Andrew Dice Clay — Brooklyn-born stand-up comedian and actor, 'The Dice Man,' the first comic to sell out arenas; star of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and a character actor in films like A Star Is Born and Pam & Tommy.
The gist
Andrew Dice Clay recounts his rise from doing a Travolta-from-Grease impression at a Brooklyn club to selling out arenas and becoming the biggest comic in the world by 1990. He details the massive backlash he faced, including being banned for life by MTV and becoming the target of relentless press, and how few other comics supported him. He and Joe Rogan dig into his creative philosophy of always being first, his gambling stories, his health battles (a heart attack and Bell's palsy), and his late-career acting resurgence. Dice repeatedly praises Rogan as an original and credits The Comedy Store as the foundation for both their careers.
Big reveals
- Dice says MTV banned him for life after his 1990 awards-show poems set, and that Dick Clark tried to charge the stage while Arsenio Hall tackled him to stop it.
- Mitzi Shore warned The Day the Laughter Died would ruin his career, but it went gold in four days and became, in his telling, the biggest-selling comedy album ever.
- Dice reveals he had a heart attack at 60, got a stent put in, and quit smoking that same day, while also publicly battling Bell's palsy.
- Dice describes calling the exact blackjack cards on a 'gut' feeling at the Mirage and walking out with about $455,000 in profit.
- Dice claims he was the one who helped put Guns N' Roses back together, brokering peace between Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.
- His entire career launched from a first-ever open-mic set at Pips doing a Jerry Lewis-into-Travolta 'Grease Lightning' act, after which he was immediately booked to headline.
Things worth remembering
- At his peak Dice says he was doing 80,000 to 100,000 people a week and ultimately played over 300 arenas to roughly 12 million people.
- Rick Rubin approached Dice outside the Comedy Store and they went on to make five albums together.
- The Rodney Dangerfield young-comedians special, which aired February 13, 1988, is what launched Dice to overnight arena stardom.
- Doug Ellin gave Dice the final season of Entourage, which revived his acting career.
- Axl Rose talked Dice into opening for Guns N' Roses between Metallica and GNR at the Rose Bowl in front of more than 104,000 people.
- Dice's foot doctor, Dr. Rock Positano, gave Joe the book Street Smart and reportedly lived with Joe DiMaggio for ten years.
- Dice says comedians used to stab each other in the back and didn't help one another; the supportive culture changed in the early 2000s out of The Comedy Store.
- His viral 'famous face' prank videos, where he approaches strangers who run from him, are a live version of The Day the Laughter Died.
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The Day the Laughter Died
Andrew Dice Clay
“we do three nights at dangerfields and it winds up the double CD the day the laugh died okay” — Andrew Dice Clay 01:00:46Find it on Amazon
Dice Rules
Andrew Dice Clay
“when when dice rules that where I do grease lightning that was dice rules the album okay besides the movie” — Andrew Dice Clay 00:58:09Find it on Amazon
The Black Album
Andrew Dice Clay
“you're talking about the Black Album guys yes that came out right about the same time the Rodney special” — Andrew Dice Clay 00:56:34Find it on Amazon
Indestructible
Andrew Dice Clay
“I did a special right after it called indestructible that I had my sons that have um still Rebel band” — Andrew Dice Clay 02:38:10Find it on Amazon
Parisi Coffee
Parisi (inferred)
“now he does pareses coffee you know and it's incredible coffee it's what I drink every day” — Andrew Dice Clay 02:02:15Find it on Amazon