Ralph Barbosa Claims He Once Accidentally Gave Dave Chappelle an Ounce of Mushrooms

Ralph Barbosa's first time meeting Dave Chappelle involved hallucinogens.

Barbosa, a successful standup comic, sat down with Vulture’s Good One: A Podcast About Jokes, and was asked to share a story about an interaction with a legendary comedian. You can see the hilarious results at around the 1:03:00 mark.

Barbosa described how he was so “nervous” to meet Chappelle that he initially “offered him a potato ball” while eating one at the comedy club, Hollywood Improv.

Ralph then shared that when the night was over, he discovered that Chappelle had accidentally left his vest behind.

“I heard that he would be back the next day, but I was just like, ‘What if somebody steals the vest?’” Barbosa told host Jesse David Fox.

“So I guess I’ll just take it and bring it back tomorrow. So I stole it so nobody else would steal it. And somebody had let me have an ounce of mushrooms, and I was wearing the vest, and I put the mushrooms in the vest, and I left.”

He said that the same night, his friend called and told him that Chappelle and his team had returned to the club for the vest.

“I felt so bad, I took it off, and I just handed it to his security gu,y and they took it and sped off. I was like, ‘Man, he probably thinks I’m some weirdo.’”

Barbosa then saw Chappelle a couple of days later.

“I wanted to tell him about my mushrooms being in there ‘cause I wanted them back, but I didn’t know how to say it. I also wanted to apologize ‘cause I was like, what if he gets pulled over and he’s like, ‘I don’t have nothing on me,’ and then he has mushrooms or something. I don’t know.”

Barbosa proceeded to explain the situation.

“At first, I said, ‘Hey, Mr. Chappelle, I’m sorry about your vest. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to steal it—I was afraid somebody would get rid of it or something.‘ He was like, ‘What? I don’t think you stole it.’”

But Chappelle was so wrapped up in conversation that Barbosa found it difficult to mention the hallucinogens.

“I’m waiting for my moment,” Barbosa added. “I was just like, ‘Hey, in the vest, I left mushrooms.’ … [Chappelle’s] like, ‘For real? In the vest?’ … And then I saw him I don’t know how many months later, in Houston. He’s like, ‘Hey, I got those mushrooms. Thank you for that.’ I was like, ‘Aw, you’re welcome.’ Those mushrooms were gone.”

The Dallas native’s latest special, Ralph Barbosa: Planet Bosa, is now streaming on Hulu.