Dane Cook at 50 Is Dane Cook at 25, Just with More Colonoscopy Jokes
“Let me tell you something about this crowd – who needs a tree outside being lit when this crowd’s on fire!” Dane Cook screamed at the live studio audience of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night as the comic refused to take his seat across from the most prestigious desk in late night. The biggest comedian on Myspace joined Fallon to show the world that he’s back behind the mic with a new special, Dane Cook: Above It All, his first filmed set in eight years.
The comedian who first blazed the social media trail two decades ago has the same fire and the same air of chaos that made him the most popular comedian in colleges across the country back at the turn of the millennium. Cook at 50 can drive a crowd into a frenzy the same way he could at 25, except he’s traded platinum records and stadium tours for colon health and cameras up his ass.
“That’s the butt stuff that’s not so fun,” Cook chuckled mischievously after loudly announcing that his 50th birthday present to himself was a colonoscopy. Cook used his entire body to tell the story of how he took double the recommended dose of laxatives in preparation for the procedure and spent hours hunched over a toilet. The comedian who once sold out Madison Square Garden asked the audience if they’d ever sat on the toilet “like you’re about to play chess with Bobby Fisher” as he bounced over his knees with a manic intensity.
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Dane Cook: Above It All has already reached the number one spot on iTunes, a fitting platform for the comedian whose career arc can be traced by the rise and fall of the iPod. Cook shot the special on his own front porch, a far cry from the massive 360-degree stages of the “Vicious Circle” Tour — at 50 years old, that name means something entirely different for Cook and his gastroenterologist.
Cook credited his electric energy on The Tonight Show to the season, saying, “A festival of lights, delights and outta-sights is coursing through my veins,” making no mention of a special kind of “snow” that can give a guy a similar holiday cheer. His brimming excitement to be on camera and onstage was as profusely palpable as it was when he was cracking jokes about the “BK Lounge” and the Kool-Aid Man.
Cook’s comeback tour might not be on the same scale as the record-breaking stadium shows of his heyday, but the signature enthusiasm and commitment to the bit that made him an early 2000s icon remains intact. Cook’s colon might be 50, but his spirit is almost as youthful as his fiancée.
