In the 2000s, Dane Cook’s comedy career was on overdrive. An unusual accomplishment for a cartoonist, his album Retaliation went double platinum and peaked at #4 on the Billboard General chart in 2005.
The next year, he sold out Madison Square Garden, a feat only a select few superstars, including George Carlin and Eddie Murphy, have accomplished. He appeared destined for comedy greatness.
After 2010, Cook experienced some difficulty. His rising popularity suddenly fell. Maybe the public’s mania for him just couldn’t last. He might have simply been too divisive.
Dane Cook might have made some dubious career decisions that backfired. He might have been hindered by his personal issues as well.
Such a confluence of unfavorable elements could have been the cause of Cook’s demise. Here is a deeper look at some of the difficulties he encountered.
Dane Cook’s achievements
His comedy album Harmful if Swallowed from 2003 achieved platinum certification after selling more than 1.2 million copies. Retaliation, his 2005 album, reached double platinum status and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts.
After Steve Martin’s A Wild and Crazy Guy, he was the first comic to do it in 27 years, which is an impressive accomplishment.
In addition, his comedy special, Rough Around the Edges, sold out Madison Square Garden, making him the second comic after Andrew Dice Clay to accomplish this feat. Dane had changed at this point in his attitude.
He appeared to be much more at ease and delivered his jokes in a very different way because he wasn’t bouncing over the stage, bursting with ambition, and sweating buckets to make you laugh.
Around that time, it became clear that Dane didn’t actually tell jokes—something that many comedians and comedy fans already knew. The man put a lot of reliance on his speech.
What happened to Dane cook?
He was charged with stealing content from Louis C.K. Louis C. K., a fellow comedian, and Cook got into a heated argument because C. K. felt that some of the material on Retaliation was too similar to what he had done on his own album Live in Houston (2001). The accusation of plagiarism was rejected by Cook.
Louis C.K. appeared frustrated by the ongoing nature of the entire issue. He stated in an interview with The A.V. Club from 2011 that he and Dane have this weird conflict that nobody but they talk about.
He continued, “I mean, I loathed it when Dane Cook came up in every interview I did. “It all made me angry. However, there it was. Dane detested it, and I knew it.
When Louis C.K. decided to have Cook appear as a guest on his FX show Louie, the dispute entered a new phase. Cook played himself so that the two could make fun of the circumstance and ultimately move on.
Louis C.K. notably became involved in his own incident in 2017 after admitting he has a history of acting inappropriately with women. Regarding the downfall of his fellow comedian, Cook made no remarks.
His downfall
By 2006, it appeared as though Cook’s decline had really started. Other comedians began to make fun of him, believing that he was a clever “self-promoter” rather than a great comic with great content.
They may have been motivated in part by Cook’s success, but their critical views had nonetheless begun to gain ground.