Andrew Dice Clay
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| Born: | September 29, 1957[citation needed] New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Stand-up Comedian Actor <tr><th style="text-align: right;">Spouse:</th><td>Kathleen Monica[citation needed]</td></tr> |
Andrew "Dice" Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein on September 29, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian and actor. Notorious for his highly profane comedy, his popularity and success peaked during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Clay has worked on various show business projects to this day with a more modest degree of success. Rick Rubin was quoted on the "E! True Hollywood Story: Andrew Dice Clay" as saying to the effect "What's the bad news? That he's making seven figures in Vegas?", a reference to Clay's popular Las Vegas Strip comedy shows. He was ranked number 95 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Standups of All Time. Clay's most famous performance was his live comedy stunt during the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards that earned him a "lifetime ban" due to his profane language and offensive nature of his jokes.
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[edit] Early career
As Andrew Clay, he made sitcom appearances on M*A*S*H and Diff'rent Strokes. He then landed roles in movies such as Making the Grade, starring Judd Nelson (1984) (playing a character named "Dice"), Pretty In Pink (1986) (credited for the first time as Andrew "Dice" Clay). As Andrew Dice Clay, he also had a regular role on Crime Story from 1986–1988. This was followed by a series of less-notable films. He eventually turned from acting towards stand-up comedy, focusing on the character "Dice" as in Pretty in Pink. Possibly named after The Dice Man, a novel by Luke Rhinehart, the persona was that of a highly racist, homophobic woman-hating street-wise Brooklyn tough. Although Clay always maintained that the "Dice" in his stand-up act was merely a character that he played onstage, it was often hard for the general public to differentiate between the persona and the actual person; to many, they were interchangeable.
[edit] Comedic style
His material has been described as profane and sexist, with his work portraying women as sex objects and making racist comments aimed toward Asian and Arab people. Some attribute Clay's success to a crass, violent, misogynistic and even sophomoric style of comedy. In an age of increasing prominence of feminism and "political correctness," "Dice" served as a respite for many fans; a caricature of American masculinity embodied in a chain-smoking greaser in a leather jacket.
[edit] The Day the Laughter Died
Clay would then go on to record his most successful example of "Dice" as performance art. The two CD set The Day the Laughter Died, lasting just under two hours, hit the Top 40 Album Chart. The concept, according to Clay, was to perform "the worst show possible". Clay went in front of a paying audience with no planned material and insulted them, individually and as a whole, for nearly two hours. Many members of the audience—even some familiar with the standards of a Clay show—walked out, and the entire concert was released without any edits.
[edit] Nursery rhyme adaptations
One of his most popular routines involved the subversion of traditional nursery rhymes, turning them from child friendly rhymes into sordid sexual encounters such as Dice's adaptation of Old Mother Hubbard.
"Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
to fetch her poor dog a bone.
She bent over, Rover took over
and gave her a bone of his own.
Oh!"
Subsequently, those rhymes became both his most widely-known material as well as the routine he (and many others) most despised.[citation needed]
[edit] Popularity and controversy
Clay's growing notoriety garnered a recording contract with Rick Rubin's Def American label. Comedy records do not traditionally sell well, and so it was a shock (even to Clay himself) when his debut album Dice was a commercial success. Sampled excerpts from the album made their way to tracks by gangsta rap artist Ice Cube. When he hosted Saturday Night Live, musical guest Sinéad O'Connor and cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear, protesting Clay's misogynistic persona. Clay donated the money from this appearance to charity. One segment on the program parodied both It's a Wonderful Life and the controversy surrounding Clay's appearance on the program, with Clay pondering suicide on a bridge, when he is met by his "guardian devil," played by Jon Lovitz. Lovitz shows him what the world would be like if he had not been born, including Nora Dunn crushed by Sinéad O'Connor's guitar amplifier.
[edit] Commercial failure
Clay's first starring role in a feature film was as the title character in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane in 1990. It failed at the box office, effectively ending Clay's leading man career.
A stand-up performance at Madison Square Garden was given movie release as Dice Rules in 1991. Many theaters refused to show it due to its NC-17 rating, and it failed commercially. By the release of his album 40 Too Long (1992), Clay was nearly forgotten. Rumors of Clay's homosexuality began to surface, as well.[citation needed]
His 1993 album The Day The Laughter Died, Part 2 was recorded in front of a small audience at Dangerfield's in New York. On the album, he reprised the concept of The Day The Laughter Died, again verbally insulting his audience. Apart from the audience-baiting, he also attacked American film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert for giving Dice Rules and Ford Fairlane bad reviews. (Ebert, giving Dice Rules zero stars, stated that, "It could not be more damaging to the career of Andrew Dice Clay if it had been made as a documentary by someone who hated him.")[1]. (Dice mispronounced Ebert's surname as "Ebrik") He also insulted Marlee Matlin, the deaf film actor. He went on for a number of minutes trivializing her struggles as a deaf actress. Responding to a request for a nursery rhyme, which he had previously refused to do in The Day The Laughter Died, he claimed, "You don't know how much I hate those fucking poems, you have no idea how I hate those fucking poems, I wish I'd never thought of those fucking poems." Following the release of The Day The Laughter Died, Part 2, Dice vanished from the media spotlight for two years.
[edit] Bless This House
He returned in 1995, dropping the "Dice" from his name, eschewing his "Dice Man" persona, and playing the part of a caring family man in CBS' sitcom Bless This House. CBS soon alleged that he was difficult to work with, refusing to learn his lines (among other things), and the show was cancelled. Clay claimed in a radio interview with shock jock Howard Stern that CBS had promised him they would eventually give the character "an edge", this being the only reason he accepted the role. In typical Dice form, the interview ended in an on-air argument.
[edit] Later works
Following the sitcom's failure, he returned to comedy with his HBO special Assume the Position and his 2000 album, Face Down, Ass Up. His audience was smaller than ever before, perhaps due to the fall from grace of so called "assault comedy" following the deaths of Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks.
Clay has continued to appear in smaller film roles, such as One Night at McCool's (2001), featuring Matt Dillon and Michael Douglas.
Clay used to appear on the Howard Stern Show for many years before his jump to Sirius. However, a feud formed between Clay and the show and he began to refuse to appear. He became friends with radio hosts Opie and Anthony, appearing many times on their show up until their cancellation in 2002. He is responsible for Jim Norton being introduced to the show and "Andrew Dice Gay", Anthony Cumia's impersonation of Dice's voice and demeanor in comedy but as a gay male. However, when O&A returned on XM Satellite Radio, Dice refused to appear. Eventually, Dice buried the hatchet with Stern and returned to his show.
[edit] CNN appearance
In an interview before a supposed comeback on November 12, 2003, Clay used several profanities on a live CNNfn cable news program, The Biz, hosted by Allan Chernoff. The video of this episode is available online in many collections of outrageous moments in American television history and "funny video" collections. The channel was not fined by the FCC because it does not govern cable television.
[edit] CNN interview transcript: "Stand-up Guy"
Host (Alan Chernoff): Let's talk a little bit about where your career has been --
Clay: (laughing in disbelief) I can't believe it, you know what I mean?
Host: You, of course, were a headline guy, and then --
Clay: I'm still a headline guy, you know what I mean?
Host: For a while you popped out, and now you're coming back (motioning a cycle with his hands) --
Clay: I'm coming back... (imitating the host - motioning a cycle with his hands) it's what I do...
Host: For a while you were actually... you were running a gym? Tell us about that.
Clay: (irritated) Running a gym?
Host: Weren't you running a gym at some point?
Clay: You're supposed to be a news guy, where are you getting your fucking information?
Host: That's our research...
Clay: This is ridiculous. I come on CNN, and the guy don't even know what he's talking about. Go 'head.
Host: At no point were you running a gym?
Clay: No, no... running a gym? What, do you need a workout or something?
Host: Do you need to take a time out?
Clay: Jesus fucking Christ... with these guys. I come on the news for two seconds... an-and you want to say... every time I do an interview a guy wants to open his fucking mouth. Can't even do a little fucking routine here.
Host: Alright Andrew, thank you very much, we thought that you could hold back.
Clay: (removing microphone) You know? Go fuck yourself. You know what? Fuck the whole fucking network. (leaves)
Host: (to camera) Alright. We'll go back to talking about Art Carney.
Clay: (off camera) Fucking jerk-off, asshole guy. Half dead.
Host: And we'll be back in just a moment to fill you in on the Art Carney situation.
[edit] Dice on Sirius Satellite Radio
Andrew Dice Clay ended his long-standing feud with Howard Stern in 2006, making appearances on his satellite radio show and doing his own radio show, Out of the Cage on the "Special Time Slot" on Howard 101 on June 13, 2006 and July 5, 2006.
[edit] Artie Lange fight
Dice and Artie Lange had a fight on the Howard Stern show. Lange claimed Dice didn’t pay him in a timely manner for the gig they did together at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 7, 2006. Artie believed Dice lied about trying to contact him and also accused Dice of patronizing him by telling him that he's a great performer, when it's really just the fact that Artie's on a show that he can promote on. Artie also claimed that it was his presence on the stage that enabled the show to be sold out, which is something Dice vehemently denies.
On July 24,2006, Artie Lange revealed that Dice had given a check to his agent, thus ending the reason for the feud. Lange claims he allowed Dice to do a show with him out of charity, and "would make Dice a star" (source, The Howard Stern Show).
[edit] The First Live Stand-Up Show on Radio
On November 4, 2006, Andrew Dice Clay and Artie Lange performed stand-up live on Sirius Satellite Radio.
[edit] Dice on Tom Green Live
On November 1, 2006, Andrew Dice Clay appeared on Tom Green Live on Tom Green's Internet show at his website. [2]. On the show, Clay mentioned his displeasure with MTV, Dick Clark and his subsequent banning from MTV. He also voiced displeasure with Gene Simmons, mocking his reality TV show and hairstyle, and mentioned VH1 was there to film his own reality show, Dice Undisputed. Towards the end of the show, he picked a fight with Green before making up with him on camera. He appeared on the show again on November 14, and Green later admitted (while interviewing Erik Estrada on the show) that their "fights" had been pre-planned. On December 1, Dice and Green taped a segment in which they interviewed Paris Hilton. A video surfaced on the internet of Dice, Green, and Hilton backstage in which Dice is blatantly hitting on Hilton.
[edit] Discography
- Dice, 1989
- The Day the Laughter Died, 1990
- Dice Rules, 1991
- 40 Too Long, 1992
- Day The Laughter Died, Part 2, 1993
- Filth, 1999
- Face Down, Ass Up, 2000
[edit] Recordings featuring Dice samples
- "A Gangsta's Fairytale" on Ice Cube's album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Priority Records, 1990): Dice is heard saying "Good old Mother Goose, remember her? I fucked her." from "Nursery Rhymes" at the end of the song.
- "Just Don't Bite It" on N.W.A's EP 100 Miles and Runnin' (Ruthless/Priority Records, 1990): Dice asking the question, "But does she suck a good dick?!?" from "Couples In Love", is part of the song's chorus.
- "Unbelievable" by EMF (EMI, 1991): Assorted interjections of Dice shouting "Oh, shit!" (sanitized for the radio version), "Whoa, man!" and "It's unbelievable", all from Dice, are heard throughout the song.
[edit] Starring roles
- Casual Sex, 1988
- Crime Story 1986–1988
- The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, 1990
- Dice Rules, 1991
- Bless This House, 1995
- Brainsmasher: A Love Story'' 1993
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Andrew Dice Clay at the Internet Movie Database
- Rotten.com: Andrew Dice Clay biography (includes some jokes)de:Andrew Dice Clay
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