Friday Comic Spotlight

Today's Comic Spotlight falls upon a comedian who most of you already know. But he is one of our generation. One of us. Just way funnier. He's Dane Cook. There are both video & audio clips that play directly from his own site on the World Wide Web. Plus, here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure. Why videos? Because Cook is a very animated comic, and it's a better watch than listen.

• DMV
  
• Tom Cruise
  
• Comedy Central

Cook began performing on stage in 1990 in Boston, Mass. where he became a local celebrity. In 1995, he took his act to The Laugh Factory, a club in Los Angeles. In 1999, Cook made his first appearance in a major motion picture as the superhero Waffle Man in Mystery Men, staring Ben Stiller. A year later he performed on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, and shortly after that, he debuted on Comedy Central Presents, where he had an entire half-hour to showcase his talent.

Last year, Cook released his second album Retaliation, which scored the fourth slot on Billboard Magazine’s Top Albums chart, making it the most successful comedy album released since Steve Martin’s A Wild and Crazy Guy in 1979. Recently, Cook hosted SNL, a remarkable feat considering that only a few stand-up comedians have actually hosted the show before. His opening monologue had to be the the longest in the history of the show. Which I later confirmed as true, also learning that Cook's appearance earned the highest rating SNL had seen in quite some time.