Chappelle was featured in a montage of random people telling a joke in the first episode of ABC's "America's Funniest People", airing on September 13, 1990. Chappelle moved to New York City to pursue a career as a comedian. He performed at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater in front of the infamous "Amateur Night" audience, but he was booed off stage. Chappelle described the experience as the moment that gave him the courage to continue his show business aspirations. He quickly made a name for himself on the New York comedy circuit, even performing in the city's parks. In addition to weekend stand-up gigs, he also honed his craft at Monday night "open mic" performances at places like the Boston Comedy Club on W 3rd St., as late as the summer of 1994. In 1992, he won critical and popular acclaim for his television appearance in Russell Simmons' "Def Comedy Jam" on HBO. It was his appearance on this show that allowed his popularity to truly begin rising, eventually allowing him to become a regular guest on late-night television shows such as "Politically Incorrect", "The Late Show With David Letterman", "The Howard Stern Show", and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien". Whoopi Goldberg nicknamed him "The Kid". At 19, he made his film debut as "Ahchoo" in Mel Brooks' "". He also appeared on "Star Search" three times but lost to competing comedian Lester Barrie; Chappelle later joked about becoming more successful than Barrie. The same year, Chappelle was offered the role of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in "Forrest Gump". Concerned the character was demeaning and the movie would bomb, he turned down the part. He parodied the film in the 1997 short "Bowl of Pork", where a dim-witted black man is responsible for the Rodney King beating, the LA riots and OJ Simpson being accused of murder. Chappelle played another supporting role in an early Doug Liman film, "Getting In", in 1994. At age 19, he was the opening act for R&amp;B soul singer Aretha Franklin.