thought was a great show. I got a standing O, I’m chest-bumping Stan Latham and Ricky Hughes. I’m like, “We got this sh*t.” Then we announced that Dave was doing the Earthquake special, my special. We were going to do promos together and everything. Maybe two weeks before we went to press with that, Dave called me and said, “I want to do your special over.” As a comic, that’s one of the most insulting things you could hear.
I said, “What are you talking about, Dave? I did this, I did that,” blah, blah, blah.
He said, “Donnell, listen, you one of the funniest guys I know.” He said, “I can put you in front of any audience, you’re going to rip the room.” He said, “But it doesn’t make it a great special.”
I’m like, “What do you mean?”
He said, “You got a lot of COVID jokes in there.” He said, “I seen you do these jokes better.” He said, “If we going to do this, we got to create some sh*t that people going to remember forever.” So I had to deal with constructive criticism. I wasn’t happy about it, but at the same time, the check cleared, so whatever, motherf*cker. Let’s go. I had to go back to the drawing board. I was anxious to put it out. I had to go back to the drawing board, and he was like, “Donnell, trust me. Just trust me.”
I was like, “Whatever. You got some Grammys, some Emmys, I’ll trust you.” That was two years ago. A year ago, a year after that, we still haven’t decided when we will shoot it again. Both of our schedules are crazy. We were doing some shows in Napa Valley. Dave records all his shows. He has cameras. He asked Ricky Hughes, “How many cameras do you have?” She said, “I got five cameras.” He looks at me, “Donnell, do you want to shoot your special again?”
I said, “When?”
He said, “Tomorrow.” So nobody even knew what we were doing. And I ripped that. Two weeks after that, “Donnell, I want to do it again.”
“What? Why?”
“I didn’t like the production.”
“Motherf*cker, you are the producer!” What happened was, he wanted to make this so right. The only thing I was focused on was what I was saying. But he saw a bigger picture: “I want you to say what you got to say. I want you to look good. I want you to feel good. I want to give you the best production we can.”
Cut to, I was part of the New York Comedy Festival. I said, “Bring your cameras.” We did it (and) I was the best I could be.
That’s what makes it special for me. Another reason why I can’t argue with this motherf*cker is because he got me the biggest bag I’ve ever seen in my life. What people don’t know, before Dave said he wanted to produce my special, Netflix was already going to give me a deal. But Dave comes in and says, I’m going to get this type of money. I had to play that card.
What we have right now is something special. I was talking to Dave yesterday. He said, “Man, Donnell, I think your special is going to be a breath of fresh air.” I’m not trying to expose anybody. I ain’t trying to clap back. I ain’t trying to show you the receipts. I ain’t trying to do sh*t but make you f*cking laugh and feel good.
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