His sometimes vulgar comedy may be "harmful if swallowed," and he once had to apologize for a bad joke about a shooting but that was an "isolated incident." Dane Cook may be a bit 'rough around the edges' but he's still performing and is 'above it all.'
Okay, if you don't know, these are all names of comedy specials he's had over the years. I was enjoying Dane Cook well before I probably should have been allowed to watch him.
If you're up for a fun night he's coming to the New Jersey Performing Art Center on Sunday March 30 for a 7 p.m. show.
Cook grew up in Massachusetts and probably could have had an easier time of it in comedy had he been born just five years sooner.
Boston was a hotbed of comedy clubs in the '80s with comics like Steven Wright, Lenny Clarke, Paula Poundstone, and Denis Leary borne of that era. But Dane didn't first try comedy until 1990 and the age of only 18.
He worked hard though, and was one of the first comics to use a personal webpage and Myspace to generate a following.
In 2003 he put out his first comedy CD/DVD and it went platinum. Two years later his second CD went double platinum and was the first comedy album in 27 years to hit the Top 5 on Billboard charts since Steve Martin's "A Wild And Crazy Guy."
By 2005, he had his first HBO comedy special,l "Vicious Circle," which was filmed at the TD Garden in Boston, a sweet personal accomplishment for him. Many other comedy albums, specials, tours and movies would follow.
He's still going strong, some say better than ever, and still packing houses. So you'd better act fast if you want to catch his NJPAC show on March 30. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.