Dane Cook Interview

By Paula Brunelle
Photography Ash Gupta for Studio 838
Styling Katie Maco and Lindsey Steede
Grooming Stephanie Daniel

 

Paula: I was fortunate enough to see a screening of “Isolated Incident,” your upcoming stand-up special on Comedy Central. Why that choice of title?

Dane: Well, a lot of reasons. From a creative standpoint, the way we shot it. It’s one long continuous shot. Confine myself to a small stage, don’t edit, and just tell the truth. Partly because of personal things that were happening in my life leading up to it, having lost my mom and dad and becoming famous during a time when my family was crumbling in many ways, and how that affected my comedy. I think that’s why “Isolated Incident”—it represents all those things in one showingI certainly would want people to judge me by this Isolated Incident, I think this is the best that I’ve ever been. That’s my occupation first off: to move you and make you laugh. And if I can put some of my truth in there, then it’s a twofer-- healing for me, and a great show for the crowd.

P: Do you ever get nervous?

D: Rarely ever. I’ve always been a bit introverted and more nervous talking to people offstage, one on one. Then I’d step on stage-- even when I first started it was like, this is where I belong; I can be fantastical and silly and irreverent and dirty and clean—you can be anything you want. That’s why it’s so glamorous to me. The anticipation of how to better what I was doing made me more nervous than actually standing in front of people and having them be critical.

P: What’s your take on “Googling” yourself?

D: It’s a bathroom wall, you know, a lot of things are written in stick and need a scrub-down once in a while. I never want to do that again. It gets in your head and you start forming ideas around public consensus and….what is that? It’s a pie-chart that’s like an amoeba. It’s always changing.

P: What do you have planned for your upcoming “Global Thermo” comedy tour?

D: Phase 1 of the tour is U.S. and Canada, and then I’m going internationally. I’ve always wanted to travel the world—I have fans in South Africa, Australia, UK, I’ve done shows in Ireland… I’ve done a lot of stuff for the USO, I went to Iraq last year and Kuwait, and I want to do a lot more for the troops this year so I think Im going to go through Afganistan, some bases in Germany, Japan…so its was a way to do the largest comedy tour in the world, see the world, and ah, just see where people want to laugh on this planet.

P: What was it like performing for the troops?

The best. I would say it’s one of my proudest moments as a performer. My dad served in Korea and seeing my dad when I would do some of the shows for the USO-- very gratifying. So, even though I lost my father I continue to do that, both for the troops that I correspond with online and in my dads memory. I know its one of those things that made him very proud, so it means a lot to me.

P: Did your parents get to witness any of your success?

D: All of it. I met the 3 goals that I set for myself in the final year of their life: My mother got to see me at the Boston Garden show, and my dad got to come see me at Madison Square Garden, where he used to go when he was a kid and watch boxing matches. So they both really got to see a lot of the highs, and in a strange way – I don’t know if I’ve ever revealed this or said this before –their passing was a timing thing where I was kind of glad they didn’t have to see the backlash that goes with becoming famous. They wouldn’t have understood it.

The fact that they didn’t get to see the teardown is like getting to see Marilyn Monroe at her most beautiful, and that’s the image. So, I know it sounds really f**ked up but them seeing me at my happiest and at my peak, that’s kind of the best possible thing that I could’ve asked for with my folks.

P: What are your sentiments towards Dan in Real Life? For me, that was a bit of a deviation for you, in terms of character type.

D: I had done a couple of R-rated comedies, and what was great about meeting Peter Hedges, the director, was, he sat with me and he said, “I know you’re always so tenacious and aggressive and I need you to be vulnerable and not win the girl, and not win”, and I loved it. I love that somebody can see that in me and give me an opportunity. Also, my nieces and nephews can see that. They see Good Luck Chuck and they’re like, “Uncle Daaaane, your bum was out!!”

P: Do you feel like you have evolved as a comedian?

D: When people see replays of stuff that was on Comedy Central 8, 10 years ago, it was really physical, really manic, and there was a lot of...boundless energy you could say, and a lot of people were at me going, ‘dude you must do so much blow! You must be coked out of your brains!’ --Which, always made me laugh because yes, I definitely was insane in those earlier specials but, I’ve never done a drug in my life, I’ve never had a drink in my life. It’s all about new perspective; I call this special my metamorphosis.

Be sure to catch Dane’s latest stand-up special, “Isolated Incident”, premiering Monday May 17^th on Comedy Central. His Isolated Incident Global Thermo Comedy Tour comes to The Staples Center on Saturday, May 30^th

 

 

 

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Stylists: Katie Maco and Lindsey Steede

Artist by Timothy Priano