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brownstein: dane cook is happy to stay in the danger zone as he headlines just for laughs
marriage may have mellowed the superstar comic, but not on stage. he’ll give a free outdoor performance saturday at place des festivals.
jul 26 2024
4 minute read
dane cook performs during a just for laughs gala at salle wilfrid-pelletier of place des arts in 2013. “i actually think we’re in a comedy resurgence now. i’m again hearing comics saying anything and everything and pushing the limits a little bit more."
justin tang
/
the gazette files
dane cook is in a surprisingly blissful state. a comic best known for his outrageous albeit hysterical observations, cook, who performs a free outdoor just for laughs concert saturday night at place des festivals, credits his recent marriage to kelsi taylor for his cheery new outlook.
cynics may well expect the other shoe to drop with a rehash of the classic henny youngman line: “take my wife … please!”
not happening. this is cook’s first marriage, and he aims to make the most of it.
“there’s no better feeling in the world than sharing a career, especially one in its third decade,” says a philosophical cook, 52, in a phone interview. “you can be outrageous. you probably got dragged a few times just because it was sensational, and it was fun for the media to do that. you start flying steady, but lo and behold, i fall in love and not only is it a love story, but it’s one where i truly want to share the rest of my life and the rest of my journey with this woman, and i hope that the feeling is mutual.”
cook is not just cracking wise about being dragged down by the media. he has endured more than his fair share of slings and arrows, from fellow comics as well as critics. but jealousy does tend to play a big part in being brought down by others.
about to enter his 35th year in the business, cook has enjoyed the sort of success that few standups half his age can boast about. he has sold out multiple shows at madison square garden in new york. he has sold out the bell centre. he has also performed to numerous packed just for laughs houses . his specials — including the most recent, above it all — have zoomed to the top of the comedy charts and have been streamed well over one billion times. his comedy albums have struck gold. and his acting chops have been praised for such films as mr. brooks, my best friend’s girl and employee of the month.
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resilient as he may be, cook used to always feel he had something to prove. but no longer.
“i think at some point i turned a corner from all of the stuff that i was dead centre in the middle of. i found myself to be a friend, to be in a kind of mentor position, be it at a club or speaking on the seminar circuit about my philosophy and certainly the things that helped me keep my integrity during every which way. now i get to be a sounding board for someone who was maybe where i was at when i was in my 20s.
“there are lots of people who will try to take you someplace where you don’t want to go. it feels great to give support to others.
“that’s what keeps me going these days,” he says before quickly adding: “also, i have a fire still raging creatively inside me. i’m tenacious. when i wake up in the morning, i have an agenda i want to see through, but the big difference is that now i want to share all of that with my wife. … it’s nice to be in this place.”
not that his new-found inner peace has stopped him from taking shots about having to give up a weekend to attend the nuptials of others, as he did on the tonight show. but down and dirty for cook these days could entail kibbitzing about his colonoscopy.
ageism has taken its toll on many of cook’s contemporaries, although they often cite other factors for their retirement from the stage. he doesn’t buy that.
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“don’t ever believe a comedian who says they’re leaving because they want to,” he says. “i don’t believe any comic is ever happy about putting down their mic. i think there’s something about a comedian always wanting to observe and to report and to lash out and say the thing that everyone else is scared to say. i always want to see a comedian keep that spike in their hands. that’s what i want to continue doing for the next phase of my comedy career.”
cook was not born to be mild. even as a kid, he would delight in regaling his arlington, mass., neighbours on his porch with his oft-irreverent take on life. he hasn’t changed, but attitudes have. mercifully, cook notes.
“comedy has begun to get easier in the last year or two, especially in the states. comedy went around the corner from utter cancellation for saying something supposedly out of bounds to audiences deciding they don’t want this homogenized crap anymore. they want a little danger.
“i actually think we’re in a comedy resurgence now. i’m again hearing comics saying anything and everything and pushing the limits a little bit more. … it’s not about trying to break the law. it’s about bringing that little danger.”
at a glance
dane cook gives a free outdoor just for laughs performance saturday, july 27 at 9:15 p.m. on the vidéotron stage at place des festivals. jfl/comediha! president sylvain parent-bédard will present cook with a plaque during the show in tribute to his three decades in the comedy industry.
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