Comedian Dane Cook, Las Vegas Sun, July 1, 2005

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Cook will serve ‘Retaliation’ to hungry fans Lisa Ferguson Friday, July 1, 2005 | 8:31 a.m. Dane Cook is the first to tell you he owes his fans a debt of gratitude, and he's gearing up to thank them as best he knows how. The comedian -- who performs Saturday and Sunday with comic Dave Attell at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay -- on July 26 will release "Retaliation," a CD/DVD package that will serve as the follow-up to his 2003 debut offering, "Harmful If Swallowed." " 'Retaliation' is truly like, 'Here's my heart and soul,' " Cook explained during a recent call from his car while traveling from his home state of Massachusetts to gigs in Rhode Island. "You're gonna see it and know that every inch of this thing is cared about ... as a way to say, 'This is for you guys.' " Cook scored big with "Harmful," which was gobbled up by the college kids who comprise the bulk of his rabid fan following. "It was truly the fan base that pushed the CD," he contends. After recording the disc four years ago, "I felt like I kind of had lightning in a bottle." He hawked it on his Web site, www.danecook.com, and sold some 8,000 copies in just five months, "literally like mailing them out myself." Fans wrote to Cook with tales of listening parties for the disc in their dorm rooms. Eventually, Comedy Central Records took notice and brought the disc to the mainstream masses, selling well upwards of 100,000 copies. Since then, his career has been in overdrive: Cook, who starred in his own 2000 special on Comedy Central, made his Carnegie Hall debut last year. He has appeared numerous times on the late-night talk-show circuit and had roles in several feature films, including "Mr. 3000," "Torque," "Mystery Men," "Stuck on You" and "Waiting," a comedy slated to hit screens this fall. This month he's set to begin taping "Cooked," a sitcom pilot based on his stand-up material, which Sony will finance and shop to television networks. (Attempts to produce the series last year on network UPN's dime fell short: "It didn't exactly come out to the level that I think I would liked to have seen it," he says.) This time around, "With a little luck the comedy I do onstage will translate, and maybe I can just reach more people," he says. "The goal is worldwide domination with comedy -- that's all it is. I want people laughing all over the world." Look for the comic -- who is preparing to headline a sold-out show in September at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York -- to appear in Attell's stand-up concert film (set to air this fall on Comedy Central) that will be taped at this weekend's House of Blues shows. Cook, meanwhile, is creating a documentary of his own titled "Tourgasm," the result of a 30-day journey he and three of his comedy buddies (including "Last Comic Standing" alum Gary Gulman) undertook in April. The foursome, along with a camera crew, hopped on a tour bus and drove cross-country performing to packed houses at 20 universities. "It caught a lot of real situations and great comedy conversations," resulting in about 400 hours of footage, he says. "Now we're sifting through and looking for the right editor and talking to a few networks about airing it as a comedy miniseries." Cook got his start in comedy more than 15 years ago, performing at open-mike nights in Boston. "I wanted to be a stand-up comedian from the time I can remember," he says, "and part of what I dreamed of was having like a cult-comedy following -- not because I'm in movies or not because of a TV show, (but) literally filling rooms because people were fans of live stand-up comedy." He worked the scene in New York, and in the late '90s moved to Los Angeles after landing a role on the short-lived sitcom "Maybe This Time" ("It was a Saturday night show, I think it was on at 8:30, which means that even my own family wasn't watching it," he jokes.) Often labeled a physical comedian because of his high energy level and onstage antics, Cook's early material dealt "with childhood-type things, novelty things about the games we grew up with, the things that happened when I was younger," including bits about the Kool-Aid Man mascot; the pain of playing on a Slip 'n Slide; and working the drive-thru window at a fast-food restaurant. "I've always wanted to be able to use physicality and be able to go there to help (tell) a story, to paint that picture," Cook explains. With "Retaliation," he says his comedy "turns a corner" by offering "a little bit more of an adult-type of spin" on such topics as violence in America and the "escalation" of reality television, as well as relationship issues. "It's what's funny to me, and how can I bring more people into my twisted, silly, whatever-you-want-to-label-it type of humor," he says. "It's never been, 'I'm gonna write novelty jokes that make them laugh,' " rather, " 'OK, what's on my mind right now, and how can I pull people into where I'm at?' " "I still wanna give people what they know, but it'll be great to have more stuff out there to expand on the live show," he explains. "I might earn new fans with this; I might lose fans with it. That's just the way any kind of art goes and that's cool, but I feel very confident people are gonna have a good time with it." Cook, who declines to reveal his age, says he's watched "the gradual progression" of his career. Only in the past five years has he enjoyed "the payoff. I worked not only pounding the pavement, but I did overtime because I wanted it so bad. I wanted a fan base that would be there forever." The secret to Cook's success: There isn't one. "It's common sense," he insists. "People appreciate when a politician shakes their hand, and comedy is like politics. "If you want more fans, if you wanna win the election, you've gotta hang out after the show and say, 'Thank you for getting a baby-sitter, taking the time to drive all the way here, for paying for the parking, for paying too much for drinks. Thank you for coming out, and coming back and bringing more people to see me.' "You've gotta let the people know you appreciate them," Cook says. "It's more than just the jokes in this day and age. It's not just the show; it's being personable." Out for laughs "The Honeymooners" co-star Mike Epps headlines at 9 p.m. tonight at Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tickets range from $30.50 to $75.50. Epps, who was profiled in Laugh Lines in 2004, is set to star in "Roll Bounce," a film due in theaters this fall; and was recently tapped to portray Richard Pryor in an upcoming biopic about the comedy legend. Gary Mule Deer -- who guests at 11:35 p.m. tonight on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Channel 8 -- opens a pair of shows for Johnny Mathis at 9 p.m. tonight and Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater. Tickets are $65 to $100 plus tax. Local comic Rob Sherwood, profiled here in April, is looking for other Las Vegas residents to share silly stories about their experiences around town on his forthcoming television series "Wag The Tongue," set to air on KVTE Channel 35. Submit your tales and contact info to wagthetongue@vegas35tv.com. archive Share on print Share on email Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on google_plusone_share More Sharing Services 0