Video summary
The video transcript recounts a memorable encounter between Dave Chappelle and horror author Stephen King, highlighting the surprising depth of their conversation despite King's initial unfamiliarity with Jungian psychology. During an interview on *The Late Night Show*, Chappelle asks King about Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, to which King responds that he has never heard of it or considered such concepts in his writing process. However, King reveals that many of his creative ideas emerge while he is sobering up after periods of alcoholism, noting that these thoughts simply float around in his mind without him fully understanding their origin until they manifest in his stories. This exchange underscores the spontaneous and often unexamined nature of King's creativity, contrasting with Chappelle's more structured approach to comedy and social commentary.
A significant portion of the discussion focuses on a specific segment from *The Chappelle Show* called "Ask a Black Dude," where Dave Chappelle interviews random people on the street. Stephen King is approached after leaving a restaurant and agrees to participate, posing a question that immediately impresses Chappelle with its intelligence and scope: whether black people prefer black dentists or black undertakers. Chappelle praises this single question as one of the most impressive moments he has experienced, noting how it demonstrates King's ability to grasp complex social dynamics instantly. The conversation then shifts to King's own bizarre writing ideas, such as a story about a man trapped on a desert island who eventually eats himself, illustrating how King can conceive of dark and disturbing concepts while maintaining a completely normal demeanor in daily life.
The dialogue also explores the personalities of writers who produce dark content versus those who create romantic comedies, with Chappelle sharing anecdotes about friends like Scottish crime writer Denise Mina, who writes gruesome murder novels yet remains an incredibly upbeat and lovely person. They discuss the industry shift from the forced production of rom-coms in the 1990s to a current preference for horror films, which Chappelle believes are more believable and healthier for audiences. In a humorous turn, Chappelle jokingly offers King a partnership on a horror movie featuring a killer clown at the top of the Empire State Building, complete with fart jokes and philosophical musings, showcasing their playful dynamic. The interview concludes with mutual respect between the two comedians and writers, as they banter about displaying awards in their homes and define what it truly means to be a fan in the entertainment industry.
Read the full video transcript
I remember
when Stephen King was on the
late night show once. I was talking to
him. I said, "Have you ever studied the
Youngian theory of the collective
unconscious?"
And he said, "Uh no, I never heard of
that." I was like, "What?" Did you ever
You know the the red book? Do you ever
got a copy of the red book that that you
the thing Young wrote this master work
of
uh like drawings and runic writing and
all Did you ever see that?
>> no idea what you're talking about.
>> Really?
>> [laughter]
>> And he said, "No, but I remember when I
was He was writing The Shining when he
was getting sober." And he said, "I All
these ideas were around in my head and
all these ideas." And I was like to And
that's when I asked him about the
collective unconscious. And he said,
"No, I never thought of that."
>> Yeah. No, yeah. It's He is it. I think
so, right? I mean, he had Stephen King
say nothing of his writing. We
were when we were doing
Chappelle Show had not aired.
And we were doing a thing uh segment
called Ask a Black Dude where Dave would
just went on the street and said, "Are
there any questions you'd like to ask a
black person, right?" Stephen King walks
out of a restaurant. And we're like,
"What?"
And Dave and he like agrees to do it. I
guess he'd seen Dave stand-up.
>> Mhm.
>> And his question was,
>> "Black people want to go to black
dentists and do black people want to get
buried by black
undertakers?"
>> And the minute I heard that I was like,
"This guy is so [ __ ] intelligent and
curious and like the scope of that
question in a split second."
He maybe he thought about it before,
>> [laughter]
>> but that's to me is like one of the most
impressive It like speaks to the
voluminousness
>> I I saw It's amazing. I saw him in a
documentary once. He was talking about
some story he was writing. He said,
"About his neighbors and stuff like
that." And he said, "My neighbor is a
doctor and I He thinks I'm a little
strange because we were talking one day
and I said, 'Doctor, how much of a
person could a a single person eat of
themselves before they died?'"
>> [laughter]
>> He said, "What?" He said, "Well, I had
an idea for a story that was a man
trapped on a desert island and there was
running water but no source of food and
eventually he starts to eat himself." I
don't know if he ever wrote the story. I
haven't read it. But, you know, he
starts with a toe and then a foot and
all that and he eats eats himself. I was
like,
"I don't know how you
I don't know how you walk around with
that in your head."
>> Yeah, he seems quite uh
>> He's a regular guy?
>> I've got a couple of friends like that
who write dark dark stuff.
>> Yeah.
>> And they're very upbeat. There's a
a Scottish crime writer called Denise
Mina. She She's a brilliant writer, is a
friend of mine, and she writes terribly
dark crime novels. She writes a lot of
different stuff, but crime dark crime
novels, murders, and horrible things.
And she's the most upbeat, lovely cup of
tea woman you've ever met in your life.
>> Separate It's just office hours.
>> people I've ever met?
People that write romantic comedies.
>> Like bro like Hollywood rom-coms. Are
they dark in dark in what way?
>> I don't want to give names, but I
but I'm like people who are like, "Man,
you are
That's uh that's hard. Dark in the sense
of unhappy.
>> Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> Cuz they're caught up in trying to get
romantic comedies made.
>> Yeah, which is you know, [laughter] it
was a thing in the '90s.
>> Everybody had to make them. I like I
think it's more healthy now that people
make horror movies. I think it's better.
>> They're cheaper. They're They're
actually more believable than
>> than romantic comedies in many ways,
yeah.
>> Uh what you should do is a horror movie
where someone
>> someone meets a killer clown at the top
of the Empire State Building.
Uh I said it first, my idea. You pay for
the studio. Okay, we'll split it.
>> [laughter]
>> Oh, you'll let me have it? [ __ ] you. I
haven't finished yet. Wait till you see
the treatment.
Sign on the dotted line.
>> [laughter]
>> I'm just signing this baby over to you.
>> I'm telling you.
>> God bless.
>> They meet a crazy killer clown on top of
the Empire State Building.
>> Ferguson is he is who we thought he was.
>> BUT THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE
AND WE LET THEM OFF THE HOOK.
>> HE'S A charming guy who can get
to the he can go to the he can go to the
depths.
He's got a scuba suit.
He can get deep. But he can do he'll get
up do a funny thing with the water when
he comes when he surfaces.
Right? That's about
>> I think yeah, fart jokes and philosophy.
>> Yeah.
Craig Ferguson.
I'm I'm uh I'm I'm I'm thankful doing
it.
>> It's a pleasure. I've I've wanted to do
this for some time. I I actually I You
know in show business when they say I'm
a fan
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Uh well
I I am a fan of yours.
>> Thank you.
>> But in the sense of I'm a fan. Like I
don't have pictures of you up in my
house or anything like that. I don't
>> Well, then what then what are you?
>> Fan isn't like I I like oh that guy,
yeah, good.
>> Well, that I mean that's about all we
can hope for.
>> Yeah, I'm like oh that that guy's great.
Yeah, what what's
>> Yeah.
Like res- respect. But yeah, the
this is a separate thing. Do you have
pictures of your accomplishments up in
your house?
>> No, [laughter] man.
>> Isn't that like a thing about that I'm
just starting to realize like someone in
show business did this?
>> Yeah.
>> And then everybody else was like I guess
we're supposed to do this. It's like no,
man. You don't have even Well, in my
office. No.
>> No, no, no. I got I had to put we moved
houses recently and I I got
uh some Emmys and a Peabody Award in the
cabinet in the guest bathroom. But in
the cabinet so the people can't see it.
>> Yeah.
>> Unless they open it. I
thought you were going to get drugs.
What you got for my Emmys? [ __ ] you.
>> The alarm goes off?
>> [laughter]
>> Um Craig Ferguson. Thank you, buddy.
>> [music]
>> Thanks, man.
>> Hey.
You should like and subscribe.
Mhm.