Most comedians offer their fans a big “thank you” in the event of a huge success. Not Dane Cook. After the unparalleled success of his new comedy CD Retaliation, an extremely popular tour that he calls “Tourgasm” and a new comedy film with Dave Attell, Dane Cook would like to give all his fans a big “SuFi.”
“A big SuFi to the fans,” Cook said. The “SuFi,” or “Super Finger,” is one of Dane’s many beloved jokes. The “SuFi,” along with other jokes from Retaliation such as “Superbleeder,” “My Son Optimus Prime” and “The Friend That No One Likes” are on the tip of millions of people’s tongues – and they should be. Retaliation opened at number four on the Billboard charts last month; it was one of the highest openings for a comedy album in 20 years.
“To say that I knew that (my success) was coming would be a lie,” Cook said. “I don’t know if it has totally, completely sunk in yet.”
Cook wasn’t always comedy’s golden boy. With his cocky swagger and larger-than-life comedic bravado, it’s hard to imagine him bombing during a show. But he maintains that his audiences haven’t always been so receptive. At a 1993 Boston Garden show where Cook and friends opened for Phish, his improv didn’t go over well. “Out of the dark, they started throwing lighters and shoes. And I remember thinking to myself on stage as I was getting pelted – did people bring shoes to throw at us? Did they pack extra shoes? Who throws their shoes in Boston?”
Cook’s latest project is a feature-length concert film in which he appears alongside fellow comedians Greg Giraldo, Sean Rouse and Attell. “I had wanted to work with Dave Attell for years,” Cook admitted. He finally got his chance on “Dave Attell’s Insomniac Tour Presents-” The film will premiere on Comedy Central on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. and is what Cook considers to be “the best 22 minutes of me doing a live show ever caught on tape.”
Above all, it is clear that Cook loves his fans. “I’ll get naked if it’ll get a laugh on stage,” he said. At a show a few years ago, a fan approached him with a clay-and-macaroni sculpture of the universe, with Cook as its center. “Any minute I could picture him stabbing me and saying ‘I’m going to give you to Jesus now.’ ” So just remember, no matter how much “Tourgasm” riles you up, or how much Retaliation makes you laugh, no macaroni statues, please.