This only makes sense.
We live in the age of Twitter and TikTok.
A 30-second clip from a podcast nowadays could make or break a comedian’s career.
Still, Dane Cook was a pioneer in all of this.
I have no idea why, but I found myself thinking about Dane Cook this week.
I want you to think of who you believe is the most famous comedian in the world right now.
John Mulaney, maybe?
He was a phenomenon.
Before podcasts and Twitter, Dane Cook used MySpace as a weapon.
He was friends with everyone on social media before it was even cool.
What’s so interesting about Dane Cook is that his career was like a fame speed run.
His star shined insanely bright briefly, and then he fizzled out fast.
He is doing well for himself, but for a brief window, he was huge.
Shortly after hitting it big in the mainstream, he became a film star for a minute.
This is where I, the resident cynic at Barstool, will surprise people.
I really liked Dane Cook as an actor.
I thought he was a charming leading man.
I like him more as an actor than I do as a comedian.
I’ll talk more about his comedy in a second, but he was a pretty charming guy.
I unironically enjoy the movie “Employee of the Month.”
He did a few projects where he was asked to tone it down slightly.
But I always thought it was good.
I never saw “Good Luck Chuck,” which people told me was awful.
In two years, he did four big mainstream projects.
They weren’t all uproarious successes but mild box-office hits.
Dane Cook’s star faded fast.
He took a huge hit when he was accused of stealing jokes from Louis C.K.
I do think that sometimes comedians can have similar thoughts.
There are only so many jokes that can be told in the world.
Even so, the accusations themselves were a bad look.
They all pounced when it appeared that he may have stolen some jokes.
But one thing that nobody ever asked is, was Dane Cook funny?
I went back and watched some of his old bits, and yeah, he made me chuckle.
Saw what you will about the guy, but he brought an insane amount of energy to his stand-up.
There is something infectious about that.
Would I put him on the Mount Rushmore of the funniest comedians of his era?
Regardless of whether or not you found them funny, he murdered on stage.
Bill Burr talked about this.
The reason I’m writing this is because I just think Dane Cook is a fucking anomaly.
I can’t think of any star’s journey that compares to his.
He was loved while simultaneously being loathed.
He was given a fair shot and yet received way too much backlash.
He was funny, but he was also a hack.
From a nostalgia standpoint, I feel a bizarre sense of attachment.
Dane Cook is essentially the result of what would happen if 2006 somehow manifested itself as a person.
Whether you liked him or not, his ascension was one of a kind.
