Dane Cook

[BobbyD 2]

Dane Cook Hosts 'SNL' Season Opener

AP

 

 

On Saturday's season opener of "Saturday Night Live," comedian Dane Cook will not only get the expected laughs but also achieve a lifelong dream.

 

"When I started doing standup, even well before standup, a goal that I set for myself was to be a part of `Saturday Night Live,'" Cook told The Associated Press Friday.

 

Cook first hosted the show last year. Returning so soon was "like coming back to the best camp I've ever gone to in my life," he said. "I feel almost like I'm a part of the cast."

 

That cast is leaner than it's been in season's past due to budget crunching by NBC, but Cook, 34, sees that as a chance for everyone to be more involved in the show.

 

"It's great to be in sketches with the whole company," he said.

 

Expect lots of topical comedy on the season opener, Cook said.

 

"It's a comedy bomb and its about to explode laughter all over."

[Cutielb99 0]

COZY COWORKERS

 

Earlier, Simpson conspires with Employee costar Dane Cook as the two "take over" MTV's TRL studios. The pair showed clips of their new comedy, answered questions from fans and previewed Simpson's new video, "I Belong To Me."

 

[Sweet tart 0]

OMG..he's hot, isn't he? He can be as unfunny as he wants to...as a matter of fact, he doesn't have to say anything!

 

He seems to be hit or miss with his comedy. I loved him the first time he hosted SNL, then I heard one of his CDs..not so much love there. I thought the SNL episode he hosted last week was flat and not funny, but I attributed that to the writing. Even Weekend Update was blah. Come back, Tina!

 

Next up is Employee of the Month for him. I don't think I can make myself do it...too much Jessica in a short amount of time *snark*

[BobbyD 2]

It's funny..whenever I ask women what is it? And it's always, well...he's hot...and his comedy is something you have to "get." LOL! I guess he is the best looking comic...but geez...a cover girl comic? Is he the Anna Kournikova of Comedy?

[soho2chelsea 3]

See, I think he APPEARS hot, but in truth, he's only "comedian hot." You know? We hold them to a lower standard (though I do agree he is good looking )

Edited October 6, 2006 by soho2chelsea

[Hoyaheel 1,875]

He doesn't do anything for me. And I struggled to listen to a few minutes of a routine that was on XM Comedy last night on my drive home--it was about 5 minutes longer than it should have been. There had just been a Robin Williams bit--I was laughing so hard I had a hard time concentrating on the road. So, maybe I only think Dane Cook sucks in comparison, but still.....I don't think he's all that hot or anything. I mean, he's no Jon Stewart

[Cutielb99 0]

PAIR CAUGHT CANOODLING IN A BOOTH

Page Six

 

October 6, 2006 -- JESSICA Simpson renewed her love affair with her "Employee of the Month" co-star Dane Cook Wednesday night at the film's premiere party at Tenjune. (See Kyle Smith's review, Page 42.) Spies said they curled up in a booth and spent the evening "whispering into each other's ears. Dane couldn't keep his eyes off her and kept coming back to her every time he was pulled away." They finally left with Simpson's hairdresser Ken Paves.

[BobbyD 2]

'Employee of the Month'

The Bland Meets the Blonde

By Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

 

Dane Cook, the worst movie leading man since -- Pauly Shore? No? Toby Keith! -- makes his starring debut in "Employee of the Month." He mastered the moves of a slacker who's fallen into a "career" at a Sam's Club clone -- literally "skating" through a job he hates with other losers in little blue vests. He just doesn't do anything funny or show any screen presence as he runs through those moves.

 

It's a promising idea -- a workplace comedy set in a workplace a lot of people, especially young ones, can identify with -- a soulless stack-to-the-ceiling "big box" discount store -- a place that substitutes pep talks and "team spirit" for benefits, a living wage and a chance for advancement.

 

It may be a union shop, but the message here, as in the earlier just-as-promising "Waiting..." is that this is a job, not a career. And it will suck away years of your life and your hopes for the future if you aren't careful.

 

Strangely enough, Cook, a stand-up of some repute, was also in "Waiting..." Coincidence?

 

Zach (Cook) has burned away 10 years at Super Club, and he's done it without breaking a sweat. He finds others to do his work for him. He swipes merchandise with impunity, sometimes for himself, sometimes for customers. He and some pals (Andy Dick, Harland Williams and Seinfeld alum Brian George) have built their own "lounge" hidden high in the stacks.

 

And that's been good enough up until now. But Amy (Jessica Simpson), the new cashier, just transferred in from another store. And her rep? She goes all gooey over guys who win the Employee of the Month award. Zach's nemesis, Vince (Dax Shepard, Zach Braff's blond twin), owns that award. He's about to land a "brand newish 2005 Malibu" for winning Employee of the Month many, many months in a row.

 

Zach isn't about to let that happen. He has to be like Vince if he has a prayer. And Vince, who flirts and does juggling tricks at his cash register, wants Amy for himself. If only his dopey protege Jorge (Pedro from "Napoleon Dynamite," Efrem Ramirez) were more help.

 

The movie was shot with a leer by director Greg Coolidge, who never fails to frame the shapely Miss Simpson so that her cleavage fills the bottom third of the screen. She must be the reason the movie is so sloppily shot and cut. Edits don't match up in the conversation scenes, actors are out of position.

 

The promise here is in the way this rarely-shown working-class world is brought to life. A romantic "night in the store" bit has a moment when the night janitor rolls by, singing opera. The cynicism of the other employees, fostered by phoney-baloney managers who preach "team" and "family" while dictating mandatory "outside activities," is worth building on.

 

Shepard is as amusing as the material allows him to be. Vince's feud with Zach has a chuckle or two in it, mostly thanks to him.

 

But whatever that "it" is that comic screen stars have, Cook doesn't have it. The timing isn't there, the sparkle, the Ryan Reynolds sneer. He's just bland. Simpson, so apt at playing dumb, also shows no personality here.

 

And when the bland meet the blond, it's not exactly a "blue light special."

[soho2chelsea 3]

Ouch...pretty rough to co-star in a movie with JESSICA SIMPSON, and you take the brunt of the trashing about the acting! I'm guessing she is equally terrible but this guy really trashed Dane pretty exclusively. Rough.

[BobbyD 2]

Comic cast seals deal in "Employee of the Month"

 

An attempt to carve out "Office Space" in a warehouse store setting, Greg Coolidge's "Employee of the Month" falls short of that inspired Mike Judge mark but manages to retain a certain goofy appeal thanks to the stand-up efforts of its comically adept cast members.

 

It would certainly seem to be a ripe, untapped environment for laugh-getting, but the picture -- following the ruthless rivalry between a cocky cashier and a laid-back boxboy for those title honors -- takes a little while to find its groove. Once it does, the wry, character-driven humor picks up enough momentum to carry it through to the checkout desk.

 

Given that comedies tend to be in short supply this time of the season as studios start unloading all the awards bait, the Lionsgate release could ring up some respectable receipts over the Columbus Day weekend.

 

Groundlings grad Dax Shepard is on the money as Vince Downey, the insufferably smug SuperClub head cashier. It would seem as if his 18th consecutive employee of the month award -- which comes with a "newish" car -- was a done deal, but perennial slacker Zack Bradley (affable stand-up comic Dane Cook) is determined to stop him in his slickly choreographed tracks.

 

Their rivalry heats up with the arrival of Amy (a self-conscious Jessica Simpson), the sweet new cashier who has a bit of a reputation for sleeping with employees of the month.

 

But even as Zack looks as if he just might have what it takes to see his picture hanging on the staff lounge wall of fame, he is forced to consider what effect his take-no-prisoners behavior is starting to have on those who used to watch his back.

 

While first-time feature director Coolidge -- who receives screenplay credit along with writers Dan Calame & Chris Conroy -- tries too hard for irreverence, there's a fast and loose, lightly ad-libbed dynamic between nice guy Cook and fastidious, preening Shepard that generates genuine laughs.

 

Even better is the loopy rapport between Shepard and his dim but devoted lackey, Jorge (a.ka. Efren Ramirez, a.k.a. Pedro from "Napoleon Dynamite"), while Tim Bagley wears the short sleeves convincingly as the club store's gung-ho manager Glen Gary, who has an older brother called Glen Ross (Danny Woodburn).

 

The production was shot extensively in a barely disguised Costco in Albuquerque, N.M., with all that washed-out, bright lighting to prove it. Even though the Costco name has been thoughtfully covered up on all the shopping carts, somehow product placement allowed for the Kirkland house brand to be prominently displayed throughout the store.

 

Production values are cost-effective, though somehow one suspects all that low-cut, form-fitting wardrobe donned by Ms. Simpson wouldn't pass any store clothing policy approval -- unless, say, Hooters were to get into the warehouse game.

[Sweet tart 0]

It's funny..whenever I ask women what is it? And it's always, well...he's hot...and his comedy is something you have to "get." LOL! I guess he is the best looking comic...but geez...a cover girl comic? Is he the Anna Kournikova of Comedy?

LOL, BobbyD...I think he is becoming the Jessica Simpson of comedy

 

Funny Soho, "comedy standards" theory. I'll have to test that further, so far, I agree!

 

Hoya, I have a question for you...I'll put it over in the Jon Stewart thread.

[fykeylicious 1,099]

Dane Cook: Fett Lives

October 06, 2006

 

Bringing Up Boba

 

Even though comedian and actor Dane Cook may be enjoying the spotlight as one of the hottest and hardest-working entertainers today, he still can't help but wish he was a mysterious bounty hunter equipped with a jetpack.

"Boba Fett was always my favorite," Cook says. "The whole mystery of Boba made him so appealing. He's just so cool. You wanted to be in that outfit and have all those gadgets with the jetpack. After Return of the Jedi there was a long time where I would not admit he was dead. In my mind, when he went into the Sarlacc pit he fixed his jetpack and flew out 10 minutes later and we just didn't see it. It was like having to admit Santa didn't exist."

 

Eventually, Cook got over Fett's apparent demise, but he still hopes that one day his adult back story could be given proper attention to satisfy fellow Fett fanatics. "I always wished Boba Fett would have his own spin-off film that was just about him," Cook says. "It would be great to have him escape the pit and then we could follow him on his adventures on the Slave I. Boba is so wonderful because there was so little known about him, with his mask always on and his battered uniform and the Wookiee pelts. What has this guy done? What's his story? Is he a vicious killer? Is he a Jack of all trades? If you know anything now it's from books and comics, but the movies themselves don't reveal much about Boba."

 

Fett isn't the only character that fascinates Cook. "I've always identified most with Han Solo," Cook says. "As a kid, I had the blaster with the buttons on the side that made the sound effects and all that. I would get home from school and put on my brother's vest and my blaster belt. For a long time when I was really young, I thought I was Han Solo. I would sit around and wonder what Han Solo was doing that day and if he was doing a Kessel Run at that moment. I really believed these characters did exist somewhere in the galaxy."

 

Cook's appreciation for intergalactic smugglers and bounty hunters stemmed from seeing A New Hope as a small child with his dad. "I remember that I never sat down the whole movie. I held on to the back of the chair in front of me for most of the movie and just kept looking back at my dad in awe," Cook recalls. "I was just instantly transported to that place. Then I went home and at night before bed I would stare through my window and look up at the sky and see the stars and swore I could see TIE fighters floating around."

 

"Growing up, we had a pool table in our basement and I had all my Star Wars stuff set up like it was an entire planet," Cook continues. "I would come home from school and check up on all the characters. I used to mix in the G.I. Joe guys and Transformers in there too. An Amazon Barbie chick would visit the planet once in a while. I'd have a random Battlestar Galactica character that always had to die in my fantasies within 10 minutes and I had to bury him in my backyard."

 

"It's the first thing in my life that I remember that made me feel like I wanted to create and that I wanted to be a part of something like that," Cook says. "I truly believe that it's one of the few pieces that set me on my way in the entertainment industry in wanting to be a creative person that did something to transport people to another place. It really was one of the major contributors to my career."

 

Heckled by an Ugnaught

 

For 16 years, Cook has entertained comedy club audiences with his relatable humor and pop culture-saturated anecdotes, eventually gaining momentum of one of the hottest American comedians today. Starting his career as a young comic in 1990, by 1995 Cook found himself in front of a laughing audience nightly in Boston clubs and later at his Los Angeles home base of The Laugh Factory.

Even with a loyal audience, Cook decided he needed to ramp up his career by getting the word out via the Internet. Cashing in his savings to create the interactive website DaneCook.com, as well as making his mark on MySpace, Cook stayed personally connected to his fans using blogs and video diaries. He also used the sites to notify fans of his upcoming record releases which have in the past skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard charts. His sold-out tours can be seen on Comedy Central as well as on HBO in his shows "Tourgasm" and "Vicious Circle." In the last year, Cook could be spotted on "The Tonight Show," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "MTV Movie Awards," and "Saturday Night Live" which he hosted twice.

 

The appeal of Cook's comedy isn't in sight gags or the usual comments on current events. Audiences catching any of his comedy shows are often treated to an onslaught of relatable pop culture references which include retro cartoons, commercials and cult classic films. Some of his favorite films he likes to use include the Star Wars saga -- often referring to his unfinished apartment as the Death Star or his trashed bedroom as the Sarlacc pit.

 

"I like to give a nod to Star Wars in my act with silly metaphors or whatever I can throw in there, but it's usually never planned; my brain will just go there," Cook explains. "I remember one night I was being heckled by this haggard girl who was really, really drunk and completely out of it. She looked like a pirate's wife. And she was relentlessly insulting me and it got to the point where it wasn't funny anymore. So I finally looked down and I said, 'You look like an Ugnaught!' And maybe 20 people in the audience got it -- but those 20 people lit up when I said that and probably thought 'Oooh, it's so true!' It's that same small number of us fans that know that IG-88 almost destroyed the Death Star himself. The best thing about Star Wars references is that they work pretty much anywhere. People all over the world know what the Death Star is or what an Ugnaught might look like."

 

"These pop culture references make us who we are and what we can relate to as a generation," Cook continues. "For me, this is the environment that I grew up in and this is my truth and these are my experiences. For example, that act about the Kool-Aid mascot is real. When I was a kid I was terrified of the Kool-Aid guy thinking a giant pitcher of fruit punch would come busting through my wall at any moment. I took television so seriously at that age and thought these people and characters really existed. In fact, my dad is a huge practical joker and he would come in to my room and tell me that he just drove by a house down the street that a big pitcher-shaped hole in it. And I would be horrified."

 

In addition to his successful career as a comedian, he also caught the acting bug, starring in the short-lived ABC series "Maybe This Time" and the Comedy Central puppet prank show "Crank Yankers," as well as guest spots on "Suddenly Susan" and "The Man Show." His film credits include Buddy, Mystery Men, Simon Sez, Stuck on You, Torque, Mr. 3000, Waiting and London.

 

Wooing with Star Wars Facts

 

Most recently, Cook stars in his first leading role as a slacker warehouse superstore worker in Employee of the Month alongside Dax Shepard and Jessica Simpson. He also just wrapped production on the romantic comedy Good Luck, Chuck with Jessica Alba, in which he found himself showing his Star Wars pride on the set.

"For the film I shot around 25 moments for a montage that happens between my character and Jessica Alba who I'm courting in the film," Cook says. "In the shots we spend a lot of time talking to each other on the phone in the movie. It's a lot of laughing and us reacting to each other. So you're going to see me for a series of shots talking but you're not going to hear what I'm saying because of the music. Every time they rolled camera, the director Mark Helfrich would be like, 'Okay, Dane I need you to just laugh a little bit and be touched by what she's saying but just be talking about something.'"

 

"So whether I was making pancakes or brushing my teeth in the montage shot, you won't know it watching in the audience, but I'm totally just saying fun facts about Star Wars," Cook laughs. "I'm driving and smiling and it looks like I'm flirting with Jessica, but I'm really talking about Jawas and how they live on Tatooine. In every single shot I'm going on and on about Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, or R2-D2 or Luke. Hopefully on the DVD release of the film, for the extras we'll pull the montage music off and play in order all the montage moments when I was talking about Star Wars. It'll be funny to see me fixing my hair in the mirror as I'm getting ready for my date with Jessica's character and I'm telling the mirror, 'Force is strong with this one.' And no one has any clue I'm completely geeking out."

 

Playing Six Degrees of Separation between Jessica Alba and Darth Vader isn't too difficult for Cook, considering that his co-star had recently finished shooting another film called Awake with Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen. "When you're shooting those montage scenes, you're not physically there together, so I called her later and let her know that I was talking about Star Wars for nine hours in those scenes and she got a real kick out of it," Cook smiles.

 

Wooing women with Star Wars seems to be working for Cook. After years of keeping his appreciation for the saga in the proverbial geek closet, he's happy to admit he finally found someone who appreciates his fondness for droids, Jedi and Sith Lords. "My girlfriend and I watched the special edition DVD box set just a few months ago," Cook says. "And I have to say, it's so fantastic in this point of my life to finally meet a girl who shares my love of Star Wars."

 

"Too tell you the truth, I'm excited to see the unaltered films on DVD," Cook says. "I want to see that Han Solo - Greedo moment in its purest form. And to see the cantina scene for what it originally was. For me, growing up with those originals made a profound impact on me. Like the first time I heard Guns 'N Roses' Appetite for Destruction . You'll always remember that first time you played it. People can cover it, remix it, mash it up or whatever, but it's always the original that brings back the fondest memories. So I will definitely be partaking in the original, unaltered Star Wars films."

 

Considering all the scenes to choose from, when asked about his favorite moment in the saga, Cook is all about the Wookiee. "The scene where they're all on Cloud City and Lando is being a Benedict Arnold as he walks into the room where Vader is waiting to ambush them. That moment where Chewbacca just screams in frustration and shock -- it's the most primal Chewie moment. You don't understand what Chewbacca is saying but you feel it -- which is a true testament to good character building. You don't know what he's saying but you're invested."

 

"I also love the moment with the Emperor at the end of Return of the Jedi when he and Luke are going toe to toe and he wants him to join the dark side," Cook adds. "Luke throws that lightsaber and says 'I'll never join you. I'm a Jedi like my father before me.' It's this unbelievable full circle moment when the Emperor actually calls him a Jedi with this tone of disgust. I'm definitely a fan to the bone, if you can tell."

 

Dark Side Sarcasm

 

Even as a diehard fan, Cook says he still has a few unanswered questions about the saga that he wishes he could finally put to rest. "I always thought C-3PO had more smarts than he let on," Cook says. "There's a moment in A New Hope where he is trying to tell Luke basically what happened but he stops short and apologizes for not being a very good storyteller. However, on Endor he's telling this amazing story to the Ewoks using sound effects and he's a perfect storyteller. So I almost thought something else was going on with him and it would be revealed later, or maybe it was just an oversight. Was C-3PO just being humble or was he lying about being a bad storyteller so he didn't tell Luke everything right away for a more sinister reason? But that never got resolved for me."

Devious droids aside, Cook does offer his expert insight on one question that fans may debate until the shaaks come home. Who is the funniest character in the saga? "I know Ben Kenobi wasn't ha-ha laugh-out-loud funny but there are a couple little moments where he shows a subtle sense of humor," Cook explains. "When he's on Tatooine and he's saying, 'These aren't the droids you're looking for;' maybe it's in the banter between himself and that stormtrooper at the landspeeder, but you do get the sense that Ben is being a little showy. Of course, later Ewan McGregor's dry sarcastic tone as a younger Obi-Wan adds to the character in the prequels."

 

"Darth Vader did have that über-dark side sarcasm," Cook continues. "He'd be choking you and then all of a sudden he'd drop you and say something that implied, 'As you can see I'm not in a good mood.' Artoo and Threepio had great comedic moments as well. They were a classic comedy team like Laurel and Hardy; and it worked."

 

As Cook continues to star in films and keep audiences laughing in his tours and TV appearances, he can't help but thank the Master for keeping him inspired. "There are a few key moments in my young adult life that made me a believer that you can create a world that people will want to visit. That's true of stand-up comedy, music, plays, and movies. And there's very few moments in my life where I can say this is really something that transported me to another place in my mind unlocking creativity. It really had a big impact on my life. If I could ever meet and shake the hand of one person in the world it would be George Lucas."

 

Be sure to check Cook out in the film Employee of the Month in theaters everywhere Oct. 6.

 

source

[BobbyD 2]

Scorsese Oscar Contender 'Departed' #1;

Jessica Simpson/Dane Cook Disappoint

SATURDAY: Going into this weekend, Warner Bros. was opening wide (3,017 theaters) with Marty Scorsese's The Departed. It's the best-reviewed Scorsese movie since his Goodfellas, which Warner's also released back in 1990. Not only was The Departed expected to be the #1 movie this weekend, but it's also a top Oscar-touted contender already -- perhaps finally winning Scorsese the Best Director award which has long eluded him. But Warner Bros.'s 2006 bad luck is still alive and well. Turns out The Departed opened not quite as strong as predicted -- $8.5 million on Friday for what should be a $26 million weekend -- due to its "R" rating and 2 1/2-hour running time. Still, the numbers were Scorcese's biggest, which wasn't hard. ($10.2 million for his Cape Fear). Another "R"-rated movie opening this weekend, New Line's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was #2 in 2,820 theaters, debuted with $7.3 mil on Friday for could be a $19 mil weekend, far less than TCM1's $28 mil. Sony's kiddie fare holdover, Open Season, grabbed #3 by adding $3.9 mil Friday and possibly $18 mil to its cume, beating Lionsgate's critically panned comedy Employee of the Month in 2,579 theaters. The numbers, $4 mil on Friday for what should be a $15 mil weekend, show that Jessica Simpson still can't make the jump from music to movies, and HBO phenom Dane Cook can't draw his college campus crowds. Disney holdover The Guardian was #5, down 50% with an additional $2.9 mil on Friday for what could be $9 mil added to its cume. Meanwhile, two other Oscar-touted contenders being platformed logged superb per-screen averages: Miramax's The Queen starring Helen Mirren playing in 11 theaters with $34,428, and New Line's Little Children, playing in 5 theaters, with $21,090.

[BobbyD 2]

Scorsese's 'Departed' Nets $27M in Debut

 

Martin Scorsese's mob saga "The Departed" debuted as the weekend's top movie with $27 million, muscling out the horror prequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning."

 

It was a record opening for Scorsese, whose previous best was $10.3 million with 1991's "Cape Fear." Scorsese's films usually debut in narrower release and gradually roll out to more theaters, but Warner Bros. decided to launch "The Departed" in wide release of 3,017 cinemas.

 

"I think the cast was the deciding factor and the playability of the movie," Warner distribution chief Dan Fellman said of the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in a blood-soaked epic about moles infiltrating the Boston police and a crime gang.

 

"We had a special film here. We had the cast to drive it that way, and it worked out well," Fellman said.

 

New Line Cinema's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prequel, examining the roots of maniac killer Leatherface and his cannibalistic family, pulled in $19.15 million in its first weekend. The movie had a $16 million production budget.

 

The previous weekend's top film, Sony's animated comedy "Open Season," fell to No. 3 with $16 million, raising its 10-day total to $44.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

 

The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's workplace comedy "Employee of the Month" with Jessica Simpson, Dane Cook and Dax Shepard, debuted in fourth place with $11.8 million.

 

The top-12 movies took in $102 million, up 16 percent from the same weekend last year. Overall movie attendance is up 3 percent over 2005.

 

Two films debuted strongly in limited release. New Line's suburban drama "Little Children" opened with $108,400 in five New York City and Los Angeles theaters.

 

Directed by Todd Field ("In the Bedroom"), "Little Children" features Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Wilson in a satiric look at the dark secrets underlying a neighborhood's complacent exterior. The film expands to nationwide release by early November.

 

ThinkFilm's sexual romp "Shortbus," directed by John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch"), opened with $120,650 at six theaters in five cities.

 

The unrated film features a cast of unknowns engaging in real sex as characters work out their sexual and emotional hang-ups at a bohemian salon in New York City. "Shortbus" expands to 10 more cities this weekend.

 

"This is what the fall movie season is supposed to be all about, with a tremendous variety of films and genres," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

 

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

[BobbyD 2]

Is Dane Cook actually funny?

Other comedians seem to hate this overnight success

 

NEW YORK - Dane Cook’s rise to the pinnacle of standup comedy is undeniable.

 

HBO has handed him the all-important one-man show, plus the “Tourgasm” series. He has sold out stadium shows that harken back to the ‘70s, when giants like Steve Martin and Richard Pryor roamed arenas. His albums rank with music stars on the sales charts, he’s hosted “Saturday Night Live” multiple times, he was the leading man in the recent film “Employee of the Month.”

 

But is he funny?

 

That might sound like an absurd question for the biggest name in standup — and surely a subjective one. But a number of comics and critics are wondering if Cook might be more of an energetic talent and savvy self-promoter than any kind of comedy great.

 

“Everyone kills this guy,” says Jim Breuer, a standup veteran and former “SNL” cast member who hosts a Sirius Satellite Radio show that often includes comedians as guests. “Not one comedian comes on [my show] and says ‘I’m so happy for him,’ which is weird. ... They can’t stand this poor guy.”

 

Breuer acknowledges Cook is a “tremendous performer,” but says a lot of comedians “are upset because they really feel this guy has snatched a lot of material” — the ultimate sin among comics.

 

Cook has been particularly hounded by accusations that some of his material on his second album, “Retaliation,” which debuted last year at No. 4 on the Billboard pop chart, bears similarities to earlier jokes by Louis CK. Cook has denied any plagiarism.

 

Cook generally brushes aside criticism or even welcomes it by soliciting feedback from his fans and altering his material accordingly. Still, the backlash appears to be mounting, with recent slams from Rolling Stone, Slate.com and Salon.com, and a spoof of Cook by the Fox sketch comedy show “Mad TV.”

 

In July, Cook performed a guest spot at the Rhode Island comedy club Yuk Yuk’s, where he was to perform a 20 to 30 minute set before headliner Peter Kelamis. Cook continued past his allotted time despite repeated signals to finish the act and eventually had to be cut off.

 

Cook wanting to extend his set wasn’t remarkable, but the biting criticism from Kelamis was. He later called it “the most arrogant thing that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

MySpace-fueled fame

 

The Internet-fueled rise of the Boston-bred, 34-year-old comedian is a well-known part of his identity. In 2002, Cook spent his $25,000 savings to build a robust Web site, DaneCook.com — an avenue few if any comics then considered. He also set up a MySpace.com page, where he now has over 1.5 million friends.

 

“I got my balls busted for a long time when I first started the Web site,” Cook recently told The Associated Press. “Those same comics that were busting on me were coming back to me five years later and asking ‘Hey, how do I set up a MySpace?”’

 

Stephen Rosenfield, director of the American Comedy Institute, says Cook’s influence on standup is “in selling, as opposed to an artistic impact.”

 

“He’s been able to make it without going through the same process that a lot of comics go through, in terms of using the clubs and working their material out that way,” says Rosenfield. But, he adds, Cook is “kind of like Perrier water. It’s brilliantly bottled, but it’s still seltzer.”

 

Cook will sign every last autograph after a show and treats his fans with gracious, even unprecedented respect. This is an essential quality in Cook: earnestness. In the liner notes to “Retaliation,” he thanks his parents: “Mom — I’m right where you always told me I’d be. Dad — I’m proud to be your son.”

 

The badge of honor among his fans is flashing the “SuFi,” or “Superfinger,” a hand gesture Cook invented because (as he said in a famous bit) the regular middle finger had lost its impact as an insult. On Cook’s MySpace page, there are hundreds of photos of fans with their middle two fingers extended.

 

This solidarity goes against everything typical of comedy, which generally tries to provoke, criticize, subvert and unsettle — revealing absurd and sometimes frightening truths. Cook’s material — like his fondness for Burger King, watermelon-flavored Jolly Rancher candies, guilt after cheating on a girlfriend — are predicated on their commonness.

 

Cook does possess a superior talent for sound effects, which greatly enhance his observations and storytelling. He can deftly impersonate the machine guns in the film “Heat,” the creaking sound of a secret passageway opening or the tumble of laundry in the dryer. In one routine, he gives lyrics to a car alarm.

 

Inspired by Johnny Carson

A sometimes overlooked quality in Cook is his boundless energy — even if you’re not laughing, he’s a very watchable presence with over-the-top facial gestures and stressed enunciation. The always self-aware Cook describes how watching one of his idols, Johnny Carson, influenced his approach.

 

“I wouldn’t sit there and say I understood a lot of the jokes when I was a little kid, but I just loved Johnny,” Cook says. “There’s just those certain people that give off an energy. As Redd Foxx once said, ‘If you know what makes you likable, anything can be funny.”’

 

For some, energy and friendliness aren’t enough.

 

“Where are the ... jokes?” wrote Rolling Stone. “How can any comedian get this famous with no jokes?”

 

That isn’t a criticism the most recent standup stars — Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld — ever received. Some might say Seinfeld’s observational schtick became predictable, or others might be rubbed the wrong way by Chappelle or Rock’s racial content — but few could question their ability to tell jokes. Like it or not, they have material all their own.

 

Often performing for collegiate audiences, Cook’s appeal is generational. His fan base — the “Dane Train” — skews toward the youthful MySpace set, and he’s careful to insert a hip sensibility to his act.

 

“When I describe my act, I always tell people ‘If you like your iPod Shuffle on ‘random,’ then you’ll like me,” Cook says, using the correct MP3 player of choice to describe his standup style.

 

And right now, with roles in four upcoming films and two shows Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Dane Train is full steam ahead.

 

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Sweet tart 0]

Cook is “kind of like Perrier water. It’s brilliantly bottled,

 

ITA. Maybe he hasn't found his niche yet. He might be the perfect cameo guy or character actor, not the lead. I like him in well-written SNL skits and he was a bright spot in the abysmal Waiting, (aside from Ryan Reynold's abs). He deserves some credit...maybe not for his choice of movie roles lately. Hello! Jessica Simpson as a co-star? Maybe House of Wax would have been a better choice.

[mf'smom 0]

I cannot find anything about this guy that is even remotely funny or in any way interesting. I was at a movie with my 15-year-old daughter last night and the previews had a closed circult performance by Dane Cook coming up on some specific date. She says to me I want to go to that SO bad...he is SO funny. I was watching the preview and NOTHING in it was remotely interesting or funny to me.

 

Here's his hook: He has figured out how to make himself cool to High School and College kids. They all LOVE him. I asked my daughter later why he is so funny and she had some sketch from him on her I-Pod. I listened to it literally straight faced. Didn't laugh once. She says to me, Mom, that was SO funny, weren't you listening? I was and it wasn't funny.

 

Maybe he's like the Emperor with no clothes to these kids. He's supposed to be funny, so he is?

 

Dane, bilk it while you can. VERY VERY soon, you'll be spoiled milk.

[leaivory 2]

Mr. Fugs

 

 

DANE: Hi, guys! Hi! It's me! Hi!

 

KEVIN: Sigh. Looks like you owe me $10, Demi.

 

DEMI: Wait, I thought you owed ME -- wasn't I betting you that he'd show up looking kind of greasy and smarmy, like normal?

 

KEVIN: I thought that's what I bet you.

 

DANE: But it's not normal me! Today I'm classy! See? I have artificial hair grease and a striped suit and I had my manager sew a stick in the back of it so I'd have good posture.

 

DEMI: Huh. Somehow it's still smarmy and oily. You still look a bit like you need a good smack upside the head, preferably with a copy of the Employee of the Month DVD. Except that no one would be caught dead holding one.

 

KEVIN: Oh, man, I had to watch that on an airplane and I wanted to strangle you.

 

DANE: Dude, what? I'm ALL CHARISMA. I'm a RAKE! I'm a charming rapscallion!

 

KEVIN: You're no Ashton. That guy's a star. Did you see The Guardian? Oscar-quality, man. He was robbed.

 

DEMI: You don't need to kiss his ass, Kevin.

 

KEVIN: Well, he's going to be mad at me when I can no longer stop myself from staring at your thigh, which I am pretty sure I can see almost all of, because your skirt's kinda sheer. So I have to ingratiate myself.

 

DEMI: Yeah. I do look kind of hot, I have to say.

 

DANE: Wait, pay attention to me! I got all dressed up and adult for this! I'm a SERIOUS ACTOR now. In a SUIT. Does this mean nothing to you?

 

KEVIN: Chill out, kid. Talk to me when you're my age and you can pull off a suit jacket, jeans, boots, a major man-tan, bleached hair, and a soul patch.

 

DEMI: Let's not get too confident, Kevin. You're not pulling off the soul patch.

 

DANE: It looks like a rash, mofo! It reminds me of when I worked at BURGER KING, the BK Lounge, bitches, and I...

 

KEVIN: Oh, cram it, kid, your douchebag is showing. No one cares any more.

 

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yo...03/mr_fugs.html

[mf'smom 0]

My daughter MF and I have a serious disagreement about this loser. She loves him and I cannot understand why in the world he is famous. HE IS NOT FUNNY.

[leaivory 2]

Jessica Simpson Enjoying Some Rebound Nookie with Dane Cook?

Filed under: Dane Cook , Jessica Simpson

 

 

After dropping about 20 pounds in a post-break-up diet, Jessica Simpson has been using her svelte new figure to attract the attention of her ex-flame, Dane Cook. The two met up at a Prince concert at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles over the weekend. Spies reported to Life & Style magazine that the two former co-stars on the film, "Employee of the Month," were behaving very affectionately toward one another.

"They were laughing, joking and hanging out. They practically spent all night together, dancing and touching each other."

They sat next to one another on a couch and maintained a conversation throughout the concert. Now, I didn't used to be a Dane Cook fan, until he stopped by the blogger's room to chat with us lowly bloggers at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards and was very congenial and friendly. His caomedy seems a bit exhausting, but at least he's not John Mayer, who strikes me as a guy who looks like a zombie and thinks he and his guitar are God's gift to women.

 

Posted by: Lisa Timmons

http://socialitelife.com/2007/07/05/jessic...h_dane_cook.php

[hedda_louella 1]

My daughter MF and I have a serious disagreement about this loser. She loves him and I cannot understand why in the world he is famous. HE IS NOT FUNNY.

It must be a kid thing. I kept hearing about the comedian bangin' Chestica so I tried to watch some special he had on HBO (or wherever). I'm with you - he is definitely not funny. I didn't laugh at all, not once. Eventually I gave up and just turned it off. Kids aren't stupid, why do they think he's funny?

[branchop 319]

Ya'll are preachin to the choir!! (two guesses where in the US I'm from )

 

I thought to myself - "He got an HBO special? WHY??" Maybe (sigh) we are old and don't get the references. I like to think we have better taste

[BobbyD 2]

He's a good looking comic so he has sex appeal...and he's LOUD. My generation grew up on George Carlin, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy...not a lineup of sexy men....you also don't really hear women saying that they would love a piece of the Seinfeld either.

[Hoyaheel 1,875]

I've heard a couple of his bits on the XM comedy channel, and didn't think he was terrible (not as bad as I think some people they play are) but I don't get his mass market appeal either......

 

I'm not really seeing the sex appeal there either. For sexy comics, give me Dennis Miller back in 1988, when he was the only reason I watched SNL and before he got so mean

[BobbyD 2]

Big fame, little talent

These folks are all famous, but do they have the chops to back it up?

 

COMMENTARY

By Alonso Duralde

MSNBC film critic

 

Dane Cook is starring in a new movie. Again. Not letting the fact that he’s not the slightest bit funny get in the way of his career as a comedian, Cook moved on to stinking up multiplexes across the nation with “Employee of the Month” and “Mr. Brooks,” and now he’s back with “Good Luck Chuck” and, before year’s end, “Dan in Real Life.” If you’ve ever watched Cook do stand-up or host “Saturday Night Live,” it’s apparent that his only real talent is in accruing MySpace friends and stating the obvious while making goofy faces.

 

And yet, somehow, he’s a movie star. But it shouldn’t really be all that surprising. The history of show business is littered with people who achieve the heights of fame without having any real talent whatsoever. (As you read this, Fergie’s album has jumped back into the Top 10.) To find out which celebs least deserve to have magazine covers and their own fragrances, a group of industry insiders, journalists and bloggers were asked to name the least talented famous people. (And since some of them would like to work in this town again, they have been assured anonymity.)

 

Oh, and one thing to clear up: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were disqualified, since neither of them really do anything.

 

 

Jessica Alba/Jessica Biel/Jessica Simpson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thank goodness for talented “Arrested Development” co-star Jessica Walter, or the passing of Jessica Tandy might make one think there’s some kind of curse on the name. Alba “made a career out of looking hot in bellyshirts,” sniffs P., a model. “Is she hot? Yes. Is she talented beyond that? No.”

 

B., a critic and writer, notes that “Biel was interesting for five minutes when she was posing for lad mags and being all, ‘I was on ‘7th Heaven,’ but now I’m naughty!’ But her performance in ‘I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry’ made me want to put popcorn in my ears.”

 

And then there’s Simpson, whose career highlight was cutely mistaking tuna for chicken. “She is a double threat in that she can neither sing nor act, yet insists on doing both,” according to blogger R.

 

 

Adrian Grenier

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Consensus indicates that the “Entourage” star is the luckiest little boy in Tinseltown, with phrases like “must have a powerful agent” and “won the lottery” popping up more than once. “All he has to offer is good eyes,” says filmmaker Z.

 

“If it weren’t for a strong, funny and engaging supporting cast,” declares author H., “Adrian would be flipping burgers and filling napkin dispensers.”

 

Blogger J. has a problem with Grenier’s role as a hot, rising movie star on the HBO show: “I can’t imagine him carrying all those films his character gets cast in.”

 

Also having a hard time making that leap is actor T., who observes, “I saw him from behind at the gym once, and I thought he was a chick. I’m no sci-fi nut, but that’s not Aquaman.”

 

Elton John

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Granted, he’s not an actor, but he’s always been the most theatrical of musicians. And his contributions to so many Disney cartoons made him a top vote-getter among those surveyed. “Elton John’s been pumping out the dreck for decades now,” says L., a freelancer and mom who, like all parents, has had to listen to the “Lion King” score more than any human should. “He was better in the ’70s as a drugged-up, frustrated, closeted dude when Bernie Taupin was writing his stuff.”

 

Model P. isn’t even particularly fond of Sir Elton’s golden years, noting, “Elton John made his career on the creative ideas of others. He was fake glam, ripping off all his ideas from early Roxy Music and Bowie, but watered down to appeal to the U.S. market. And he’s got an annoying voice. Later, he sold out and went the Disney ballads route. Not completely untalented at it, but certainly cheesy in a bad way which is unforgivable, especially from someone who originally claimed to be arty and avant-garde.”

 

 

Nicole Kidman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

While this writer is a fan of the Australian actress — particularly in lesser-seen films like “Birth” — her name came up with some frequency. “Why is she the new grande-dame of American cinema?” asks writer and editor M. “How in the world did she win an Oscar for her execrable portrayal of Virginia Woolf (in ‘The Hours’)? The only acting that went on by Kidman was with her furrowed brow and her pasted-on nose. Did anyone believe she was actually a writer? By the end of that film, I wanted to put stones in my pocket and walk into the River Ouse.”

 

“She’s the Madonna of the acting world,” says L., a movie buff and writer. “She’s good at surrounding herself with the right people.”

 

Carlos Mencia

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A top vote-getter — and often paired with the aforementioned Dane Cook — Mencia drew contempt from the survey group for not only being an infamous joke-stealer but also for doing so little with the stolen goods. “Mencia subscribes to the ‘if I scream, it’s funnier’ school,” says actor T., “much like those people in the ‘American Idol’ auditions who think they’re great singers as long as they’re really, really loud.”

 

Other raves included “the Latino Tom Green,” “a second-rate Dave Chappelle” and “not smart enough to steal the good jokes.”

 

John Travolta

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

While everyone agrees he started out great — “he had a hunger back then which was, apparently, actual hunger,” notes one respondent — it’s been a while since the artist formerly known as Tony Manero delivered on his early promise. “Travolta was just awful in ‘Hairspray,’” says M., “which means he’ll probably get an Oscar nomination for the role. He looked frightening, his accent was bizarre, and he couldn’t pull an ounce of emotion from the part. I did like his little dance, but that didn’t make up for the rest of the time I was forced to watch his Mrs. Potato Head face.”

 

Renee Zellweger

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

She may have an Oscar, but the “Chicago” star’s facial tics are rubbing lots of moviegoers the wrong way. “If by talent you mean ‘good at making a lip-pursy sourpuss face with annoying squinty eyes regardless of the situation,’ then yeah, she’s brilliant,” rants music producer L.F. “The only place it really worked was ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary,’ but even then it only worked because the character was already a royal pain.”

 

Filmmaker Z. tempers his qualms about the actress: “To be fair, I like her in character roles, and to her credit, she seeks them out. But as a romantic lead, she’s too much like My First Applehead Doll making out with a hot young dude.”

 

Or as U., a blogger and critic notes, “Chipmunk is the new black.”