Dane Cook: Encyclopedia - Dane Cook

Dane Cook

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972 in Cambridge, Massachusetts), is an American stand-up comedian and screen actor. Cook grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts and attended Arlington High School.

Cook's stand-up comedy material is mostly observational humor. His recent routines include such diverse topics as car accident mayhem, Cook's time spent working at Burger King and assorted geek humor. Among Cook's numerous television credits are performances on Comedy Central Presents and Comedy Central Bar Mitzvah Bash.

Dane Cook - Career

When he was a teenager, Cook would discover his comedic talent when his father, former radio personality George Cook, gave him a tape recorder and microphone. He was inspired by watching and listening to a variety of comedians, including Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson, George Carlin and even Red Skelton.

In seventh grade, he watched Saturday Night Live one night and saw Martin Short performing his character Ed Grimley. He suddenly realized a goal in life: To be on the show.

He started performing stand-up comedy in 1990. By 1995, Cook was performing stand-up comedy every night, usually in Boston and, when he made it to Los Angeles, at The Laugh Factory. He stated in a 2005 interview with Entertainment Weekly that he "never walked toward a stage and felt heavy. Ever. Even in bad places, I always learned something." Also in 1995, Cook made his television debut as Kyle in five episodes of the short-lived ABC series Maybe This Time, starring Marie Osmond and Betty White.

In 1999, he made his first appearance in a major motion picture as "The Waffler" (a superhero who uses waffles to fight justice) in Mystery Men. Although the scene is brief, Cook makes the character all his own and even sings his character's theme song, "Waffle Man!"

A year earlier, he was featured on Comedy Central's stand-up comedy showcase Premium Blend and, the following year, Comics Come Home. It would begin a partnership with the basic cable channel that would help launch Cook's career to new heights. He made his own half-hour feature segment on Comedy Central Presents in 2000.

Two years later, Cook pooled $25,000 of his own money from savings and retirement accounts and launched DaneCook.com, his own interactive website to help further his career and help stay personally connected to his fans. Although other comics mocked him, his website, along with his MySpace account, turned out to be a success.

In 2003, Cook released his first comedy album, Harmful If Swallowed, which also included a DVD of his appearances on Comedy Central.

Dane Cook - 2005

In 2005, Cook went on a nationwide tour, "Tourgasm", which stretched across the United States. Soon after the tour ended, he released his second album Retaliation, which debuted at #4 on Billboard magazine's Top Albums chart, the most successful comedy album debut since Steve Martin's A Wild and Crazy Guy in 1979.

The success of the album launched a slew of public appearances and magazine articles in the fall, including a three-minute routine on the MTV Video Music Awards on August 28. He also performed three sold-out shows in two nights at Madison Square Garden in mid-September without any press but his own website.

He also appeared in Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour.

He had a feature role as Floyd in the film Waiting..., which opened October 7 and he finished his own television pilot called Cooked, which he is writing and starring in, soon afterwards.

On December 3, Cook finally realized his dream of hosting Saturday Night Live. His appearance was unique because he was one of the few stand-up comedians (as opposed to actors) to appear as guest host for the show. He performed the longest monologue in the show's history and it was the highest-rated SNL of the season. He portrayed fictional versions of himself in some sketches.

Dane Cook - The Super Finger

The Super Finger or Su-Fi (pronounced SUE-F-EYE) is a hand gesture created by Cook. It consists of raising the middle finger, ring finger, and thumb on the same hand while lowering (or curling) the pointer and pinky fingers. Cook's website explains his idea behind the Su-Fi:

Dane Cook - Talk Show Appearances

He made his stand-up television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman on August 28, 1997. It would be the first of many notable appearances on late-night talk shows.

He co-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live for a week in January 2004.

At one point on an appearance on May 27, 2005, he parodied Tom Cruise jumping the couch on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, showing off his "tattoo" of Katie Holmes (actually a picture taped to his back) and barging into the women's restroom to get her.

On October 4, 2005, he literally kissed Charlize Theron's butt after she allowed him to do so on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Dane Cook - Discography/Videography

• Harmful If Swallowed. DVD and CD. Comedy Central, 2003.
• Retaliation. DVD and two CDs. Comedy Central, 2005.

Dane Cook - Filmography

• Flypaper (1997)
• Buddy (1997)
• Spiral (1999)
• Simon Sez (1999)
• Mystery Men (1999)
• LAX (2002)
• The Touch (2002)
• Stuck on You (2003)
• Mr. 3000 (2004)
• Torque (2004)
• Waiting... (2005)
• Employee of the Month (2005)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Dane Cook", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki