Dave Chapelle is going to be appearing on the premiere of Def Poetry Jam tomorrow night on HBO.

I’m not sure if I see Dave Chapelle as a poet, and in the past I’ve been known to complain about comedians muscling in on the spoken-word scene (mainly because poetry audiences always love them, and they usually blow non-comedian poets like me off the stage). Dave Chappelle is a special case, though, since he’s just returning from his Rimbaud-like trip to Africa (okay, actually I have no idea if his trip to Africa was anything like Rimbaud’s, but I am looking for poetry connections here) and will probably have some interesting things to say.

Remember, we’re kicking off a weekly tradition of reviewing Def Poetry Jam episodes here on LitKicks, so if you can get to a TV with HBO on Friday night at 11:30 pm or Saturday morning at 1 am, check this show out, and drop by here the next day to share your impressions with us.