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Dane-mother-truckin’-Cook. It’s really
the only way you can say his name.
Nothing else comes close to capturing
the comedian’s high energy, mad
genius pace and iconic status atop the
stand-up comedy industry. With his
latest CD/DVD compilation entitled
Retaliation, Cook has solidified his
position as the comedic voice of the
new generation.

To give you an idea of Cook’s ever-
growing popularity, Retaliation debuted
at number four on the Billboard Top
200. He has just finished a television
pilot, was featured on the cover of
Rolling Stone, performed and presented
at the MTV Video Music Awards and was
recently covered by TIME magazine.

Cook’s popularity bud is blossoming but that sounds pretty fruity, so you might just
want to say, “He’s real, real popular.” The Massachusetts native returned to his home
state at Boston’s Comedy Connection to record two 50-plus minute sets onto two laugh-
packed compact discs. He includes some of his more familiar material, that you are
likely to hear anytime you go see him, as well as some new concepts that his huge fan
base have never heard before.

Both CDs, respectively titled “Want” and “Need,” are bound to make you so hysterical
with laughter that it could be dangerous to listen to while behind the wheel of a car…or
a cement truck for that matter. Cook does well in naming the CDs as each covers
things that he wants and needs in life, such as superpowers, a monkey, his dream
house and a bad ass car. In this comic masterpiece, the young star cleverly uses his
wants and needs to tie together his sets.

Even in prior compilations and live acts, Cook has always used, “You know what I
want/need…” as one of the ways he introduces a concept to the audience. This
technique is fantastically funny and allows Cook to use his rich imagination to take
ideas to a whole new comedic level.

Cook is undeniably one of the best live performers one could ever see. The man
pours every drop of energy he has into making his audience laugh. It is Cook’s deep
desire to bring laughter to the audience and build a relationship with them, which he
actually refers to quite wittily in the introduction of the “Want” disc.

Perhaps one of Cook’s greatest tools used in his stand-up comedy is found in his
people skills. You know that guy who, no matter what sort of social situation you put
him in, is always going to impress everyone with his charm and friendly nature? Well,
Cook is that guy, only he is blessed with the ability to quickly establish a friendly and
comfortable rapport with a giant audience in a matter of minutes.

By building this relationship, Cook creates a comfort level where he is speaking to the
audience as though he is talking to one of his best friends; in kind, the audience is on
the funnyman’s same wavelength, wanting to listen to their “friend’s” hilarious stories.

Cook also creates intimacy with the audience by bringing them into his world. Along
with walking them through his aforementioned incredible imagination, he also speaks
to the audience using his own colloquialisms and abbreviations. He throws out terms
that he has made up or that he knows that the audience will catch onto; in establishing
a common language with the audience, the self-proclaimed BAMF (a Dane-ism) allows
every audience member, no matter their background, taste, age, etc. to enter the
comic kingdom inside his mind.

In recommending this album to others, several skeptics that fear that Cook’s cartoon-
like set may not translate into laughs when experienced solely through audio. Granted,
watching a Dane Cook set is a terrific experience due in part to the energy that he
creates with his presence and body animation; however, those fans take for granted his
writing and audio talents.

It is his incredible fusion of writing, acting, miming, and voice work that makes Cook as
close to perfect as a performer could ever be. If you have not seen Cook perform live
(shame on you), then don’t worry because you don’t know what you’re missing and you
will be easily won over by the audio version.

If you have had the pleasure of catching Cook’s show, you will be more than satisfied
by his excellent writing that picks at every minute detail and his voice work which paints
a vivid picture of his comedy.

The disc “Have” is a DVD compilation of Cook’s appearances on Comedy Central.
“Have” includes some of the jester’s best television work including Shorties Watchin’
Shorties, Crank Yankers, Denis Leary Roast and Comedy Central’s Bar Mitzvah Bash. The
DVD is flooded with big laughs. Fans will be pleased to know that the Shorties and
Yankers features include several skits and the Roast and Bash have both clean and
uncensored versions.

Cook has some great zingers during the Roast, though it is not his best environment,
while his Bash set is flawless, not to mention an excellent sample of what Cook’s
standup.

Lastly, the DVD includes a teaser for Cook’s upcoming documentary about a comedy
tour with other talented young comedians called Tourgasm. The documentary covers
Cook, Jay Davis, Gary Gulman, and Robert Kelly as they tour together across the
country. If you like anything about standup comedy, road trips, shenanigans,
donnybrooks, hilarious dudes hanging out together, or you are one of those sickies
that love the voyeurism of reality television, then you will want to see this.

DVDs
Richard Lewis -
Concerts from Hell:
The Vintage Years

Lisa Lampanelli -Take
It Like a Man (CD/DVD)

Dane Cook -
Retaliation (CD/DVD)

Tom Green - Inside &
Outside

Brother Sam: A Tribute
to Sam Kinison

Laffapolooza 1

Latinlogues, Vol. 2

Platinum Comedy
Series -Bill Bellamy
Deluxe Edition

CDs
Todd Barry - Medium
Energy

Rick Younger-Come On
N'ah

Steven Lynch - The
Craig Machine

DL Hughley - Notes
from the GED Section

Books
Billy Crystal - 700
Sundays

Tom Green and Allen
Rucker - Hollywood
Causes Cancer: The
Tom Green Story

Margaret Cho - I Have
Chosen to Stay and
Fight

Penn Jillette and
Mickey D. Lynn - How
to Cheat Your Friends
at Poker: The Widom
of Dickie Richard

Margaret Smith - What
Was I Thinking? How
Stand-Up Did Nothing
to Prepare Me to
Become a Single Mother

Bill Maher - New Rules:
Polite Musings From a
Timid Observer

Oliver Double - Getting
the Joke: The Art of
Stand-Up

Robert Klein - The
Amorous Busboy of
Decatur Avenue: A
Child of the Fifties
Looks Back

Dave Schwensen -
Comedy Faqs and
Answers: How the
Stand-Up Biz Really
Works

Movies
Fri, Oct. 14
Domino - Mo'Nique
plays a dramatic role
opposite Keira
Knightley and Mickey
Rourke.

Fri, Oct. 21
Stay - Janeane
Garofalo co-stars with
Ewan McGregor, Naomi
Watts and Ryan
Gosling.

Fri, Nov. 4
Jarhead - Jamie Foxx
stars opposite Jake
Gyllenhaal

Nov. 11
Sarah Silverman: Jesus
is Magic - Comedian
discusses race, sex
and politics with friends.

Nov. 25
Rent - Sarah Silverman
plays a supporting role
in the feature
adaptation of the hit
Broadway play.

Yours, Mine and Ours -
George Lopez and Lil
JJ (Beauty Shop)

In the Mix - Kevin Hart
co-stars with singer
Usher and Chazz
Palminteri.