Dane Cook Biography
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Dane Cook
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| Dane Cook | |
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 Cook attending Comic Con 2007 promoting Good Luck Chuck |
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| Born | March 18, 1972 Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Medium | Stand up comedy, film, television |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Genres | Stand-up comedy |
| Subject(s) | observational comedy |
| Influences | Denis Leary, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosbycitation needed |
| Notable works and roles | Retaliation, Vicious Circle |
| Website | www.danecook.com |
Dane Jeffrey Cook (March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He released three comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed, Retaliation, and Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden. Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album in 28 years and went double platinum.1 Cook performed an HBO special in the Fall of 2006, Vicious Circle, a straight to DVD special entitled Rough Around The Edges (which is included in the album of the same name), and has made numerous television appearances. As an actor, Cook has appeared in fifteen films since 1997, including Mystery Men and Waiting.... He also starred in major movie roles since 2006 including Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck. He also had supporting roles in Mr. Brooks, (which was a departure from his standard comedic roles.) and Dan in Real Life. Most recently, Cook starred in My Best Friend's Girl.
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Early life
Dane Cook was born in Boston, Massachusetts,2 the son of George Cook (who worked at a golf course but at different times managed and ran a lumber yard, a window business and a rock club in Cambridge) and Donna Cook, a homemaker.3
Stand-Up
In 1995, Cook moved out of his parents' basement to New York City and began performing in earnest. He also spent that time working the Comedy Club and College circuits. Two years later, he shuffled 3,000 miles west to Los Angeles, where he still lives today.4
Cook's big comedy break came in 1998 when he appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. This started a relationship between Cook and Comedy Central that has lasted many years. In 2000, Cook did a half-hour special on Comedy Central Presents. Since then his special has won the Comedy Central Stand-up showdown twice in a row.5
In 2003, Cook released his first CD/DVD entitled Harmful If Swallowed. The success of the album landed him a record contract with Comedy Central Records. The album is certified platinum. He released his second CD/DVD in 2005, entitled Retaliation. This album went double platinum and made Cook the first comic in 29 years to have an album at #4 on the Billboard charts.5 This earned him a place alongside best-selling comedy vets Bill Cosby, George Carlin, and Steve Martin.5
The success of the album also landed him a comedy performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, and then afterwards he joined Snoop Dogg (who introduced him) in presenting the award for Best New Artist.
On April 15, 2005 Cook performed his first HBO Special entitled Vicious Circle filmed "in the round" at the TD Banknorth Garden. The same year Cook shot two pilot episodes for his own sitcom, Cooked. The sitcom never got picked up and the two pilot episodes were later released on DVD as the Lost Pilot Episodes. That same year he embarked on a 30-day 20-show college tour called Tourgasm with his long time friends Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, and Jay Davis. The tour was filmed and was later made into a 9-episode documentary on HBO.
On December 3, 2005, Cook hosted Saturday Night Live. He performed the longest monologue in the show's history and it was one of the highest-rated SNLs of the season".6 He would then go on to host the premiere of season 32 of SNL a year later.
In 2006 Cook headlined for Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour and hosted the 2006 Teen Choice Awards alongside Jessica Simpson. The following year he won the award for Best Comedian. On November 12, Cook became the second comic to sell out Madison Square Garden. He did two sold out shows in one night. The show was filmed and would later be put onto a DVD to be sold on Cook's third comedy album.
Cook won the Big Entertainer Award at the VH1 Big in '06 Awards, and Rolling Stone magazine's Hot Comic of the Year.
On November 13, 2007, Cook released his third CD/DVD entitled Rough Around The Edges, which was filmed live at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums chart.citation needed During that time, he embarked on a tour of the same name. This was Cook's first arena tour.
On April 10, 2007, Cook broke The Laugh Factory endurance record (previously held by Richard Pryor)7 by performing on stage for 3 hours and 50 minutes. Dave Chappelle would break the record five days later.8 On January 1, 2008, Cook again broke the club's endurance record, by performing on stage for 7 hours.9
From May 23, 2008 to May 25, 2008 Cook reunited with Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene for 3 shows at The Coliseum in Caesars Palace. Then, from May 29, 2008 to June 4, 2008, the Trio went to Iraq to perform for the troops. During all of these shows Bene was the Emcee, Kelly was the Feature, and Cook was the Headliner.
Cook is currently working on his fourth album, the last as part of his four record deal with Comedy Central Records, as well as plotting another Comedy Special and Tour.10
Film
Cook starred in his first leading role as the slacker boxboy Zach Bradley in Employee of the Month with Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard.
Cook co-starred in his first dramatic role as the devious photographer Mr. Smith in Mr. Brooks along with Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, and William Hurt. The film debuted at #4 at the box office, just behind Shrek The Third. The movie grossed $10,017,067 in the opening weekend.11
Cook starred as the dentist Charlie Logan in the release of Good Luck Chuck with Jessica Alba and Dan Fogler.12 The film debuted at #2 at the U.S. box office just behind Resident Evil: Extinction and in its opening weekend, grossed $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters.
Cook co-starred as the cocky Mitch Burns in the release of Dan in Real Life along with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. The film grossed $11,809,445 in 1,921 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office, just behind Saw IV. As of December 26, 2007, it had grossed $46 million.13
Cook starred as the air purifier call-center supervisor Tank Turner in the movie My Best Friend's Girl with Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, and Alec Baldwin. The film grossed $8.2 million and debuted at #3 at the box office, just behind Burn After Reading and got a 50-50 rating on fandango.com.14
Style
Dane Cook's style is principally energetic physical comedy. He combines observational humor and wordplay with a casual attitude. Cook says his onstage persona is a combination of the personalities of his mom, Donna, and his dad, George. “My mother is like a Looney Tunes cartoon. She’s wiggly,” Dane says. “She has the ability to tongue in cheek a lot, and do it in a way where she’s being physical. My dad is the polar opposite. He always had a little ‘what the fuck’ in his voice. Even if he knew nothing about what he was talking about, he could sell it. So I looked at these two extremely funny people and created a style of comedy from absorbing their actions.”15
His routines focus on his childhood, and his plans for the future, such as his "dream home". He will sometimes deliver jokes in the form of over-the-top rants with increasingly erratic body motions, pacing, waving, and jumping.
He explains that:
I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak about anything I want... So I can be a storyteller, I can be jokey, I can be corny, I can be a little vulgar, I can be a lot vulgar. And I'm not afraid to go anywhere to get the point of the joke across, even if I have to just blabber like an idiot until it becomes apparent that I'm telling a joke and that the audience should laugh.
Brother's Embezzlement
In December 2008, Cook's older half brother Darryl McCauley was charged with stealing $1+ million from Cook over an 18 month period while acting as his business manager with Great Dane Enterprises, Inc. McCauley pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $3 million bail. McCauley was fired in November. 1617
Discography
Albums
- 2003: Harmful If Swallowed (CD/DVD) Comedy Central. #67 US; platinum
- 2005: Retaliation (2CD/DVD) Comedy Central. #4 US; double platinum
- 2007: Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden (CD/DVD). Comedy Central. #11 US
- 2008: Dane Cook: Vicious Circle
DVDs
- 2003: 8 Guys DVD
- 2006: Dane Cook's Tourgasm DVD. HBO. Comedy Central
- 2007: The Lost Pilots DVD. Sony Pictures Television
- 2008: Vicious Circle DVD. HBO. Comedy Central
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | US Pop 100 | UK Singles Chart | Germany | |||
| 2006 | "I'll Never Be You" | - | - | - | 100 | - | 4 | - |
| 2007 | "Forward" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Cook co-wrote and performed the song "Ruthie Pigface Draper" for the Dan In Real Life movie with Norbert Leo Butz.18
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Flypaper | Tim | |
| Buddy | Fair Cop | ||
| 1999 | Spiral | David | |
| Simon Sez | Nick Miranda | ||
| Mystery Men | The Waffler | ||
| 2002 | L.A.X. | Terrell Chasman | |
| The Touch | Bob | ||
| 2003 | Stuck on You | Officer Fraioli | |
| 8 Guys | Dane | ||
| Windy City Heat | Roman Polanski | TV Movie | |
| 2004 | Mr. 3000 | Sausage Mascot | Voice |
| Torque | Neal Luff | ||
| 2005 | Waiting... | Floyd | |
| London | George | ||
| 2006 | Employee of the Month | Zack Bradley | |
| 2007 | Farce of the Penguins | Online Penguin | Voice |
| Mr. Brooks | Mr. Smith | ||
| Good Luck Chuck | Chuck/Charlie | ||
| Dan in Real Life | Mitch Burns | ||
| 2008 | My Best Friend's Girl | Tank |
Notes
- ^ Time's 100 Most Influential People
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0176981/bio
- ^ Punchline Magazine interview.
- ^ [1] Punchline Magazine interview
- ^ a b c http://www.comedycentral.com/comedians/browse/c/dane_cook.jhtml
- ^ TF.org - The Films - Actors : Dane Cook
- ^ Dane Cook breaks comedy endurance record
- ^ Dave Chappelle's standup marathon: 6 hours, 12 minutes
- ^ Dane Cook breaks Dave Chappelle's endurance record
- ^ http://www.fandango.com/danecooktriesagaintocookonthebigscreen/news/1789
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=mrbrooks.htm
- ^ Dane Cook is Good Luck Chuck - ComingSoon.net
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2007&wknd=43&p=.htm
- ^ http://www.fandango.com/mybestfriendsgirl_113135/movieoverview
- ^ Dane Cook: All Aboard the Dane Train | Punchline Magazine
- ^ Valencia, Milton J. (December 31, 2008). "Dane Cook's kin accused of stealing millions from comic", Boston Globe.
- ^ [2]
- ^ Dan in Real Life (2007) - Soundtracks
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dane Cook |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dane Cook |
News articles & interviews
- Kolakowski, Nick. "The Reason Your Daughter Just Stole this Magazine : Dane Cook". Private Air, August, 2008.
- Bensinger, Graham. "One-on-One w/ Dane Cook". ESPN The Magazine, December, 2007.
- Bolohan, Scott. "People Love to Hate Dane Cook". Real Detroit Weekly, November 21, 2007.
- Gonulsen, Jason. "There's Only One Dane Cook". Glide Magazine, November 12, 2007.
- Shmuel Reuven. A Dramatic Turn in Mr. Brooks. JewReview.net, May 28, 2007.
- Gladstone, Neil. "Sex, Jobs, and Rock 'n' Roll". AOL Comedy, Nov. 2, 2006.
- Havrilesky, Heather. "Overcooked". Salon, Sept. 3, 2006.
- Zoglin, Richard. "Dane Cook: Standing Out in the Art of Stand-Up.". Time, May 8, 2006. From Time 100 issue.
- Kharakh, Ben. Interview with Dane Cook. One Trick Pony. January 2006.
- Casey, Susan. "Everybody Likes Dane". Entertainment Weekly, Sept. 30, 2005.
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