Dane Cook

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Dane Cook
Image:Dane Cook ComicCon.JPG
Dane Cook in 2007
Pseudonym Sav McCauley
Gene Winterbuck
Foreign Guy
Born March 18 1972 (1972-03-18) (age 37)
Arlington, Massachusetts
Medium Stand up comedy, film, television
Nationality American
Years active 1997-present
Genres Stand-up Comedy
Subject(s) observational comedy
Influences Denis Leary, George Carlin, Richard Pryor
Website danecook.com
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (November 2007)

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and musician. He has released three comedy albums, Harmful If Swallowed, Retaliation (which went double platinum[1]), and Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden. Retaliation became the highest charting 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, including Mystery Men, the 2005 film "Waiting...", and starred in the 2006 comedy Employee of the Month with Jessica Simpson. He also appeared in the 2007 thriller film Mr. Brooks in a departure from his standard comedic roles.


Contents

[edit] Style

Cook's style is principally observational humor. He tends to talk about his childhood, and his plans for the future, such as his "dream home". He will sometimes deliver jokes in the form of over the top rants. He has commented that:

“ I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak on (sic) 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, even if I have to just blabber like an idiot until it becomes apparent that I'm telling a joke and that the audience should laugh. ”

Cook uses slang vocabulary to match his talkative manner. For example: A bad relationship is a "Relationshit", Walgreens is "The Wall," and a sandwich is a "sangwich".[3] Similarly, he uses such acronyms as BAMF and SUFI, which are short for "Bad Ass Mother Fucker", which is originally believed to refer to 24's Jack Bauer[citation needed] , and "SUperFInger," respectively. He is also known to call Burger King, "the BK Lounge." He also shortens words to keep the same meaning. He has even been known to completely change words or phrases, like saying "Concernicus" instead of concerned, "Chicken Sangwich" instead of Chicken Sandwich, "agrain" instead of again, and "chat-chitting" rather than "chit-chatting". Afterwards he says, "Yeah, I just flipped that shit...they're just words, they don't control us...not anymore."

[edit] Controversy and criticism

[edit] Material/Plagiarism

After the release of his CD/DVD Retaliation, similarities were noticed between Cook's work and material recorded on Louis C.K.'s 2001 album Live in Houston.[3] The bits in question are Louis C.K.'s "Itchy Asshole," "Guy On A Bike," and "Naming Kids." In 2005, Dane Cook performed and released three similar routines on Retaliation.[4] These are "Itchy Asshole," "Struck By A Vehicle," and "My Son Optimus Prime," respectively.

In 2005, on the message boards of comedy website A Special Thing, C.K. posted a response to his fans who accused Cook of plagiarizing from him writing "Okay, this kid is stealing from me. And making lots of money. Three bits on one CD." Later, C.K. wrote "Just so you know, guys, I'm not going to do anything about this.... I'm not going to court over a bit called 'Itchy Asshole.'"[5] In an interview on the Free Beer & Hot Wings Morning Show in February 2007, C.K. stated that while the jokes are similar, the issue was "overblown" and may stem from a backlash against Cook's popularity. However, C.K. accused Cook of being "bullyish" and litigious towards comedians for having similar material to his despite Cook claiming elsewhere that comedians often have similar material and it is not a big issue to him. C.K. also stated "Too bad the guy [Cook] can't write enough." C.K. ended the interview by saying, "Fuck Dane Cook, he's a cunt."[6]

Comedian Joe Rogan has spoken on many occasions (including the December 1, 2006 broadcast of the Opie and Anthony Show) about Cook performing a bit on an episode of Premium Blend that Rogan had developed on I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday (sketch titled 'Tigers Fucking'), and claims to have performed the routine earlier in clubs with Cook present.[7] Rob Sheffield criticized Dane Cook's material in a Rolling Stone article from October 2006, claiming a joke he performed was originally done by Emo Philips.[8] Comedian Ron White has criticized Dane Cook for his lack of real material and for his inflated ego.[9] At a 2007 Irving Plaza show, comedian Zach Galifianakis commented, “I saw Employee of the Month the other day...it wasn't as good as I thought it was gonna be.” During his closing number he revealed a sign that read “Kill Dane Cook" before leaving the stage.[10] Less publicized accusations of comedic plagiarism by Cook emerged in September 2006 on Saturday Night Live by Demetri Martin of Daily Show fame. Clips on Youtube show a stand up bit Cook suppossedly lifted from Martin's 9/26/06 release of his live material These Are Jokes on some trouble buying shoes, where Cook goes as far as using the same incorrect shoe size (size 9) that Martin mentioned in his joke that was released 4 days before Cook's performance of a nearly identical shoe joke while hosting SNL on 9/30/06. [11]

In addition to such specific claims of plagiarism, numerous commentators have characterized Dane Cook's humor as unfunny,[12] banal,[13] and lacking jokes.[14]

[edit] 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. Cook's performance went on for longer than the management had asked him, so the club's manager and headliner (Peter Kelamis) cut off his microphone and tried to "play him off" with music. Cook thought it was simply a mistake and continued his set, but they later cut his mic and played 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. Kelamis then refused to take the stage, and later referred to Cook's actions as "the most arrogant thing that I've ever seen in my life".

However, Mark Breslin, the founder of the comedy club chain, quickly apologized and blamed the club's Manager. Breslin stated in support of Cook, "I'm on Dane's side totally, 100 percent." Breslin also explained that Kelamis was the last show that evening and there was no reason he could not have gone on late, stating "the tradition is that stardom trumps everything".[15]

[edit] Other

[edit] 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 half way. 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 pizzaz. 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) ”

In 2005, Cook started his own company to produce his albums and videos, which he named SUperFInger Entertainment.[16]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] DVDs

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock US Pop 100 UK Singles Chart Germany
2006 "I'll Never Be You" - - - - - - -
2007 "Forward" - - - - - - -

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role
1997 Flypaper Tim
Buddy Fair Cop
1999 Spiral David
Simon Sez Nick Miranda
Mystery Men The Waffler
2002 L.A.X. Terrell Chasman
The Touch Bob
2003 Stuck on You Officer Fraioli
8 Guys Dane
Windy City Heat Roman Polanski
2004 Mr. 3000 Sausage Mascot
Torque Neil Luff
2005 Waiting... Floyd
London George
2006 Employee of the Month Zack Bradley
2007 Farce of the Penguins Voice
Mr. Brooks Mr. Smith
Good Luck Chuck Chuck/Charlie
Dan in Real Life Mitch Burns
2008 Horton Hears a Who Johnny Smooth
Bachelor No. 2 Tank

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Great Dane took a bite out of the Competition in 1995", The San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition web site.
  2. ^ Time's 100 Most Influential People
  3. ^ a b Heather Havrilesky, "Overcooked". Salon, September 3, 2006.
  4. ^ bostonherald.com, "Louis C.K. vs. Dane Cook", accessed February 11, 2007
  5. ^ Getlen, Larry (2007-02-14). Take the Funny and Run. Radar. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  6. ^ www.freebeerandhotwings.com, Louis C.K. interview, accessed February 3, 2007
  7. ^ "Joe Rogan Exposes Dane Cook"
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Ron White Interview" by David Medsker.
  10. ^ Zach Galifianakis: He Tells a Joke. He Moves
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwCiyR4-YLc
  12. ^ "Dane Cook - Not Funny?", 6abc.com
  13. ^ "Overcooked", Salon.com
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ Guy Macpherson, "Dane Cook Gets the Hook at Yuk Yuk's". The Province, July 25, 2006.
  16. ^ "HBO Signs Stand-Up Comedian Dane Cook to Multi-Project Deal", Time-Warner, March 2, 2006.

[edit] External links

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[edit] News articles & interviews

v • d • e
Dane Cook
AlbumsHarmful If Swallowed · Retaliation · Vicious Circle · Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden
Singles"I'll Never Be You" · "Foreward"
DVDsHarmful If Swallowed · Retaliation · Vicious Circle · Dane Cook's Tourgasm · The Lost Pilots · Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garden
LabelsComedy Central Records
de:Dane Cook

fr:Dane Cook it:Dane Cook pl:Dane Cook

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