the comic's comic

Dane Cook launches new iPhone/iTouch comedy app

I zinged Dane Cook recently for being late to the Twitter game, but now that he's put his focus squarely back on his stand-up comedy, he's quickly caught up to the game and one-upped it with the launch of what appears to be the first comprehensive iPhone/iTouch app specifically designed to interact with an individual stand-up comedian. Here is Dane Cook with his tech friend to explain it:

The details for his app, selling for $2.99 on iTunes, include backstage videos, photos and texts from Cook, along with ticket sales -- while he's on tour, at least -- as well as the ability to directly access and buy his tracks and albums.

Related: Though seemingly hundreds of new apps are popping up for free or for sale on iTunes every week, there still aren't that many for comedy (unless you count fart noises, so OK, maybe; and also some generic joke ideas to share). 60Frames is one of the few, offering its "Best of Comedy" video app for $2.99 (their best known partnership from 2008 may have been with Kids In The Hall).

Dane Cook and Jimmy Kimmel stuff Peeps in their mouths

Various personal matters have kept me from blogging as much as I'd like the past few days, so please pardon my delay in sharing with you this footage from Dane Cook's most recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The guys compete to see how many marshmallow Peeps they can stuff in their mouths. Toward the end, Cook starts to channel a little bit of Chris Kattan's Mr. Peepers. Which literally makes sense, doesn't it? OMG

Dane Cook lines up new arena tour; new to Twitter/YouTube?!

Dane Cook announced a new arena tour that launches this spring in North America and eventually goes abroad. So I guess all that talk about going small with Isolated Incident was just talk. Speaking of his upcoming new DVD/CD, Isolated Incident, word from Comedy Central says he taped the special in front of 400 people at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood -- not the audience of 20 that was advertised in an early video. Which leads me to believe that the small audience work was done as Cook led up to his special and will be included in some documentary form on the DVD, rather than being the special itself (because recording a special for an audience of 400 isn't quite as unique as the press makes it sound). That said, I'm still looking forward to seeing what Dane Cook has up his sleeves this time, based upon the guy I talked to after his show in November.

Tickets for his Global Thermo Comedy Tour (a nod to WarGames) go on sale to the public on Friday, March 13, though they're already available as a pre-sale if you can "guess" the secret password already listed on Ticketmaster.com as SUFI.

As Cook said on his site earlier this week: "Taking this new tour around the world is a desire I've wanted to fulfill for sometime now, based on the tremendous response I received during the select few dates I have done internationally. To travel the globe and see beautiful places, while entertaining fans from every corner of the earth is massive. I promise tons of special surprises while looking forward to performing around 100 shows over the next year, and in the process I expect to rack up some serious frequent flyer miles."

In related news, it's more than mildly interesting to me to see how Dane Cook responds to trends in technology, seeing as how he got his big break in the industry by capitalizing on social networking and building fan loyalty. Sure, he has 2.47 million friends on MySpace, but what does that mean in 2009? The guy was on top of the comedy world, both in terms of sales and trendspotting in 2006. This year? Dane Cook just joined Twitter in the past month. Believe it. And Dane Cook's YouTube page? He told his 31,000 Twitter followers overnight that he'd soon get around to updating that site, which has two videos as of today. Dane Cook also signed up for a Qik page to provide streaming video to fans. Does this all matter? Maybe, maybe not. But like I mentioned a few sentences ago, as the comedy industry adapts to a world in which we're interacting more and more through technology, it's more than mildly interesting to see Dane Cook of all comedians playing catch-up.

In other news, blogs...

February is wrapping up with some interesting and curious comedy items to relay from around the Internets. To wit:

-- Dave Chappelle performed a four-hour set earlier this morning (as in late last night) at the Comic Strip Live in New York City, and comedian/employee Adam Cozens took advantage of being bumped to take some photomographs. Cozens said only 17 of the 60 audience members managed to stay for the full show. But could they, or Chappelle, do 50 hours at the Strip? (Earlier: The world record 50-hour marathon show at the Strip)
-- Coincidentally, at the same time Chappelle was doing a surprise set at the Strip, Chris Rock stopped in for an unannounced set at the Comedy Cellar in the Village. Less coincidental, perhaps, the model who has been engaged in a decade-long lawsuit against Rock had her files unsealed (Los Angeles Times).
-- Comedy Central Insider has compiled a list of 100 funny Twitter feeds to follow. I am on it. Follow me @thecomicscomic.
-- Among the new Twitter members this week: Dane Cook and Louis CK. A clip of Louis CK on Conan from October apparently has gotten some renewed mileage on YouTube this week. Why? Because it's funny. That's why. Louis CK also reported via Twitter that he has postponed taping his new DVD (was planned for March 14 in Boston -- show will go on, but without big cameras). Dane Cook, meanwhile, ranked among the biggest concerts in the world among all acts (music, comedy, whatnots) in January, selling out the 19,092-seat St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 31. That show grossed $1.2 million with a top ticket price of $102.75 (before service charges?). So if you thought the Dane Train was slowing down, think again.
-- Boston comedy correspondent Nick A. Zaino has a new interview with The Whitest Kids U Know, which is good and timely, because the group began as a live sketch show, has moved to TV and IFC, and is currently on a nationwide comedy club tour performing live again (and also a feature film starring two of them!).

Dane Cook's "Isolated Incident" coming in May

You know how I noticed in November when seeing Dane Cook in Las Vegas that he seemed to have matured or, rather, calmed down onstage as a performer? Turns out that was not an isolated incident. His upcoming TV special and CD/DVD with Comedy Central, however, is called just that: "Isolated Incident." It shall debut May 17 on TV and May 19 as a CD/DVD. In this clip, we can see that even Cook figured out that playing to a crowd of 20 on a Tuesday night forces you to act much differently than when you're playing to an arena of 20,000 screaming fans who could care less about your punchlines and are just happy to be there. Especially when, as Cook told me in November, he has been through so much personally. Roll the clip (slightly NSFW):

Dane Cook's brother accused of stealing millions from him

This is not a happy holiday or new year's story for Dane Cook, as Massachusetts State Police arrested his older brother, 43-year-old Darryl McCauley, yesterday on charges of stealing millions of dollars from the comedian while serving as his personal business manager. In at least one recent instance, McCauley allegedly forged and cashed a $3 million check in Cook's name. Cook apparently will attend his brother's arraignment today in Woburn District Court. More to come on this sad development. (Boston Globe)

Comedy Central relaunches Jokes.com

Have you visited Jokes.com today? Comedy Central has revamped the site completely -- had you clicked over there even only yesterday, you would have faced a drab waste of a landscape of lame jokes, submitted anonymously from years ago, from a world in which all jokes are timeless, and yet somehow not able to be searched or indexed in any tangible way whatsoever. All of that is to say how bright and vibrant the new Comedy Central Jokes.com looks today. It'll take a while to sort through it all. For now, though, let me say that I clicked on a couple of sample comedians (Mike Birbiglia because I saw his face looking at me, and Carlos Mencia just to see what jokes Comedy Central would attribute to him!), and wonder if they paid someone to transcribe all stand-up comedy specials, CDs, and DVDs, and if so, how much one gets paid to do that (I'm available!).

Worth mentioning thus far: Why do Comedy Central sites often load a front page with auto-start videos? Not nice, Comedy Central. Particularly for those people who have jobs and are trying to see your funnies on the fly. Today's video features Dane Cook in all of his sweaty black wifebeater 2000 full physical glory. Also enjoyed how the comedians page on the site manages to promote not only Comedy Central's branded comedy tours and performers, but also up-and-comers such as my friends Dan Boulger and Joe List among the famous faces, podcasts, and tours.

Take a spin on the site and tell me your thoughts on the revamp!

Dane Cook at The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas

I don't know if you can imagine a calm and controlled stand-up performance from Dane Cook, but you could have seen one last night if you were among the 4,000 in attendance for Cook's headlining slot at The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. The wordplay and raunchy storytelling was still there. But that physicality wasn't. What gives? Maybe he's getting more mature and confident. Maybe he is more appreciative for his comedy fans after hitting bumps in the road to movie stardom. Well, why don't you let Cook tell you how he feels about his life and career now. He spoke with The Comic's Comic late last night after his Caesars Palace gig (which also featured longtime friends Al Del Bene and Robert Kelly as his opening support acts), and talked about looking back -- the deaths of both of his parents combined with the peak of his stand-up career made for "an impossible time" in his life -- and "looking forward to looking forward." What's next, Dancing with the Stars? Hmmm.

Programming notes...

A couple of quick things to note on this first day of November:

1) If you missed last week's episode of Saturday Night Live with Jon Hamm as the host (and Coldplay doing four songs), NBC is replaying it tonight, in primetime, starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. That means you'll get to see Jon Hamm's John Ham again, as well as Will Forte's creepy Halloween trick-or-treater, only this time in primetime! Yay. A new SNL follows the late local news at its regular time, with Ben Affleck and David Cook.
2) If you missed yesterday's second-season finale of the Webby-winning series, You Suck at Photoshop, you may want to watch it on My Damn Channel, if only for the subtle celebrity comedian cameos. Try saying that three times fast, why don't you.

The Comedy Festival (Vegas) unveils full slate of headliners

Anyone who doubted whether TBS could or would pull together a full slate of A-level comedy talent for its first edition of The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas without HBO as a partner, well doubt no more. Over the weekend, TBS unveiled its first look at the official schedule for Nov. 20-22 at Caesars Palace, which includes Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, Katt Williams, Jim Breuer, Kids in the Hall, Russell Peters, Jim Norton, a roast of Cheech and Chong, David Alan Grier, Jeff Dunham, Laffapalooza hosted by Tracy Morgan, Andrew Dice Clay, Mike Epps, John Oliver, and Caliente Comedy with Gabriel Iglesias, Pablo Francisco and Anjelah Johnson. The network also says it'll have 25 up-and-coming stand-up and sketch acts performing in a separate LOL Lounge. Full sked after the jump!

Dane Cook's sentimental legal defense in the name of comedy muses

TMZ uploaded the 29-page defense that Dane Cook's attorneys submitted Sept. 16 in their attempt to keep him from getting evicted from the La Fontaine apartments in West Hollywood (a block from the Laugh Factory, as Jamie Masada explains in an attached affadavit!) because he failed to scoop his dog's poop. Or something like that. Spoiler alert? Cook's appeal for a stay of execution...denied. I trudged through the paperwork today, and found his sentimental defense to read more than a little unintentionally funny. Only in L.A., right? Let's take a look at Cook's defense, and then we'll have a question or two for you...

"John Belushi and Steve Martin are both former tenants of the premises in which I have lived for the past 10 years; I especially wanted to live in this unit for exactly that reason. I had met with the building manager at that time...who offered me an interview and eventually the unit that John Belushi had lived in, it was my dream to be on Saturday Night Live, and to live in the unit of one of the great legends was overwhelming and after living in that unit, I felt a creative drive that I had never felt before. It's a little bit like the superstition that athletes have, before games, about a favorite bat or shoe, or the order in which they gear up; for me, this apartment has been the place where I've sat and worked on my comedy routines, and I can feel, and have felt, the presence of the true greats who have lived there before me. It's been a long road for me, in terms of developing my career as a comic, and the apartment is an inspiration to me as well as a place where I go to feel connected to the source. It's hard to explain where comedic ideas come from; I get ideas for sketches and skits at the oddest moments, but I can say that pretty much all of my best work in the last decade has come from sitting at home and opening up to what's there; I know that the presence of those that have lived there before me affects me deeply and provides me with inspiration."

Dane Cook Day in Boston

Did you know Wednesday was Dane Cook Day in Boston? Twas. Cook's not part of the Boston Comedy Festival, even though Boston City Councilman John Tobin is a cofounder of the fest and was the guy pronouncing the day for Dane Cook in honor of his contributions to Boston comedy, and perhaps more pressing, filming his new movie, My Best Friend's Girl, in the city. Local videoblogging king Steve Garfield was on the scene, and here is his brief interview with Cook (other streaming video reports from City Hall here and here):

Dane Cook doesn't like his new movie poster

Dane Cook wrote today about how much he does not like the new poster for his upcoming movie, My Best Friend's Girl. He outlines all of the problems he has with it, and concludes: "Granted, one poster stinking up the joint isn't the end of the world. Yet it sends the wrong message about our movie and I just wanted you to know, that I feel the pain. I really love the film and I know from past missteps marketing wise that the wrong poster sends the wrong audience into the theater."

Now you really want to see the poster, don't you? Well, here it is...

Gawker schools Dane Cook on heckling

We already know that not everyone is onboard the so-called "Dane Train" for Dane Cook, and yesterday one of Cook's haters tried to tell him so via MySpace, only to be insulted right back by the comedian. It all got picked up today by Gawker, who not only rule in favor of his online heckler in this instance, but also offer guidelines for dealing with hecklers that sound, well, fairly sound.

Previously: This isn't Cook's first online overreaction. In 2007, he took on VH1 blogger Alex Blagg.

How did you spend your holiday weekend?

Before we get back to the comedy grindstone, let's recap the comedy news from the Memorial Day weekend...

Dane Cook flew into Las Vegas for three shows at Caesars. He told the Review-Journal beforehand that he not only remained well aware of the backlash against him, but was ready to rebound from it. "I welcomed it," he claims, "because now I'm just Dane Cook. Now it's just about the creativity and it's just about what I deliver on a gig-to-gig basis. I'm very comfortable there." Afterward, he reported on his site: "I've been working on a new hour plus of stand up and although I'm in refine mode its all working very well. I finally took it from a few hundred people to 12,000 spectators and was floored by the imediate respose. I can't wait to tweak it all and add more haha to the flow. LPMs suckasssss LPMssssss"

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported long lines for the comedy tent at this weekend's Sasquatch! fest at The Gorge, and poked their heads inside only for a little bit. Michael Ian Black, performing there yesterday, could tell them that it wasn't the easiest gig in the world. "I was up the same time that the Mars Volta was playing. Here’s what I learned about the Mars Volta during my comedy set: they are very loud and they do not care about me. If they did care about me, they would have been a little quieter because it’s very hard to do my subtle jokes about cumming guacamole with psychedelic Latin rock rattling my proverbial cage." Black is back in Los Angeles where he's hosting and filming a new Comedy Central "reality" spoof, Reality Bites Back.

Across the pond, as it were, Chris Rock set a world record of sorts for performing stand-up to the largest British comedy audience, at 15,900 fans. That Guinness has a separate world record category for British comedy audiences is peculiar, to say the least. They don't do that for everything else, do they? Maybe they're just havin' a laugh.

Speaking of Brits havin' a laugh, Ricky Gervais popped down to New York City for the weekend amid his final week of shooting for his directorial debut, This Side of the Truth. His blog has all of the updates and photos, and he expects folks watching the BBC will get their first real glimpse of the movie as early as June 3. Sort of.

Flight of the Conchords debut at #3 on Billboard charts

New Zealand's favorite musical parody duo with an HBO show, Flight of the Conchords, debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts this week by selling 52,000 copies of their self-titled full-length. Take that, Dane Cook?! Cook, as you may recall, rocketed into the mainstream's collective consciousness three years ago when he became the first comedian in three decades to reach the Top 5 on Billboard's pop chart (he hit #4). So, really. Take that. Especially since the Kiwis released several of these songs before, just a few months ago in October, on their EP "The Distant Future" (Billboard reports that disc only reached #116 on the Billboard 200). So, take that! Of course, 52,000 discs gets you a lot higher up the charts these days in a sluggish record business. And if you're going to make a comparison to Flight of the Conchords, Weird Al Yankovic might be more apples to apples than Dane Cook. Although Weird Al, despite a couple of hit songs, only peaked at #10 on the album charts. How do you like them apples, anyhow?

Previously: Easy clicks to buy the record yourself, or get tickets for their tour, which kicks off May 5.

Page Six jumps on Dane Cook bashwagon

This wasn't an April Fool's joke, as the New York Post's Page Six made Dane Cook its lead item on Tuesday with the banner headline, "Seriously, This Guy Isn't Funny." They report on the ongoing Unfunniest Comic bracket contest conducted up in Boston by radio jocks Toucher & Rich (which I documented on Saturday after reading it on Gawker, where Page Six also probably picked up on it). Page Six goes on to lump some odd diva allegations on Cook. The backlash against Cook, who remains hugely popular as a touring standup comedian if not entirely successful on the big screen, isn't altogether surprising. But what continues to surprise me is how it's a Boston radio station that's going after its own homegrown star, who has sold out Boston's TD Banknorth Garden on his past two tours. You'd think more than a few of Cook's fans also listen to the station (WBCN-FM).

Here's the quote from WBCN-FM afternoon radio jock Fred Toucher:

"We were talking about how people laugh out loud at nonsense and Dane is a good example of that," Toucher told Page Six. "We'd listen to him and at the end of four minutes he'd change subjects, and that was it. We couldn't figure out when the joke was.

"And he's actually hated. People don't hate others they way they do him. At least Foxworthy panders to rednecks. Dane's stories are so weak you wouldn't want to hear them over lunch."

Comedy Central's Stand-Up Showdown (2008 results!)

Comedy Central's annual "Stand-Up Showdown" airs today, rebroadcasting the top 20 stand-up specials as voted online by fans over the past month. It's airing now!

The full schedule/countdown...which began at 11:30 a.m. today...(with applicable taping season)

20) Loni Love (season 11)

19) Doug Benson (season 8)

18) Chelsea Handler (season 11)

17) Steve Byrne (season 10)

16) Maria Bamford (season 11)*

15) Rich Vos (season 7)*

14) Dane Cook (season 3)

13) Stephen Lynch (season 12)**

12) Mike Birbiglia (season 10)*

11) Demetri Martin (season 8)

10) Mitch Hedberg (season 1)

9) Jim Gaffigan (season 3)

8) Pablo Francisco (season 4)

7) Kyle Cease (season 10)

6) Mitch Fatel (season 11)

5) Lewis Black (season 6)*

4) Frank Caliendo (season 8)

3) Lisa Landry (season 11)

2) Josh Sneed (season 11)

1) Jeff Dunham (his Spark of Insanity hourlong special)

* These comedians have multiple half-hour CCPs. Rich Vos has one upcoming this season.

** Stephen Lynch is the only one from this current crop of CCPs to make the list. Which, of course, is unfair to the many comedians this season who also taped with Lynch but haven't gotten on the air yet. Then again, this whole "showdown" is essentially just a test to see which comedian wants to mobilize his or her fans to vote early and often for them to get an extra TV airing. Really, that's it. No big cash prize. No trophy. But it certainly got us paying attention to Comedy Central on a Sunday in January, right? Of course, if I were one of the comedians who made the top 20, I'd probably still feel pretty good about it (while also looking at the other comedians who got listed ahead of me and behind me and wondering where I stood, which is why you have to realize and remind yourself that this isn't a "showdown" at all).

Promotion is everything?

The old adage/joke tells us that the most important thing in comedy is...wait for it...wait for it...timing. Well, that's what they told us then. Talk to just about anyone in the funny business these days and they'll all eventually say how much you need to promote yourself to get ahead (and yes, they often cite Dane Cook and his 2 million MySpace friends as the prime example). We're barely a week into 2008 and already we can see a few examples of comedians pulling out the stops -- including one who also pulled back the curtain -- so we can all see just how screwed up show bidness can get.

Example #1: Mark Malkoff "moves" into a New Jersey IKEA while his two-bedroom Queens apartment is getting fumigated. I'd like a two-bedroom apartment. Instead, I get to see Malkoff get free nationwide press and a link to his site documenting his IKEA living. Malkoff works as the audience coordinator for The Colbert Report and previously got publicity for a film documenting his visits to all of the Manhattan Starbucks in a day, 171 Starbucks.

Example #2: Amy Barkowsky vows to go without her cell phone for 60 whole days!!! I mean, really, has 10 years changed our society that much? Back then, I'd gone without my cell phone for my entire life. Anyhowserhoosiers. She not only has a site about her harrowing experience, but also ongoing coverage in the New York Daily News, which has garnered her even more exposure in print and TV. Egads.

Example #3: Saved the best for last here. Dan Bialek not only ranted about the industry on Whip It Out Comedy yesterday, he also exposed what Internet obsessives already knew, that anything -- any contest, any ranking -- that's based on hit counts can be manipulated and misled. Here is the video he put on YouTube today about how anyone can be the #1 comedian on MySpace, since he did it himself, until yesterday when MySpace deleted his account.

Seven hours of Dane Cook!?

Dane Cook rang in 2008 by performing an alleged record-setting seven -- count 'em, 7! -- seven hours of stand-up comedy on New Year's Day at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.

As Cook himself wrote on his site: "I never sat down or left the stage. The show started with a small mighty crowd of around 60 and 35 of us were together this morning still laughing and recapping 2007 with laughs galore. It felt fantastic. The longest set I have ever done before that was 3 hours 50 minutes at the LF as well. It's a historic club with so much positive energy. One of the best locations I have ever had the privilege of performing at. I talked about anything and everything. From tigers mauling people to my parents deaths. Reconstructive surgery to starting my very own race war. Sex, drugs and anything else that my brain served up. I knew everyone in the crowd by the end and now they know me too. I dedicate my record breaking set to all comedians that inspire me past and present."

Um, OK. Why, eggsactly is this a record of note? I know it's certainly possible from Cook -- having witnessed him blaze through more than three hours of all-new material at his Vicious Circle taping in Boston two years ago. He's not a traditional set-up, punchline kind of guy. Cook's a storyteller. A storyteller who loves detours in plot and playing with words and making up slang, taking his fans along for the journey. It's part of the reason some comedians look down on him in the first place (aside from mere jealousy). These stand-ups don't feel like Cook is telling jokes. In some cases, he's not. He's telling stories and the way he tells them makes his fans laugh. Anyhow. Now I've gotten sidetracked. Look what you made me do there. Cook took the "record" away from Dave Chappelle. Chappelle is another guy who eats up stage time as if he were a man on Death Row who'd asked for his last meal to be an all-you-can-eat buffet. Chappelle loves taking his time between bits, and when he's just screwing around on an unannounced gig, often stops several times to ask the audience what they want to talk about to give him new opportunities at material. But still. Even knowing all of this. Why, oh why, would you want to stay onstage for seven hours? And why would you want to put an audience through humor fatigue like that?

And even more of a why, why does this kind of thing always seem to revolve around Jamie Masada, who's quoted in the E! story saying, "I'm trying to give them a venue to let them work the way they want to, and I respect them because I love comics. I'm watching the greatest art form." Hold on a moment, there. Masada wants to let comics "work the way they want to"??? Isn't this the same guy, who (let's put aside the whole taking the kid to Michael Jackson story because it's not relevant, except as circumstantial evidence that, well, um, consider the source here) made such a huge ordeal about banning the word "nigger" from his stage and fining comedians for using the word after allowing Michael Richards to implode his career on that same stage? Isn't this the same club owner who tries to get TV time for any entertainment story that's remotely related to comedy? I met Masada once at his less-than-famous New York City Laugh Factory two years ago. He was more than kind. Said some very nice things to say about me and my comedy after I took part in a funny reporter contest at his Midtown club. So I don't have any ill will toward him. I just question the need for making his Hollywood club a place where performers will just talk and talk and talk and talk, just for the sake of setting a record.

Speaking of records...