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Dane Cook

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Dane Cook
File:Dane cook1.gif
Born (1972-03-18) March 18, 1972 (age 52)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Occupation(s)Stand-up comedian, actor
Websitedanecook.com

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He released two full-length comedy albums, Harmful If Swallowed and Retaliation, the latter of which went double platinum[1] and became the best-selling comedy album in twenty-eight years.[2] Cook performs on many television shows and in the fall of 2006 performed in his own HBO special, Vicious Circle. As an actor, Cook has appeared in fifteen films since 1997, and starred in the 2006 comedy Employee of the Month.

Early life

Cook was born in Boston, to Donna and George Cook. He grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb and, along with his five sisters and one brother, was raised as a Roman Catholic.[3] Dane held down jobs at Video Horizons and Burger King (where his brother was a manager).

Career

When asked about the worst joke he ever told, Cook said "just about everything between 1990 and 1994." By 1995, he was performing stand-up comedy every night, usually in Boston and later at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. He stated in a 2005 interview with Entertainment Weekly that he "never walked toward a stage and felt heavy. Ever. Even in bad places, [he] always learned something." Also in 1995, Cook made his television debut as Kyle in five episodes of the short-lived ABC series Maybe This Time, starring Marie Osmond and Betty White.

In 1998, he was featured on Comedy Central's stand-up comedy showcase Premium Blend and, the following year, Comics Come Home. It would begin a partnership with the cable channel that would help launch Cook's career to new heights. 1999 also saw Cook starring in the straight-to-video Dennis Rodman vehicle, Simon Sez. In the film, Cook plays Rodman's partner, Nick Miranda. The film was directed by Kevin Elders, previously known as the screenwriter for Aces: Iron Eagle III.

Two years later, Cook pooled $25,000 of his own money from savings and retirement accounts and launched http://www.danecook.com, his own interactive website to help further his career and help stay personally connected to his fans.[1] Later, Cook would also become one of the first celebrities to make use of the global networking site MySpace. To date, Cook has over 1.6 million fans listed as friends on his profile.

In 2002 and 2003, Dane was featured as the voice of three puppets on the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers, which featured real prank phone calls being recorded in a studio and then re-enacted by puppets. Four of Dane's calls were aired between July 2002 and April 2003. He took on the aliases of Sav McCauley, Gene Winterbuck and Foreign Guy.

In 2003, Cook released his first comedy album, Harmful If Swallowed. The album also included a DVD which showcased his first-ever Comedy Central headlining special. Also that year, Cook released the film 8 Guys, which he wrote, directed, and starred in.

2005 to present

In 2005, Cook launched a nationwide tour dubbed "Tourgasm" after releasing his album Retaliation, which debuted at #4 on Billboard magazine's Top Albums chart. That year, he also played a role as a cook named Floyd in the movie Waiting....

The success of Retaliation launched a slew of public appearances and magazine articles that fall, including a three-minute routine on the MTV Video Music Awards on August 28. He also performed three sold-out shows in two nights at Madison Square Garden Nokia Theater in mid-September.

During a May 2005 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Cook parodied Tom Cruise's "couch jumping" Oprah appearance and made a "tattoo" of Katie Holmes (actually a picture taped to his back) and barged into the women's restroom to get her.

During an October 2005 appearance on The Tonight Show, Charlize Theron gave him permission to kiss her butt. Cook was re-enacting a previous joke in which Theron kissed Shirley MacLaine's butt at a Premiere magazine tribute to women in Hollywood.

Cook also appeared and performed on Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour.

Soon after, he finished his own television pilot called Cooked, a program in which he will star and for which he will write.

On December 3, 2005, Cook hosted Saturday Night Live. He performed the longest monologue in the show's history (around ten minutes long); the episode was one of the highest-rated SNLs of the season (until the Steve Martin/Prince episode in February of 2006).[4] However, Entertainment Weekly named it the fourth-worst show of the year.[5]

Cook hosted SNL for a second time on the premiere of its thirty-second season, September 30, 2006.

On January 13, 2006, after months of keeping a "BIG secret" from his fans, he announced via his website an April 15 gig at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden where his first HBO special, Vicious Circle, would be eventually filmed. Notorious critic Frank White called Vicious Circle "the worst standup act so far this decade." His first show sold out during the pre-sale phase of the on-sale, and a second show was added for the same night. In all, Dane Cook's Boston concert drew 36,000 fans in two shows, on the same night. A documentary series and a scripted program are also in the works for HBO.[6] In the week prior to the televised gig, he performed at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas (April 8) and Allstate Arena in Chicago (April 13), the largest venues he has ever performed in those cities. Aside from airing on HBO, Vicious Circle is also being screened in select theaters and it features an additional 40 minutes of material.

September saw the release of Employee of the Month, Cook's first movie featuring him in the lead role. He co-starred alongside Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard. Response to this movie was lukewarm but made an acceptable box office performance.

Discography / Videography

Filmography

Year Title Role
1997 Flypaper Tim
1997 Buddy Fair Cop
1999 Spiral David
1999 Simon Sez Nick Miranda
1999 Mystery Men The Waffler
2002 L.A.X. Terrell Chasman
2002 The Touch Bob
2003 Stuck on You Officer Fraioli
2003 8 Guys Dane
2003 Windy City Heat Roman Polanski
2004 Mr. 3000 Sausage Mascot
2004 Torque Neil Luff
2005 Waiting... Floyd
2005 London George
2006 Employee of the Month Zack Bradley
2007 Farce of the Penguins Voice
2007 Mr. Brooks Mr. Smith
2007 Dan in Real Life Lowell Ashburn
2007 Good Luck Chuck Chuck/Charlie

Cook was in Albuquerque, New Mexico filming a new movie called Employee of the Month, a comedy co-starring Jessica Simpson, Dax Shepard, Efren Ramirez, and Harland Williams. He is also currently filming the psychological thriller Mr. Brooks in Shreveport, Louisiana with Kevin Costner. He was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of 2006.[2]

Dane Cook's first HBO special, Vicious Circle, was aired on September 4, 2006. The double DVD was released on November 28, 2006. It is a 90-minute presentation which was filmed at TD Banknorth Garden in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts on a circular stage surrounded by the audience. The stage had on it the impression of his Super Finger hand gesture. Cook brought the same set to Madison Square Garden for back-to-back sold out shows on November 12, 2006.

Dane Cook is also an avid supporter of charities in his hometown Boston, Massachusetts. On November 15th, 2006 he attended the "Fun Run for Families" event in downtown Boston as a special guest celebrity runner. The event raised upwards of $10,000 for local families.

The SUperFInger

The SUperFInger or SU-FI is a hand gesture. It consists of raising the middle finger, ring finger, and thumb on the same hand while lowering (or curling) the index and pinky fingers. Cook's website explains his idea behind the SU-FI:


One night I did a bit on stage about 5 years ago at the Laugh Factory. I was talking about how the finger is lame now and it's lost its pizzazz. I said I wanted to upgrade the finger and so from now on people should use both the ring finger coupled with the middle finger. I called it the SUperFInger (or SU-FI).[7]


In 2005, Cook started his own company to produce his albums and videos, which he named SUperFInger Entertainment.[8]

Content

Cook's style is principally observational humor.[citation needed] He has commented that:

I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak on anything I want... So I can be a storyteller, I can be jokey, I can be corny, I can be a little vulgar, I can be a lot vulgar. And I'm not afraid to go anywhere to get the point of the joke across.

[citation needed]

Cook utilizes a unique slang vocabulary to match his talkative manner. For example: Burger King is the "BK Lounge", A bad relationship is a "Relationshit", Walgreens is "The Wall," and a sandwich is a "sangwich".[9] Similarly, he uses such acronyms as BAMF and SUFI, which are short for "Bad Ass Mother Fucker" and "SUperFInger." He also shortens words to keep the same meaning. He has even been known to completely change words, like saying "Concernicus" instead of concerned.

Criticism

Material Theft Accusations

After the release of his CD/DVD Retaliation, similarities were noticed between Cook's work and material recorded on Louis CK's 2001 album Live in Houston.[10] The bits in question are Louis CK's "Itchy Asshole," "Guy On A Bike," and "Naming Kids." In 2005, Dane Cook performed and released three similar routines on Retaliation. "Louis CK vs. Dane Cook". These are "Itchy Asshole," "Struck By A Vehicle," and "My Son Optimus Prime," respectively. Cook has denied any plagiarism.[citation needed] When asked about the similarities on the message boards of aspecialthing.com, CK acknowledged that Cook was "stealing from [him]," and said that he had performed those jokes in clubs where Dane was present, eliminating any doubts that it could be a case of parallel thought. Louis CK decided that taking any action against him is "not worth it".[11]

Comedian Joe Rogan has been less tolerant of the alleged stealing. He has spoken on many occasions (including the December 1, 2006 broadcast of the Opie and Anthony Show) about Dane repeating a bit on his first Premium Blend special that Rogan claims to have performed earlier in clubs, again with Dane present. He also went on to claim that Jim Breuer had reported to Rogan that Dane was performing some of Rogan's bits in clubs that he performed at with Breuer. "Joe Rogan Exposes Dane Cook".

Yuk-Yuks controversy

On July 24, 2006 Cook asked for a guest spot at the Vancouver Yuk-Yuks comedy club. Initially he was set to go up at the end of the night, but upon arriving at the club he requested to go up before the headliner since he had things to do in the morning (he was in town shooting the movie Employee of the Month). After going over time and ignoring the "red light", the club's manager and headliner (Peter Kelamis) cut off his microphone and tried to "play him off" with music. He thought it was simply a mistake and continued his set, but they later cut his mic and blared the exit music again. Cook then dropped the mic and walked off-stage, furious. The show then ended, leaving Cook's fans confused and disappointed, and without Kelamis having taken the stage at all; he later referred to Cook's actions as "the most arrogant thing that [he had] ever seen in [his] life".[12] Cook refused to ever set foot on a Yuk-Yuks stage again. Mark Breslin, the founder of the comedy club chain, quickly apologized and placed the blame on the club's manager, who happened to be new to the job.

Style

  • Rob Sheffield criticized Dane Cook's style in an October 2006 Rolling Stone article. Some excerpts from the article:

"Yeah, we get it: the world's hottest comedian, a success story, the MySpace Generation, blah to the blah, but where are the fucking jokes?...It's like he's a lovable character Will Ferrell made up for an upcoming media-prank comedy, Funny Guy: The Legend of Dane Cook."[13]

Louis CK has also accused Cook of arrogance:

"Last night I complained that he often rudely bumps me when he comes in the Laugh Factory. I wouldn't be the first one to complain. he never asks when bumping and almost always runs way over his time. He generally shows zero courtesy or respect to other comedians on the same show as him. Oh well. Whatever." [11]

  • Comedian Ron White has criticized Dane Cook for his lack of real material (calling him a "smoke and mirrors" act) and for his inflated ego.[14]

"Not one comedian comes on (my show) and says `I'm so happy for [Dane Cook],' which is weird. They can't stand this poor guy." [15]

Tourgasm

  • The criticisms of "Tourgasm" are perhaps the most scathing, here is only a brief selection of reviews [16]:

"...a half-hour vanity project that proves HBO can not only be TV, but bad TV at that" [17]

"To understand just how unbearable "Tourgasm" remains from start to finish, imagine a cross between Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedian" (except the jokes aren't all that funny and the comedians involved aren't that interesting or clever) and MTV's "Jackass" (except the teasing and physical pranks aren't that fun or dramatic and they end in angry recriminations, sulking and serious injuries). In short, "Tourgasm" may be the least worthwhile series ever to air on HBO..." [18]

"...it's just some guy's tedious travelogue." [19]

  • In the Comedy Central show Freak Show, a character is watching a Dane Cook performance, but instead of Tourgasm, the show was called Boregasm. The show poked fun at Cook's eccentric style.

References

  1. ^ a b "Great Dane took a bite out of the Competition in 1995", The San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition web site.
  2. ^ a b Time's 100 Most Influential People
  3. ^ AskMen.com: Dane Cook
  4. ^ Hollywood.com biography
  5. ^ Gillian Flynn, "TV 2005: The 5 Worst". Entertainment Weekly, December 30, 2005.
  6. ^ "Dane Cook Whips Up HBO Deal", Zap2it.
  7. ^ Dane Cook Message Board (quote posted by Dane Cook)
  8. ^ "HBO Signs Stand-Up Comedian Dane Cook to Multi-Project Deal", Time-Warner, March 2, 2006.
  9. ^ Heather Havrilesky, "Overcooked". Salon, September 3, 2006.
  10. ^ Heather Havrilesky,"Overcooked". Salon, September 3, 2006
  11. ^ a b aspecialthing.com Forum, August 3, 2005. Cite error: The named reference "ast" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ Guy Macpherson, "Dane Cook Gets the Hook at Yuk Yuk's". The Province, July 25, 2006.
  13. ^ "Pop Life: The Joke's on Us: How can any comedian get as famous as Dane Cook has with no jokes?" by Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, October 19, 2006.
  14. ^ "Ron White Interview" by David Medsker.
  15. ^ "Comics question the rise of Dane Cook" By Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer.
  16. ^ "Dane Cook's Tourgasm on www.metacritic.com"
  17. ^ "Dane Cook's Tourgasm" By Brian Lowry.
  18. ^ [www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2006/09/03/dane_cook/ "Overcooked" by Heather Havrilesky].
  19. ^ [http://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/tv_review.asp?ID=29 "


News articles & interviews

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