Holy shit. Rob Ford?
Seriously, you can Google it. I was in Toronto for a few shows, and they told me I couldn't smoke onstage. And I was like, "Well, can't you just waive the rule tonight?" And they're like, "It's a citywide ordinance." So I got up the next morning and went to the mayor's office. This is before all that shit about him came out.
What happened? You actually met him?
I was like, "Is the mayor in? Could you tell him Dave Chappelle is here to see him?" He was in a meeting. I said, "I'll wait for a few minutes." So I just walked around his office. The walls were lined with all these disparaging political cartoons. And I asked somebody, "What is this?" They're like, "He thinks that motivates him." I thought that was an interesting character nuance. I had never seen him before, but he looked like Chris Farley in the pictures. He walked in and was like, "What can I do for you?" And I told him, "These ordinances exist in the United States, but they're often waived in contexts of performance, because it's an integral part of what I do." He replied, "That's it?" "That's it," I said. Then he told me, "I'm sorry, I can't help you. The laws of Toronto are the same for everybody. We appreciate you coming, we're glad you're here, but we can't change the law because it disagrees with you." He really gave me this whole speech. I should have said, "You didn't let me finish: 'smoke crack rocks onstage!' " Maybe a year after that was his first scandal.
