In the Duke of Doubt, Kelefa Sanneh examines the rise of Chris Rock to the stardom of standup comedy and his inability to replicate the same success in the film industry. Sanneh is fair in the assessment of Chris Rock because both positive and negative aspects of his successes and failures are examined in the article. The article is useful in understanding the personality of Chris Rock and the influence of his personality on his choice of profession.
For example, Rock is an extrovert and scores highly on extraversion (90th percentile). He is sociable and lively. He is not afraid to show his social boldness, and his social self-esteem is always high. Sanneh writes about him, “ the idea is to always be talking, instead of reading” (56). His sociability is evident from the shows that he has staged. He always tries to keep to be lively even when off the stage and those who have worked with him can attest to that. As a comedian and a movie star, one has to be socially bold and express high social esteem, and that is exactly what Chris Rock has portrayed.
The success of Chris Rock can be attributed to his conscientiousness (90th percentile). Rock scores highly on conscientiousness. He is organized and thorough in his work. He is also precise and diligent. Sanneh writes about him, “When Rock goes on tour, he is conscious of giving the audience a show: a sharp suit, a crisp set, a ferocious attitude” (56). Again, Sanneh admits that when Rock wants to test new material, he changes his body language as if he is a clinical trial (56). When he is preparing for a show, he keeps on looking at his paperless notebooks just to make sure that everything works out according to plan (Sanneh 56). The fact that Rock refines his performances through practice shows his organizational ability. When he felt that he would be left behind, he kept on rehearsing in front of mirrors and by the time, he came out, he was more theatrical, and his jokes were precise (Sanneh 56).
Another factor that can be attributed to the success of Chris Rock in the comedy world is his openness to experience (80th percentile). Chris Rock scores highly on openness to experience because he his highly inquisitive and creative. He is also unconventional in his approach to work. A good example is when he took part in the Comedy’s Dirtiest Dozen, a show that starred comedians who were not considered mainstream (Sanneh 56). His good performance gave him a chance to show his ability to perform in mainstream shows. There is no doubt that Chris Rock is creative. Being a successful standup comedian requires someone to be highly creative because once a joke has been told on stage, it cannot be told anywhere else (Sanneh 56). Rock has been successful as a comedian because he comes up with new jokes every time. He is also intellectual in the sense that he reads the mood of the audience and tells jokes that are in sync with the audience. Rock is inquisitive because he is curious to be involved in other projects apart from comedy. For example, he has tried to act and direct movies.
However, his performance in the film industry has not been that good, which probably explains his honesty and humility. Chris Rock scores fairly well on honesty-humility (70th percentile). He is modest and does not shy away from expressing that. For example, he admits, “I’m not the funniest person I know” (Sanneh 56). That comment shows that his assessment of himself is modest and fair. He is also not greedy. As someone said, “he is not someone who revels in his successes” (Sanneh 56).
Work Cited
Sanneh, Kelefa. “The Duke of Doubt.” The New Yorker 10 Nov. 2014: 56. Print.
