I never really had a problem with Dane Cook as much as I thought his first CD was great and that everything he's put out since has barely elicited a laugh. I can't remember who said it, but it's hard to have regular people relate to your material when your job is making out with Jessica Alba and making millions of dollars.
-Henrik
I don't think Dane came off badly. The only uncomfortable moment it seemed like was when he took Marc being excited to talk about the stealing my essence line as a slam. As a person whose listened to all the WTF's, I know thats something Marc has said a lot about people stealing not the jokes but the soul of a thing, and I also know that Marc likes to take moments like that to get poetic. But its not crazy to see the ramp up that Marc was making to the wizard stuff, as a ramp up to a slam rather than a funny image that includes rather than mocks Dane.
As for the interview, it seems like Dane came with an agenda and to me at least he was somewhat successful in it. My reaction was, he's a comedian who does something and even if it doesn't appeal to me, its a thing and the shit he's taken doesn't relate to him really, its about a cultural trend that he seemed like a symbol of for a couple years. So I didn't come out liking him or anything, but I felt like he came off as a human, way closer to how Robin Williams came off rather than the pathological way that Mencia came off.
I will stand behind everything I said in the What's So Funny interview. I actually wish I would have had it during the Dane session. Because I couldn't really put my finger on why I was so stand off-ish and snotty and all the reasons are right there in that interview with Guy and Janeane. I spend a lot of time in relationship to my guest now. I am engaged in the conversation with them. I don't always have what I am thinking at my minds fingertips because I am listening.Originally Posted by Canadian Content
It is all right there though. Thanks for posting Canadian Content. It was great to refresh my memory AND I really don't have anything against Dane personally. I do despise what he represents.
I have a question. And I'm not trying to trip up DC or anything. I'm honestly curious because to me it was a glaring question but I didn't hear it addressed on the podcast or on this board. And DC talked about this same thing on Greg F's podcast too and it got washed over as well.
DC said emphatically and repeatedly that Steve Martin is/was his favorite comedian and that Steve was a huge inspiration.
When the controversy over possibly having stolen LCK's "naming your kid something weird" bit came up DC pointed out that it's ACTUALLY a Steve Martin bit. Marc made a joke but then it didn't get resolved.
So I get DC's point. He's saying that he was accused of stealing from LCK but he believes it was just parallel thinking. And he further says that he didn't go and accuse LCK of stealing the bit from Steve Martin - even though it was a Steve Martin bit.
BUT - how do I rectify the fact that DC said Steve was his favorite comic? So is he saying that he took Steve's premise and built on it blatantly? Or is he saying he happened to never hear that Steve bit? Or is he saying he maybe heard it but forgot? What's the answer - in your humble opinions?
To me it sounds like a bumbling robber who in defense of himself actually reveals that he did commit a crime but not in the way that WE thought....you know?
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I'm woefully behind on this podcast - just finished the Robin "RV" Williams episode - but to me that sounds like defense lawyer-talk. "Your honor, my client didn't kill the victim - but if he did, it was an accident."
It makes me think of some of the arguments you can get in online, where someone says something that misses the point so drastically - intentionally or not - that you just have to gloss over it (or in my case, completely disengage) because you feel like you'll sound like an asshole for forcing the issue or you know that if someone is willing to be so disingenuous that it's not worth pursuing.
Sorry if not listening to this has made me offer a completely useless opinion.
Aene-I get what you're getting at but it just leaves me with how I already feel.
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I think he stole the joke in some way from Steve. Years later, to his surprise, he was being accused of stealing from Louis. So now anytime someone brings it up Steve becomes a distraction and a convenient out.
Whether that's true or not I don't know. I'm only familiar with the Louis version (his half hour was just on today actually) of the joke so I don't even know if the accusations are legitimate but I am very familiar with the tactics of a liar having used all of them in some capacity for fifteen years until I got sober.
Great...I just wasted all this time thinking about Dane Cook and in the process missed Louis's new show.
Last edited by Opiyum; June 29, 2010 at 8:50 PM.
While I loved the Cook episode I also kinda wished it had more of the drama and cliffhangery nature of the Mencia episodes...
I think I may be part of the problem
edit:
re: the stealing stuff. What did you guys think of the argument he makes about his vast amount of material vs. 3-4 concepts that he may have lifted?
BP is using that defense now. It's only one well of thousands after all.
I think he heard it, loved it as a kid and forgot it. I haven't listened to much of Steve Martin's standup, but I remember the thread on this board when that audio clip of Louis and Dane came out, how long that thread was and how many people commented on it. It took at least a year before anyone mentioned that it was originally Steve Martin's bit.
It seems like every comic Dane's age revered Steve Martin as a kid, but I think the standup part was a smaller part of that love than the SNL and The Jerk part and maybe not as lasting a part. I could be wrong, but that's what it seems like.
I really thought he meant he found out about Martin's joke after the fact. Which I could believe he (and Louis?) "absorbed" as Robin WIlliams might say.
My honest reaction after watching the comparison of DC and LCK's jokes was that it probably was parts coincidence, parts "absorption" and it really wasn't a big deal. I can't find an example, but it's probable I've heard similar parallels between other comedians like David Cross Mormonism rant VS South Park's take. I draw the line at concepts and really deserve my outrage to word for word thefts like Mencia's.
Also Louis has since written a lot of more and better material, Dane Cook has done stuff too.
I got the same vibe, that he worshipped Steve Martin's fame and got his comedy only on the most superficial level.but I think the standup part was a smaller part of that love than the SNL and The Jerk part and maybe not as lasting a part
that says it all doesn't it? dane maybe didn't steal anything else but he didn't do anything all that great either.
I just liked that Dane Cook put "the" or "your" in front of - and pluralized - every comic's name he mentioned. Never knew there were so many Patrice O'Neals and Bobby Kellys.
I enjoyed the bit where Marc made him admit that the punchline of his joke about the guy sending him a letter was "fuck you you hypocritical fuck", when really he had forgiven him.
That moment really highlighted the difference between them I thought. Marc seemed almost confused about why he would say that if it wasn't what happened, whereas Dane was just like "I had to say a funny thing at the end!"
It's a shame that all these people that were big fans of Steve Martin weren't also influenced by him.
nathan smart!
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The interview was fantastic, and the awkward moments made it even better, moments you wont hear/see on any other media.
I didnt have an opinion about cook, besides the fact that I truly didnt like his comedy.
After listening to the interview I find it hard to understand where does all the hate come from, he is obviously not the Antichrist, and doesnt strike me as a serial joke thief (just a jokes ruiner).
What I felt is that the accusations are mainly that he is arrogant and that he wants fame, even if thats true, there tons of douches like that who dont receive the same amount of fire.
that said-
Mark, thanks!
I don't know how much of the real Dane Cook we really got to see, and there's obviously a limit to how much even the best one hour interview can really reveal about a person.
I also think that if Dane Cook since reached out to Marc and also had heard Mencia interview, he probably had at least some preparation going in. It did strike me as that several times he seemed to show that he was really concerned about his image, even when he acted like he didn't give a fuck. He mentioned how important getting a publicist was. I do think he saw the show mainly as a P.R. opportunity.
I still am not crazy about Dane's act, but he certainly came off better than Mencia did. I don't think he's a thief, I just think his comedy is very base and appeals to your frat boys and Girls Gone Wild crowd. He's not a Bad Man. And Marc has his own reputation as an Ominous Demon (which is actually a pretty funny name). Dane is clearly into his own thing and he enjoys it. So, whatever. You know?
p.s. I want to say that I thought the "racist graffiti in the men's room" bit he had years ago was really funny.
I think this episode made me realize that my main problem isn't necessarily with Dane Cook, but much more so with Dane Cook's fan base. There are millions of people who consider themselves 'comedy fans' because they love Dane Cook, and these people have in turn fueled the careers of Mencia, Jo Koy, and every other comic who now thinks that shouting=funny.
Mencia comes across as a sociopath, completely willing to throw friends and contemporaries under the bus for his own gain, whereas Cook to me came across as someone with ridiculous daddy issues, desperate to show his dead old man what a great salesman he turned out to be.
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