Even if the name doesn't ring a bell, the routines of the man who was recently named Rolling Stone's "hot comic" may jog your memory. His riffs on everything from the Kool-aid man to growing up Catholic have doubled over audiences, and his CD, "Harmful if Swallowed" seems to be in constant rotation in frat houses around the nation. But the first time Dane Cook and I talk, he's not feeling very funny.

"We ran out of gas here on the highway in upstate New York," he grouses over a weak cell phone connection. "As you know, it's freezing, and I've been sitting here with my traveling buddies for an hour and a half, so we're not exactly having the easiest go of it."

Not helping his stress level: he's got a show to perform in just under five hours.

He makes it there in time, and the next day, Cook's on the road again after another late night.

"I did a meet and greet after the show last night, and [was] there for three hours," Cook says. But he's not complaining – in fact, far from it. He meets his audience after every show, something that has turned from a 20 minute long exercise to a two or more hour endeavor as his career has grown. As a result, he's always the last one to leave – but he leaves the members of his rabid fanbase with a personal story to talk about in the morning.

"In a way it's like politics," Cook says. "The only way you're going to have a good campaign is to let people know what you're doing. And I'm not on a TV show, I'm not doing movies or anything like that, so it's strictly word of mouth. I'm proud to say, and I've always wanted to say that I have a true comedy fanbase. It's not about anything else, it's not hype, it's not fame, it's like people appreciate my ideas, and that's really gratifying."

It's the first of many remarks that Cook will make that shows remarkable forethought and media savvy. Of course, for a man who knew that he wanted to be a comic since junior high school, he's obviously had to work hard in order to get to the point where he is today – both with his career and personally.

"I was pretty quiet, pretty introverted, shy," Cook says of his childhood days. "I was a wild child when I was home, I'd be throwing on my mom's wigs and dancing around, you know, I'd drop a plate, if I thought it was funny, I'd break a plate. I wouldn't care. I would do anything and everything. But outside of the house I was pretty sheltered and definitely suffered from anxiety, and took a lot of years to get over that [and] be funny, in public."

After 15 years in the business, Cook has certainly learned how to be funny in public, reaching a level that few comedians – himself included – even imagine.

"It's interesting, because when you first start out, you have this dream of that level, and it's a distant dream – you want it and you do, I think, try to will it, but there's this realization that you may just be that guy who's funny night after night to a crowd of people who just go home and then the laughter's over. That's it." Cook reflects. His real career turning point came with a spot on late night television.

"Around year five or six I got a chance to do David Letterman, and that was my goal as a comic, if I could make it to Letterman, that would be my validation, 'cause I know that Dave doesn't have half-assed comics on his shows. When I did Letterman, immediately the next day I started to feel different onstage, I mean, COMPLETELY different. Suddenly, I started trusting myself more and trusting to be even more open up onstage with my emotions and learning the tools and not trying to be so one-dimensional."

Whatever happened that night on Letterman, it certainly worked. Cook's popularity today is constantly growing. Cook doesn't just stay after shows, he communicates with his fans through his webpage (danecook.com) and myspace. He even leaves his AIM name accessible to his fans – although with his busy schedule, I wonder if Cook ever has much time to sit around on the computer. In addition to his regular tour appearances on college campuses, he's planning the interestingly titled "Tourgasm" for this April, which is billed as "20 shows in 30 days." Unsurprisingly, Tourgasm is just as interactive as you'd expect from Dane Cook – schools apply (compete might even be an accurate term) to bring Dane and his cronies to their campus.

"Tourgasm is something that was spawned about a year ago," Cook shares. "I was saying to people back home, 'these kids are going crazy, I mean, it's like a rock and roll show' …you need to see it to believe it." The result? "I said I want to do a documentary, like, of what's been happening. So I came up with this idea for Tourgasm as a way to show what these things are like." Tentatively accompanying Cook will be a group of three other comedians, Jay Davis, Robert Kelly, and Gary Gulman, a group that he describes as "like Jackass. We're constantly putting each other through torturous events."

If any comic out there can fill campus arenas, it's Cook. So to what does Cook attribute his popularity among the college and twenty-something set?

"I'm a young guy, I'm very close to that time in my life. And even though I may be a little bit older, I still have a connection with that crowd. Even though I have a vast audience, that is really the target. Maybe [it's due to] the future is wide open mentality, and the what ifs" that he employs as a part of his comedy routine. "I'm definitely very fantastical in my ideas" – something that many young people can relate to.

Then Cook changes tacks and once again shows his smarts; that his fame and popularity, while earned, is also probably also due to some wise calculation on his part. "It's always been very important for me to do these college shows because let's face it, those high school and college years, those are the years that you pick up whatever music, whatever comedy, whatever those entertainment moments are in that part of your life, you hold on to those moments forever. Those four years of college, that will always be your music. That band you wanna listen to for the rest of your life because it's gonna remind you of that time. And I believe comedy works in the same way as music…I think you have a greater possibility of making a fan for life, because you're now part of the fabric of their life, of their years."

As for his career, Cook sees himself at a fork in the road. "An eight lane highway," he muses; with the possibilities of movies and television shows and more comedy stretching off far into the future. His second comedy CD comes out later this year, as well as a movie, "Waiting," which he describes as "kind of like a Office Space kind of movie, but instead of an office environment it's at a corporate restaurant" – Cook plays the "sexist, really vulgar, graphic in-your-face head chef." But first, another day on the road, a few more shows, and a few more fans to meet and greet.

"I can honestly say I've never had a regret, I've never had a moment where I walked toward the stage, towards that microphone, where I haven't wanted to just run up there, jump up there, grab it – I was born to do this. I knew when I was very young I wanted to do it. And the fact that I'm now surrounded by fans that have my CD and are waiting for the next one and e-mail me and quote me, it's like, oh my god, you know, it's the same way it seemed so far away when I was first starting, now when I was first starting seems so far away. I remember when it was ten people who didn't know me and I had to win 'em over, and that almost is like - " he gasps " - that was real?"

Cook will be appearing Feb. 22 at DePaul University in Chicago. Not surprisingly, tickets are sold out.

Cook's biggest vice:

"Video games. I don't drink, I don't do any drugs. I'm not a big gambler. But I've definitely I've always kind of thought of video games as, I guess, a source of - almost meditation. If I'm not playing a game my mind is really business, you know, constantly thinking about business. And so I think video games [are] almost a way for me to, like, shut that down and just concentrate on, you know, sitting in a bush with a sniper rifle. Trying to kill somebody sitting in their underwear."

Cook on the Red Sox and Cubs curses:

"There is no curse. It's like we have to do a complete 180, there's a new way to talk about this team, because it will never be the same. The Cubs – yes, you still have the black cloud. But the Red Sox are just a baseball team. But I will jump on the Cubs bandwagon – that's what I want next. I want to see those guys pull it through for the lifelong Cubs fans, like my dad who's 70 and got to witness history, I want those old Cubby fans to be able to jump up and down like I didn't get to see my dad do in 30 years."

Photos courtesy of Dane Cook

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!