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Watch Dave Chappelle Quickly Train a Nervous Will Smith for Stand-Up Comedy

“The crazy thing is I’m more nervous about doing stand-up than I am about bungee jumping out of a helicopter”

Courtesy of Sadao Turner

Will Smith can act. He can rap. But can he do stand-up comedy? He’s certainly going to try as he continues to check items off his bucket list for his Will Smith’s Bucket List series on Facebook Watch, the social network’s video-on-demand platform.

To help him train for his performance, a nervous Smith recruited comedic legend Dave Chappelle. “I’m headed over to see the master,” Smith says of Chappelle in this episode. “That’s the first step of anything, anytime you want to do something new. And there’s only one master that I would ever want to learn from in terms of stand-up.”

The new episode, the third in the weekly series, just debuted (March 13). Watch it here:

"The crazy thing is I’m more nervous about doing stand-up than I am about bungee jumping out of a helicopter over the Grand Canyon," Smith admits. "When you do music, you forget your lyrics, the audience knows them, and they catch up and they pick up, they go with it. With your stand-up, if you stutter, you stumble, if there’s one moment where your heart jumps, they see it."

Chappelle, whose Chappelle’s Show sketch comedy series made him a household name in the 2000s, offers Smith three quick tips:

  • "The first thing I’d tell you is: Confidence is key. The reason you should be confident is primarily because you’re Will Smith."
  • "I've been watching you for years. You’re actually a funny dude. I’ve spoken to you before, you’re a great conversationalist. Because what else do you really need? All you need to do is pick the right shit to talk about."
  • "The best advice I got, ever, doing comedy was from a comedian who was not particularly good, but the advice was very important to me. He said, 'You are one of these comedians that think you have to be funny all of the time, and you don’t, but you do have to be interesting all the time.'"

dave chappelle will smith facebook in line
Courtesy of Sadao Turner

In previous episodes, Smith skydived and swam with sharks. What’s next on his bucket list? Running a half marathon in Cuba, dancing in a Bollywood movie and racing F1 cars.  

Read More: 10 Best Movies and Shows Added to Netflix in March

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