Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Dane Cook On Dealing With Hate, Dave Chappelle, His New Special "Above It All"

Episode Date: September 27, 2022

Dane Cook (@danecook) is a stand-up comedian and actor known for starring in movies like Waiting, Good Luck Chuck, My Best Friend's Girl and Employee Of The Month. He sits down in person with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about his new comedy special called "Above It All", why he funded it himself, what he's learned from doing comedy for 32 years, how he was able to use MySpace and the Internet early on to grow a fanbase and explode his popularity, why he feels a lot of comedians were jealous of him, why it became cool to dislike him and much more! For more information on Dane Cook's new comedy special "Above It All" go to: http://danecook.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris Van Vliet and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! All right, my friends, welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm CVV Chris Van Fleet. It's episode number 401. Wow. Thank you for all the nice messages, by the way, that you sent last week when we hit that milestone of 400 episodes. And we started the show in June of 2019, so 400, I feel like it's just,

flown by, but so glad you're back with us on this one, or perhaps this is your first episode. So happy that you're here with us. We've got 400 more after this, and then another 400 after that, and then another 400 after that, and you get the point here. If you're around my age, then you grew up with Dane Cook, and you know how much of a massive influence he was in the mid-2000s. I mean, there was a point during that time when he was the biggest comedian on the planet, and that led to a bunch of movies that he starred in like Employee of the Month. Good luck Chuck, my best friend's girl. And now he has a new comedy special. It's out on October 5th called Above It All. You can pre-order it now on his website, damecook.com. And it's really different from any other

comedy special that you've ever seen before. First of all, he shot it at his house in the Hollywood Hills. So like title is Above It All. They're quite literally like Above It All with the view and everything there. So that's obviously different, but he filmed it using IMAX cameras. So it looks unbelievable. And he also funded the entire thing himself, which if you remember from my interview with my friend, comedian, Michael Yo, he funded his entire comedy special by himself. That's something that a lot of comedians are starting to do. So danecook.com, if you want to check out the trailers, see what we're talking about, and then you can pre-order it for when it comes out on October 5th. Tag us on social media.

Take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening to this. Dane is at Dane Cook. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. It's just our names. And here we go. Please welcome live and in person, the one, the only.

Dame Cook. Thank you for making the time to do this. Thank you for making the time. No, thank you. No, you did it. I'm here because of this guy. It's been, for the last interview we did was nine years ago. Is that right?

For what? Planes. For planes, that's right. Was it fire and rescue or is it the first plane? First one, Santa Monica Airport. Do you remember that junket? Yeah, I think it was, there was planes in the area. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I remember I wore like a tan or banana-colored suit. Yes. Right? Did you recently watch this clip or something? No, I just, I have a weird thing about like what I was wearing at certain points. You told me this great story, and it's always so difficult when you do junket interviews because they're so quick, right? Three, four minutes.

You told me this great story about Ernest Glenn. Wow, Ernest Glenn. Yeah. That's the first person that didn't show up for a comedy gig, an open mic, as we call them. And I filled in without even knowing I was going to go on stage for the very first time. That was the guy's name that didn't show up. Right. When the host said, where's Ernest Glenn?

I said, that's me. And then I ended up doing my first comedy show ever. Wow. There was some weird backwards. Where are you, Ernest Glenn? I never found that guy, man. Really? Do you think Ernest Glenn was a real name?

Oh, yeah. I definitely feel like they were going to the list of people that signed up for the potluck or whatever. And when he didn't show or maybe he, I don't know, maybe he left or whatever it was, but I was, from time to time, I'll just Facebook and be like, where is Ernest Glenn? I want to reach out and say thank you for starting my career by not showing up. There was this weird backwards tie-in to the movie to Plains because Dusty got his way into the tournament by faking a name. And I didn't even know this Ernest Glenn thing. I didn't know any of this stuff. I don't remember any of that.

Really? Yeah. Okay. It mirrored my comedy career. But like completely by accident. And then dusty crop hopper, Dane Cook, the D.C. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

There was a lot of like a little hidden Easter eggs that I felt like were in there kind of speaking to my comedy career. But Ernest Glenn, wow. 31 years later doing stand-up comedy. And when I hear that name, it probably impacts me more than any other name that you could say because it made my life what it is completely because one person decided not to show up for a show. Were you terrified when you got on stage the first time?

I didn't even have time. I was honestly, it all happened so fast. I think if I knew I was going on that night, I'd be sitting there like, you know, oh my goodness, wait, am I going to bomb? It happened so fast that then I was up there and then I'm just doing some jokes or routines that I thought someday when I sign up, I'll do that.

Then I'm just going into it. But the one thing I remember about that first set, first of all, I did get a few laughs in a room full of 30 or 40 people. I got a few laughs. But what I remember is feeling like right away knowing I'm a pressure player. When it was really like put on me like you have to make this work right now. I identified almost immediately. Maybe all the jokes weren't great. Maybe I was lackluster in this area of that.

But I was prepared to like meet that moment. And so moving forward, it was like, okay, I'll be okay once I get up there, even though maybe off stage I was a little rag tech. And then were you like, I got to do this immediately again? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, if I didn't do it immediately, it was almost like, oh, my God, is this going to like, is that fear of can I be funnier or do I have, you know, can I expand upon that? Especially in your young comic, you're kind of in your head ruminating about all that stuff. So I think I got on stage about six days later at a place called the 99s, which was a. bar that had another like open mic situation where you could sign up and get in front of like all the people were just watching whatever the local sports was and you get up on stage and try to pull their attention towards you and i think i got a few people to take their eyes off the game but uh no after ernest the ernest glen moment it was

i i knew this was my life i just find it so difficult watching your comedy and speaking with you that you find it difficult watching my comedy That's a segue that I can get to do. I find it very difficult watching your comedy. I just can't digest it. No, where are you going with? It's hard to believe you were an anxious person growing up. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

I was an introvert. You know, I was like one of those people that, you know, in school, the thought of having to forget about getting in front of the class, the thought of even if the teacher asks me something, I was mortified at the thought of it. When it did happen, I was even more like just discombobulated at that moment, but I would be sitting there tapping my toe going, please don't call me. Or in sports, please don't pass the ball to me. I'd never wanted any participation because I was so scared that I would not come through. How does that turn into being a prolific stand-up comedian? You know how many people over the years that I went to school with were like, where did that,

Like how? You know, because they knew that about me. That I was just really trepidacious and had a lot of social anxiety, right? But that first said, and I told my mom later that night because I told her what happened, she said, well, how did you do? And I said, I think I exceeded my expectations. I mean, some of the jokes, even if they missed, it wasn't cringy. And I kind of commented on it.

I almost had like a little commentary to say like, you know what, that joke's not ready for public consumption. Let's move on. Let's pretend that. And I was covering and improvving. So it was almost like a Clark Kent Superman kind of moment, except I wasn't pretending to be Clark Kent.

I was really Clark Kent. But on the stage, man, it became, it felt like a little bit of a superpower. It's like Sasha Bear or Sasha, what is, Sasha Fierce, Beyonce, right? A little bit. I just needed the wind machine. And I had the mullet, so that probably would have worked.

But it was, I identified immediately that I had a place in the world if I wanted to just cultivate it. Yeah. Maybe it would, you know, pay the rent. So it was very performative. It was, yeah. I mean, in the first year, it was everything that stand-up comedy should and shouldn't be. Every bit of it that was like could be exceptional in forward moving and feeling evolution. and then all the stuff that you hear about hell gigs and nightmare situations and heckler battles

and not getting paid and failing miserably. But you can't stop doing it because you're in a constant state of like, why did that work? Why didn't I work there? Why did that crowd not like me? And you start figuring like, I need to try pushing buttons tonight. I remember when I went to New York City being like, I'm going to see how far I can let the ship leave the shore. how much can I turn them off on purpose to see when can I, you know, bring the back to me. So you need years and years and years of that try and fail.

You need them equally. You need very, very bad moments coupled with highlight moments. When do you feel like you turn the corner and you were like, I am now a comedian? When did I? Yeah, because I was really embarrassed to say it for a long time. I actually was. It's a good question because I, didn't, I couldn't say to you, I do stand-up comedy. I think I was a little ashamed of it.

I just didn't, I was very beta. What was the job up till then? Pizza, I worked at a pizza place. So, slinging pies. I was a dietary aid at a nursing home. I worked at a video store, you know, renting movies. I sold the Boston Globe out of a truck at a Walgreens. I mean, I did anything I could to continue the stand-up comedy career into a avoid any legitimate 9 to 5. Because I knew if I went into a plan B that like most people, you get kind of stuck. Yeah. Sort of in that.

So I did a lot of miscellaneous part-time stuff. And then doing gigs where, you know, if you could make 20 or 30 or $40 and, you know, put it in the till and go, okay, I got two more weeks of this. I could probably do. And then I got to figure out how to pick up some hours at the pizza place. So, but eventually you were like, okay, I'm going to lean into this. Yeah, I think that it was like the first two years, it was like this hobby that I had a real affinity for and made me feel, it made me feel like I had purpose. It really did. It made me feel like anything was better than how I felt kind of when I woke up and thought about like facing the world.

you know, it was almost like, this place, I have the ability to, I don't want to make it like modeling and say, like, I felt special. I really felt like, all right, this is a little thing I can contribute. Yeah. This works sometimes. And then after about three or four years, I was in a comedy group. We were doing sketch and improv and, you know, improv games. And I played guitar. We did anything we could on stage, make up songs and, you know, just anything and everything to entertain people. And after about three or four years doing that, I quit all my jobs. And then I was a full-time comedian. And that's when I had to finally start letting people know, like, yeah, this is what I do.

I'm a comic. Oh, really? Be funny. And then it was just mortifying to. It's so funny. Like, comedians and magicians fall into that same category where it's like you tell them that you do that for a living. And they're like, prove it to me now. Go.

Exactly. Exactly. It's somebody once said, it's like, you know, it's not like you meet a plumber and go, lay down some PVC piping. Let's see. grab some copper tubing and make a, you know, make a kitchen sink work. Although every magician I've ever known does have a deck of cards with them. Is that true? Yes.

To reduce some sleight of hands. Because they're like, all right, here you go. I'll show you something. I think I'd probably some time into my career always had a, you know, a CD or something. So if somebody was like, are you funny? I'd be like, here, just take it. If you write me an email, I'll know that you like my stuff. There must be nothing worse than people being like, well, be funny if you're a comedian.

Oh, man. And a lot worse. Sometimes people think because you're a comedian, they can just have at you because it's also in some way. It's strange. In Boston, in that era, stand-up comedy was two things at once. It was the boom of the 80s was happening, the Robin Williams and the, you know, the success of Mork and Mindy. And if you're on the Tonight Show, it was almost like Boston identified, man, if you're good at this job, like, this is something really exceptional. Yeah.

But they also, because it was Boston, and it was like, it was rough and tumbling in the area where I used to do stand up, if you didn't come with something that was exceptional in their eyes or met that expectation of the boom of the 80s, then, oh, man, they would just, they could really bring the hammer down on you. Looking back, best thing ever, because it put you through like boot camp in comedy. If you're good, they were like, you're good. And if you were half, they would just, you'd be like, what the fuck are you? Like just brutal, brutal, brutal after you got offstage. And so it kind of formed you to go in my comedy graduating class, it was like me, Bill Burr. Wow. Patrice O'Neill, who sadly has passed away, Gary Goldman, and then a bevy of other comics that, like, if I threw some other names at you.

But that class, we came up, like, if we don't stick together and really. hone our craft. This city will be like, you're not representing this place very well. Was Joe Rogan in Boston at that time? He was a graduating class ahead. Him and C.K. were like the two or three years right before us. So when we were coming in, you had the legendary locals that to this day are still like some of the best comics I've ever seen in my life. Then you had guys like Marin, CK, Joe, and a lot of others

that were in that a couple of years before us. So they were quickly like getting out of there. But yeah, I remember there was a place in Boston. It was called Dick Dorety's shipwreck.

It was a boat in the harbor. And I used to do shows there with Rogan all the time. We were always performing on this docked boat to people. There was some strange gigs back then. But no, seeing those guys and how they then took their careers in some new directions from the former stars of comedy.

It was good for us to be able to see that. Like, oh, this is a career, man. Did you ever have the authentic Boston accent? Well, when I listen back on like Harmful of Swallowed or the first stuff, I can hear it. But my dad did broadcasting, and he was big into enunciating. And so there were times in my life when I'd slip into it. And like, when it gets late, I get tired. I'm like, dude, I'm tired, kid.

But my dad was always about, like, really articulating to tell a story because he did color commentary and sports stuff. So I had it. But I also didn't have it heavily because he kind of kept me, like, focused on, you know, don't sound so regional, you know, appeal to a broader audience and don't just go like, oh, yeah, everybody over at the harbour's done. He's like, make sure that you, you know, build up that modulation and, and use your voice to be able to speak to several people and not just a region.

That was my exact move when I moved from Canada to the U.S. Is that right? I was like, I don't want to sound, I don't want someone to see me on TV and go, oh, that guy's clearly from Canada. Right. A little, having a little bit of that inflection, it's great. It makes you identifiable. But I guess if it's too heavily a region, then it feels like you should only be in that.

Right. And you don't hear a lot of Oot and Aboot here in the States. And they'd be like, ah, you're not one of us. What are you doing here? People often will hear the Canadian accent from me because my dad's side came down from PEI. No. Oh, wow. So we're all Prince Edward Island, O'Hagans, that came down and then couldn't get hired in Boston as O'Hagans.

So they switched it to cook to try to get some. You could have like a bit of like a Wisconsin accent perhaps. I don't know. It feels like a, I don't know, sometimes I'm always asked about like, now where are you from people that don't know I'm from Boston. And it's kind of interesting sometimes where people think that I'm from, you know? Yeah. Maybe it's just changing a little bit of the accent in Boston or like tempering it,

started to make people go like, I hear something in there, but I don't know exactly what it is. Yeah. You talk about the boom of comedy in the 80s, but you really brought comedy back in the 2000s. Like you made it like cool again. Well, it was like I was coming up with a generation of the next generation of comedy fans. And I could see that like, oh, this is like an internet generation. This isn't, this isn't stand up at like just an underground spot with a brick wall. This is the, not only the internet, but really like comedy central at its peak and in knowing like this is standup comedy is finding its way to be directly like not just a comic in a comedic role on a sitcom, like just stand up public consumption of standup.

comedy sets, right, from Comedy Central. So I looked at it like, I was meeting college kids coming out of Boston. And when I would talk to them at like a meet and greet after, they would often say, this is my first comedy show. And the more I heard that, I was like, I'm the first comic they're seeing. So, and I'd say, you've never seen so-and-so live or they were already stars or they were already, you know, further along. So I was like, okay, I'm just going to come up with this generation of comedy fans and see if I can,

you know, be like their leader. I mean, and I don't know if it was like something you were planning on doing. I don't know if it was, we worked. It worked. Well, it wasn't like I was, at first I wasn't planning on like, okay, can I like lead the charge more than I was like, I'm just going to, my dad once said, you know, you should do a lot of colleges because the things that you discover in your college years, you'll take with you for the rest of your life. That's good advice. Spoke to me. And he's like, and that means they'll always be somebody who probably wants to.

you know, you remind them of that era and they'll always want to support you. So I was like, okay, at least you have the chance to have somewhat of a career to be able to do this long term, even though it might not be the full-time gig since I love it. Yeah. But once I saw those numbers really expanding and it wasn't just New England anymore and it was people saying, hey, will you, will you come to Vancouver? Will you come to Tempe, Arizona and places that I'd never even, you know, at that time heard of, I was like, this is a happening. I was like, I got it. I know what is, this is, this is getting bigger than me, but I'm, but I'm fulfilling it because I'm putting out more content and I'm doing meet and greets anywhere I go. And I'm really like,

ingratiating myself with a fan, a new, you know, comedy fan that could be a fan for life. Was it still being met with the criticism from people that were like, that's just the internet? Like, who needs that? Well, at first, yeah, there was a small period of time where people would say, and it was so funny. I used to really think this was like, they'd say, oh, he clicked a couple of buttons and filled up Madison Square Garden. Like, people really thought, oh, he did the MySpace thing and he just clicked a button and it was like, you know, listen, it doesn't matter how much you bang the drum and get all the people in the

circle to watch you. If you don't deliver on something, they will leave faster than they formed. Sure. So to me, it was like the clicking of the button was, well, you didn't see the 14 years prior to this that I was, you know, at the gig meeting, meeting everybody longer than the show. Literally hang out three hours after an hour and a half show to make sure everybody got a chance to get to know me and really build that army of fans. That's always such an interesting thing when it's the 14 year overnight success. Right? I know. It's like, and people will say, did it, how did it feel when it all just kind of happened?

I'm like, it really never felt like that. It, it was honestly like, I'm at a college. There's 200 people. Wow, 200 people care about seeing me. Syracuse the next year. Hey, there's 420 people. And then, oh, wow, now it's a thought, you know, it's like, I saw that year because I was playing those same schools. That was like part of my route year after year. So when I finally went to Penn State, I remember Penn State thought it was going to be 55. 500 people. And I had a couple things that were in the zeitgeist and a comedy central thing. And my first album was kind of like still underground and just people passing it around burning it or whatever. And then I remember Penn State called and said, hey, can we move this show to the field house? Because more than 5,500 people are clamoring to get in.

And I was like, how many people? And they were like, it's about 8,500. And when we got to Penn State, it was 12,500 people. had showed up. And that night, I was like, I'm taking this anywhere. I'm going to take this to the biggest audiences that I am willing to take it to. Was that the biggest crowd you'd play to that time? At that time. 5,000, 6,000 before. Yeah. And then it just, boom, it just was like, what's the local arena? Forget the college. What's the 15, 20,000 seat arena? And then it was that for about three or four. I didn't even do theaters. I skipped theaters. Yeah, because for so long,

It was... Which I missed. The comedian in front of the brick wall. Right. Or in the cafeteria, doing the college gig, or maybe a theater at the camera. But it went from years and years of great clubs, the comedy sellers and, of course, the laugh factories,

and, you know, Nick's comedy stop in Boston. It was like, club, club, club. And then all these college audiences. And I was looking at theaters. I'm like, okay, I want to play the Beacon. I would play the Fox Theater. I had all these ideas, the celebrity theater in Arizona. And then it just jumped.

It went to only arenas for, I didn't even know, like a four or five year run before I came back. I was like, I'd like to do these theaters. What do you think it was? Because so many comedians wished to play one arena show in their entire career. I think it was because of my energy, the access to me that I think before that was, well, it was not in vogue to know your audience. It was actually kind of a no-no. I got a lot of shit early on because I treated it like a business. I treated it like everybody does today, podcasting, and you know, you have to be entrepreneurial.

It used to be a business of 23 hours of the day, nobody knows you. You're skulking around, you're dark figure, you're somewhere in a corner. Then you come to life, you're only the funny person. And I was like, well, no, I'm going to, I don't subscribe to that. I already knew I liked watching comedians or maybe on a Richard Pryor would do a talk show where he'd be very candid. Or a comic that I loved, like a Rob Williams would do a role

that had a lot of heart. And I was like, why can't people get to know that side of me and know, oh, he's funny when he's on stage? Yeah. I think it was just a confluence of all those things of like the energy, of course, the routine that I worked on for so many years.

They were really rooting for me because they knew me. They knew me as a pal online. Yeah. And people, I'm telling you, man, they were writing, you like, I knew we'd make it. We. I knew we would get you there.

I knew we'd, S&L. I knew that we would do that. It was always, I used it. I always said we. I never said, I want to do that. I always talked to my audience and we're going to do this together. Why don't we try to, I still, to this day, is that's how I feel. That's how I want to communicate it.

I'm not there unless it's a we situation, right? Yeah. But I have to give everything I have and do something that I think has been in the whole, in the never been done before, holy shit business in order for the fans to go. This is where we need to elevate you. Do you remember who was in your MySpace top eight? I had a lot of people.

I would shuffle it out. There was some cute girls at the time that I was like, I got to put her in there. I'd like to meet this girl at some point. How quickly did Tom get out of the MySpace top? Tom was in there for a bit because he was a buddy. For real? Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah. I know Tom. Tom was a friend. And of course, it was like, then it became almost like, like, you know, what would somebody send a Sufi picture or maybe they were the one to, you know, get me in their town. And I'd say, oh, you brought me to this place I've never been before. I'm going to put you in my top eight.

What an honor that would be. It was cool, man. It was, yeah, I really loved that whole experience. That era of the internet was a lot of fun. There's a whole generation that won't even know the honor that it was to be in someone's MySpace top age. Yeah, because it wasn't at all corporate. That was a website that didn't feel, even though, you know, there was money behind it, it was just a whole different strategy and just the whole rigamarole had nothing to.

It didn't feel like, it felt like the Wild West. It didn't feel like there was anything to do with like algorithms and who gets what or, you know, a currency stream. And it really was just like a hang, you know. So if you were on the cutting edge then of, MySpace, what do you see with like TikTok right now? Because I feel like that's kind of maybe 20 years later what that was doing that. Yeah, it's like there's still an ability to craft something and create something that's wholly original.

I mean, I know TikTok's a lot of things. There's a lot of different kinds of content. You put a lot of content out on TikTok. I mean, I love it. I don't think I've engaged with anything outside of maybe for a little while. I was doing things like Clubhouse. You know, I love doing podcast stuff, but TikTok was the first one in a long time that, and I know them behind the scenes.

And when they approached me and I was like, this is kind of how I would like to use this as a hub for the next, you know, era of my comedy. They were, it felt like that my space of it all, where it was kind of like, what can we do to help you cultivate the audience that you want in here? So I like those, that group of people's great. And I think that it's incumbent upon the creator to come up with something that, of course, is going to get eyes on it. But even more importantly is you have to have a long form game plan to where you want to take your audience, where you want to take your career. So I try to tell, you know, young, especially comics, like, don't be in such a rush to feel like you got to get that, you know, five million views on so and so. Because trust me, when you get it, you've got to be ready. And if you're not and that next number slips down to nothing,

it's going to feel like you're over. And you're not. It's just the way society imbibes on content. But if you've got like your character, your persona, you know, you've mapped out like where you want to take your audience, you know how to the we of it. You know how to communicate that. Then you have a real chance at, you know, those machines to feed your machine.

But if you don't have a machine of your own, that machine will use you. And then you'll be sitting a year later going, man, that was like, why didn't that sustain? And it's because you didn't have a sustaining plan. What's the thing you're driving people for? The special right now. The special.

It's really for me. And the next special after that is. Yeah. I mean, it's really, you know, like permission to speak freely. Of course. I wanted to create the most incredibly beautiful comedy special with one of the most legendary directors who I've worked with twice before, Marty Cullner. He directed Vicious Circle, arguably one of the most beautiful comedy specials. You know, he made that arena.

I mean, it was, I just remember looking at the footage saying, Marty, like, you made me look like beyond what I even thought I was doing up here. And then we did isolated incident. when I called Marty on this, I said, I want to set the bar again. A lot of people followed suit. You know, after doing the arena show, I could watch a lot of people and go, this looks like what we did.

This has the same kind of, and yet before that, people were like, this isn't a comedy show. This feels like, you know, this isn't really, but it is, you know, when you can be right in the middle and it's like four theaters are around you at any given point.

And so called Marty and said, And, you know, I'm ready to do something that I think is a game changer. And so pitched them on the idea, my house, Hollywood Hills, drones, but really more than anything, the content, letting people in, not just in my home, you know, that's what it thematically was, but I'm letting people in closer to my experiences. Sometimes it's funny self-deprecating. Sometimes it's a little cocksured because I've done a lot of cool shit. And sometimes it's like, here's where I've faced.

so badly and had, you know, traumatic capsizing experiences that I can now laugh at. I said, so it's going to be aesthetically beautiful, but it's going to be introspective and unbelievably funny because I'm more present at 31 years than I've ever been before. I love film, and I love that you shot this at IMAX. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's insane. Yeah, we found IMAX standard quality cameras because I knew I wanted to upscale it and and show it on an iMacs screen i was like this feels so cinematic and so we have that like that's

like Christopher Nolan really like changed the game like when because iMacs for the longest time was like science documentaries right right and then he was like let's film the dark night right using iMac's camera yeah him and james cameron obviously like you know really avicar you know made made things uh feel more immersive i think this is going to be a new trend like comedy special shot on iMac If I could, you know, cross my fingers and make a wish, it's like, I hope that after people see this at, we're going to do Man's Chinese Theater as the opening night. I hope that, you know, some theater people see it and say, like, maybe we should do a run of this or do the next one thinking of it more in this, you know, in this way, an event type of, you know, film situation. I don't know. I mean, I just know that I'm just happy we're showing it one time on a big screen in front of a great audience.

And if you're going to debut it in any theater in Los Angeles, like, that's the one. That's where all the big movies debut. Yeah. It's still referred to as the Chinese theater. That's what people call it most of the time. Formally, man's, but we know it now is the TCL Chinese theater. And it's a beautiful historic location. Did you call it above it all because your house is above everybody else?

It was, that was, you know, kind of like the second meaning, but really it was about like, you know, staying above negativity, staying above people, you know, people take your, people will hijack your narrative in this business. Happens a lot. It happens every day. You know, something gets written about you. And the court of public opinion says, that's more interesting than the reality of it. And they go with it.

And so there's me and then there's a version of me that lives on the internet that is kind of fascinating to watch how that version of myself gets piecemeal. and put through the spanking machine or even sometimes lauded for things that you're like, I don't know, that was just a cool thing I did. I didn't expect it would be so shimmery. So above it all was really me being like staying above maybe early in my career ego and things that like hubris and stuff that gets into you when you're a young person who has all this fame and success out of the blue.

And then also staying above a lot of negativity. And sometimes when, you know, people come, you know, to take your legs out from under you because everybody wants your spot, you know, at some point. So above it all really was that. And yes, of course, that beautiful view and being able to look out and, you know, stay inspired. Why was there so much negativity that followed you around? Like when you were at the peak of your popularity. Yeah, I think it was a few things.

I know that it was, you know, there's a lot of envy. There was a lot of people that felt like there was a certain pecking order. And there really isn't, you know, you just get picked. at some point and thrown on the cover of Rolling Stone or whatever starts to take over, other people look at that and they're frustrated. And so sometimes people, well, actually a lot of people have come to me years later and said, I'm one of those people that pig piled on you because I was frustrated. I was tired of going on a morning radio show trying to get a few hundred people maybe to my gig.

And the first thing they would say is, well, Dan Cook's doing this. Why don't you do what he does? And so I understood it as that. And then it was also something I never understood because my dad was an athlete. And I thought that the arts were going to be like athleticism or like being a sports figure where it was like just stats based. And I quickly learned that being self-made in a business that wants to write you up or write you down, you'd take the power away from them, the industry. And so at some point, the pitchforks are out because, like, oh, you wrote yourself up, but now we get to, you know, kind of undress you here.

Yeah. So it was that. And I just think it was just like a multitude of things that were going to happen one way or the other because that's kind of where a career takes you. You got to be like the bell of the ball. Yeah. And they got to make you feel like you're more special than you are. And then they have to, you have to almost like the American way, like where it's like,

Now you have to have the fall and they have to dissect you. And you have to talk about either your trauma or like what you're encumbered by. And then you get to get back up. And that's when everybody does a slow clap. And then you're kind of in for the rest. That's really like the way that our narrative in this country likes to. It's that John Travolta thing, right? Yeah.

The biggest and the best Saturday night fever in Greece. And then it's like making fun of them because he's on talking baby movies or whatever he had to do to take care of his livelihood or whatever you needed. And it was just like disparaging and discouraging. And I'm sure probably hurt a lot for him to be like, man, I was the biggest thing in this, in the, you know, in this country. And then, you know, a Pulp Fiction or something. And everybody goes, we knew you were the best.

And it's kind of like, I saw the writing on the wall with it. And after I had, you know, kind of like my major moment and then a fall down moment, I was actually kind of okay with it. I was like, oh, the pressure's off. And now I can just kind of roll back into this with passion and the fans that stuck by me that were meant to be there in the first place. There was a point when you were kind of like the nickelback of comedy, like where it was like it was really cool to not like you.

Right. But at the same time, your numbers were speaking for themselves. Like, you were selling out arenas, but people were like, oh, yeah, but like, I don't like him. Right. Well, but I'm not looking at that at the time because I'm looking at 20,000 people that love me. So anytime everybody wants to go like, what was it like to? I go, you know, I guess if the point, counterpoint is I was on the cover of Time magazine in the same year that people were saying I sucked as one of the most influential people on the planet

and accepting that I was. I knew I'd used this internet in a way that nobody, I got there first and then figured it out. So I could actually sit there and be like, this is true. I am an influential person. I don't know more than this year. And I definitely think if they did an issue called where did they, where did they misstep? I would have been on the cover of a few of those. But I never, I never was down.

Even when I was taking, people were taking pot shots because I've never not had an audience. I've never had an audience. I'm fortunate that I never had an audience like abandoned me to where I'm like, I can't do gigs or I'm not, for 31 years, I've never not performed. Yeah. And if I tell people I'm at a place, they come out. So that only helped business because it made me more interesting that I actually really am, which is a homebody.

I do my gig. I do these big, massive shows. And then I actually thought, like, man, I'm just kind of like a pretty average guy. and yet that version of me either loved or hated was so much more interesting for people to parse. Right. And it was very good for business. Do people ever think that you on stage is not authentic?

I think years ago, people felt like, oh, the energies have put on and it's just this whirling dervish of energy, but like, what's he really like? And you're like, but actually I've never done drugs or, you know, never drank, yeah. Yeah. But I also knew at that time,

I was not false, but I didn't have all the accoutrements that I wanted to build up as a well-rounded performer. I knew I broke, even though it took a lot of years, I still was like, I'm only 15 years into this. Like, I have so much to learn. I have a lot of things that I need to- 15 years in any other career, like you're a veteran. Right. And yet I knew that 15 years in, I could look and go, all right, if there's 20 boxes that I've seen other comics that I want to emulate and love, I check eight, you know, or I could talk to my comedian friends and be like, man, I remember in 2011, I walked into the laugh factory.

And for the first time in my career, I planted my feet. I did not take the mic out of the stand. And I said, for one year, I'm not going to move. I need to learn complete stillness. I need to learn to tell a story right here. I love physicality. and I always want to add that as flare, but I was like,

I need to learn absolute stillness in vernacular only. I need to be funny quite simply by telling you something poignant because I want to talk about poignant things and I want to be introspective. But if you're talking about something that's very genuine and you're adding this, now that's a distraction.

This works if that's part of the character. But when I'm talking about, like, for example, I have a story in the new special about a stalker that I have. that I've been dealing with, open case LIPD, a violent stalker, a person who has physically threatened to kill a man or a woman? Is a woman? I knew that if I was going to make that story funny,

because there is funny, crazy shit in this story, the only way that I would eventually in my career be able to tell a story that that is that real and stark and caustic and meaningful is if I just tell you like this. this woman said, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to find you and I'm going to murder you. And I remember sitting there and thinking, man, I wish I read this after I ate this pizza because I've been waiting all.

It was like I was finding humor. Yeah. Because also I grew up in a family that humor helped us to get. It was a coping mechanism. So even with this scary thing that I was dealing with, I could find humor to cope because I was really scared, genuinely. But the 2011 planting my feet in 2022 is the best fucking decision I could have made back then because now I can just be completely transparent.

And then I can put the, what's that? Was that difficult? No, because I got good at it. There's other things that are difficult still. There's other, I don't know if I want it. Like, there are other elements that I. you know, man, I'm still learning. I'm 31 years and I still feel like there's things that I could be better at,

ways that I could, you know, dovetail into certain things. And I might say to you like, man, I've gotten really, you know, I'm laser with like improv and you're not seeing the stitches between jokes. I can segue and, but then I can find other things that are, that I'm still like desperately trying to figure out like the ultimate way to, I'm a storyteller. I'm not a joke teller. Yeah.

So I want three acts in everything I tell you. I want to be able to have three acts and the way that I construct most of my humor is like this. There's an act one, which is like the information. There's an act two, which is the dark center of the joke or whatever that might be. Then there's a in between with act two to three and it's improv. And I'm going to play off the crowd or I'm going to find something new. And I give myself permission to leave the joke to explore my feelings. Something I learned from Chappelle.

I started off with Dave in New York City. And I would watch Dave. He could be so poignant and he could really feel a feeling in real time and then add it into the routine. So it was like learning from the people that I came up with to go, if I can have a pre-written piece of material that is formulaic and funny, but I can put something very real at any given time in it. So that's in between act two and three. And then act three is what, the punchline, the button, the tag and then stitch, stitch, stitch the segue. you shouldn't know any of that. You should only be laughing and enjoying,

and you're not realizing, like, to me, that was like, that's three years of working on that piece to make something that should just feel like we're just shooting the shit. I mean, but you're such a great storyteller. Thanks, man. I love it. That's what makes you so good at what you do. I truly, genuinely appreciate that because I love it.

There's a story, a clip from a story on YouTube with you and Dave Chappelle. I'm sure you know the story I'm talking about, The Laugh Factory, where it's supposed to be Dane's night, and Dave Chappelle shows up. Not true. None of that story is true. No. And apparently, Dave does a tight 10.

The guy that, yeah, yeah, okay. You know the whole thing. Yeah. But the guy that told the story, even told the story by saying, I heard this thing, and I don't know, but I heard, and it was like he prefaced it by saying that Dave came in and basically because it was my night that Dave did a set and then said, hey, everybody, join me outside for a cigarette.

And then the arena And then the crowd just followed Dave out. And the guy was like, this is like 2006 or 7. Let me tell you something. Dave and I were both at the peak of our power at 2006 and 7. You know, him with the Chappelle show and just everything in his life that was happening. And, you know, me from this meteoric, like the two people you're not leaving a room at that era was me and Dave. I mean, I'm not trying to sound like, you know, so like it's just not true.

So he didn't say, let's go outside. I'm going to go. No, I just saw David Summercamp. I did his Yellow Spring show. Like, he's like, I adore that guy. We would never do anything to try to, to underhand, you know, to take away from one another. Both of us know probably more than most people that, you know,

this isn't the job that this isn't a good look in this job to try to take something away from somebody else. And Dave would never do that. And people that believe that, I know it's a good story and it sounds fun to tell, but it's like he would never have done that. There's like six million views on that. Six million people that you're saying the record straight. You're just set the record straight.

Yeah. Maybe this will get 12 million views. And everyone will see. Actually, it's such a good story. It's like, let it be out there. You know how it is. Yeah. It's all.

But the title of it is like Dave Chappelle's savagely ruins Dane Cook's career. Right. That's just so ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, I was also in a magazine article once that said I was dating Rihanna. And she came to the show, and then it was this whole breakdown of like, we went to the Pacific Palisades. And like, for years, my friends were like, man, what was that like? I'm like, never met her. You know, these things just had, it's fodder.

It's like the internet is, ready, this is what the internet is. It's just waiting for one person to say it. so everybody can believe it. One person says it. We've seen it recently with people that something really terrible is said. One person says it, and then everybody runs with it. And it's like that on the good side and the bad side, sometimes people can say something that like this person's a hero

because they once saved the dog from a fire. And that person is like, I never did that. I called the fire department, but I never ran into the. And so that's all the internet's waiting for us. one good sounding story to go, let's latch on to that. It's like a big game, a broken telephone. Yeah, no, the internet is,

the internet is a, it's a TV program. It's one show. Yeah. With, remember Three's Company was all about misdirection, Jack would hear something, and then the whole episode is,

I heard the tail end of a, what a great reference. It's company. The whole internet is just, I think I heard a thing, and then somebody else goes, well, I'll meme it, And then another person says, a source said, and then all of a sudden you're just watching this thing and you're like, well, that was fun.

But that's not me. There's so many parts of your career where I feel like you were already at a really big level. And then you took it to another big level. And I feel like the movies for you were a really big part of that. Yeah, it was fun because that like when movies came around, it was really just fans of the standup that suddenly are hitting you up saying, you know, do you want to play in this sandbox for a little bit? I wanted to do film and I had hoped to broaden my my aspirations, but for me it was like, I'll just follow where stand-up takes me. And then it took me to some really interesting places.

It continues to, you know, everyone to all my phone rings. And it's like, you know, Mel Brooks. Like, do you want to do the producers at the Hollywood Bowl? And it's like, I just continue to feed the stand-up because what comes from it is fascinating. What was the movie that really like took it up, you think? Um, I mean, on the comedy side, definitely my best friend's girl was like the one that I felt like for me, you know, just as a performer and a producer. Um, I'm, I'm really proud of that. You know, the other comedies were a lot of fun, but I sometimes signed on late.

It was like, show up and I'm just part of another person's rider vision. But I produced that with Lionsgate and I got to really build that character and script from the ground up. And then on the drama side, it was like, man, like Danner, real life. Peter Hedges gave me the opportunity to, you know, show vulnerability. It's such a sleeper, great movie. Yeah, it really is. And it's like, you know, with Disney Plus now, all these things like planes or that, you know, new audiences and families are finding them. But probably Mr. Brooks. I got to play a real, like, salacious, you know, lascivious character. And, I mean, honestly, man, it's just like, I've been really lucky. I've been lucky to, you know,

Lady Luck once in a while just throws me something that's so, you know, I've done song and dance at Hollywood Bowl with Vee Mel Brooks. I've worked with, you know, Jerry Lewis. I've worked with, you know, some of the grades, the Kevin Costner's, and then I've had the chance to just continue to create things like Above It All and do something that I feel like is the heart and soul of who I am, which is a person that just wants to make people laugh. Where does the process begin? Like, so Above It All is about to come out. And you told me off camera, you're already working on the next special. That's right. So is it just workshopping stuff?

Is it writing jokes down? What is it? Yeah, I mean, it's, for me, it always starts with what's the piece of material that is really like where I'm at right now in my life, right? What's something that like, you know, am I, am I deeply in love? Am I at the opposite? Am I just like, you know, the bachelor out on the town? Am I trying to escape in my life? Am I trying to be more centered?

everything is a through line and a theme. And with this, the bit that I told a story about five years ago, it's been five, you know, with the pandemic, it was like a pause and then working on it again. So this is the longest incubation period of like, usually it's a couple of years and you film it, right? But this is four years, almost five with some of this material. And I tell a story about the first really bad hell gig that I did.

and it was really humiliating. And I walked people through this whole story. I told her five years ago, and I was like, when I go, you know, on the next stage to do a show for television, I'm going to tell that that's going to be the crux. And so it starts with one thing, and I kind of build out from there. So, I mean, you are in love right now, right?

We both just got engaged. That's right, congratulations. Congratulations. Both of us. Wow. Right? I didn't make a comedy bit about it, though. I did.

It's in the trailer for this. Yeah, yeah. I definitely, you know, I can't do a stand-up comedy special or album without talking about relationships in some way because it's the one through line that fans always want. Fans always want something in there about, you know, a makeup, a breakup, cheating, you know, being, you know, being like, you know, sewing your oats. At every point in my career since I was 19 years old, people want some kind of like, you know, you know, something to do with like falling in or falling out of love.

In fact, Troublemaker, that whole special, speaking of like theme and through line, I called it Troublemaker because my whole goal was to break people up. And I broke a lot of people up with that special. A lot of people wrote me. What bit specifically? Oh, the whole thing. It's just a savage. I say at the beginning of that show, I'm like, you know,

if you make it through this comedy routine, you're going to look at the person you're with at the ending. You're either going to be better from it. or I'm going to ruin you. And it was like, and I said, and you're going to be glad because I'm either going to like end this because you're not meant to be together or you'll know that because of the. And so I cultivated a whole set that I felt like I was a troublemaker. It was like I was going to rabble rouse and make people break up or, you know, a lot of people wrote me and said, we got married after that special. We knew we were right for each other after that special.

Does your fiance ever go, please, we don't need to talk more about our relationship? She's very funny. She's super funny and she is, man, she's like silver tongue. So it's like, you know, you're a comedian. You want to be with somebody who, first of all, thinks you're funny. Right? That helps. Sure.

But if you can be with somebody who's also kind of funny, but Kelsey is like, I can't even repeat some of the things that, you know, like, she'll go there. Like, I'll say some crazy shit and then she'll say stuff that makes me go. I cannot believe you just said that. I mean, she's, she's awesome. Look, you don't even have to be a comedian to want your partner to think you're funny. Like, if my fiancé didn't think I was funny, this would not work. Right.

You know, when you're with somebody and like you'd say something funny and every once in a while, they'd just like, you'd be like, that is not funny. I get that a lot. It just steals your soul. So to be with somebody that like, I mean, honestly, we laugh a lot. We're always having a good time. Rachel gives me this one. She'll be like, you think you're so funny.

Like, aren't I? No, not right now. Yikes. Not right now. Okay, that's fair. Okay. That's fair. Not right now is okay. I'll take a knot right now everyone's while. Ah, she's hungry or a little low blood sugar. It's like, but, you know, when it's like, when, you know, when somebody's like, try harder, then it's like, okay, back to the open mics. What's the piece of advice that you dole out now to comedians that are coming out, are coming up? I try to tell them the best advice I ever got. And it's the only thing that they should ever hear from another comedian, which is, You know better than anybody what you should be doing up there. Okay.

My whole gear with, you know, being in a mentor situation with, forget about comedians, but anybody kind of on the come up in the arts is, I will fight anybody away from you so you can keep your integrity. You have to just, you know, you know, I don't know. I would never even dare to say to somebody like, you should be doing this. You should change.

I stay far away from that. Most of my mentorship is like on the on the legalese side. I've been through so much stuff legally that I feel like I'm the one who says like, let's read your contract together. Do you know how to read a contract? Do you know the things that you should be looking out for? Oh, it's 40 pages. That's already a contract you don't want.

Boiler room. You know, this can be three pages. If somebody hands you a 40 page contract, you know, you're in rough shape. So my whole mentor thing is like helping a comic, especially comics, doesn't even matter if I think it's the funniest thing. It's like what you believe in in your messaging. That's what you need to get to the core of. And stay away from the noise of other comics and other people saying, you shouldn't do that or that's offensive. It's like, that's what you sign up for.

This job is about turning people off. As much as you think it's about making people laugh, you're never going to make everybody. love you. You're never going to be funny to everybody all the time. So you're signing up for a, your success comes at the heels of people not liking what you do. So you have to be able to go, oh, I'm, I've got my strong opinion. Yeah. They don't like it, but they're laughing a lot. And early in a comedy career, sometimes you go, oh, man, these people weren't laughing. And you're like, that makes you feel bad. It's like, good. That's actually good. You want them, laughing, them to be like, I don't, I'm not into this.

So that's about pushing the envelope as much as you possibly can? It's not even, it's not even like the envelope of like, oh, I'm saying things that are like so obtuse and like, no, it's quite literally like some people's sense of humor is like dull or they're going to be into something that's like they love very political. Like it's not even pushing the envelope. It's going, these are the things that are funny to me. This is what I'll say. There's two kinds of comics.

And this is the comic I wanted to be versus some comics do this. Some comics write and think, what is funny to them? What is funny that they will laugh at and latch on to? And they write from that. But the comics I loved were what's funny to me and how can I bring people into my world. And maybe their flex of that are going to make them go like, oh, that speaks to me. That's what you want. Them not laughing, them cracking up.

And if you can do that, you start to know like, I think I have a persona that as time goes on, those people won't show up for the show. More of these people will. Yeah. I just want to thank you for always being so genuine. Oh, man, dude. Always being so generous with your time and your wisdom.

Love talking shop. You know, it's like when we first started DMing, I was like, you know, this is just, this is what I want to be doing. And stand up and talking about, you know, creating something from nothing. saying like, how can we, we, how can we make more people, you know, just have the time of their life for a little while, escape everything, turn on a comedy show. That's really beautiful as well and go, this is a nice little pause from all that other stuff.

I love that you're so passionate about it that you're like, oh, yeah, when we're done here, I'm going to go swing by the laugh factor. I'm pretty exhausted. I've done a bunch of interviews and a lot of stuff today to like, you know, as I'm doing every day. but it's because I want to talk about it. I want to keep going. I'm excited. I end every conversation with the same question

because I'm all about gratitude. I start and end every day saying out loud three things that I'm grateful for. So what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Love, grateful for love. It makes, it's the adhesive, man. It makes everything else,

everything that I thought was great about like having whatever, passion or creativity or everything was, like, like hitting the nitro button in a, you know, fast car already once like I really had genuine love in my life, both being able to really give it and really receive it in its truest form. I will echo that too. Yeah, man.

It changes your life. It narrows the scope in a way you want it to be. When you're a young man, it's like, you know, you're looking at everything all at once but once you have that person, especially that one person who, who just, they love you for the things that you accomplish, don't accomplish, just your passion and what you give to them and how, what I think is important, how you champion them. The best kind of relationship, this is a relationship, Shona,

is like, you know, they're into your goals and want to help you. You're into their goals and has unselfishly just want to help them. And then you've got some stuff together that you're looking forward to doing. If you can have like that triangulation, that's, hold on to that. That's what you want the rest of your life. Two other things. That there's a stage somewhere that I can get on for a little while in the pandemic. It felt like it was gone.

I never thought stand-up would be gone. I always looked at stand-up as if everything else goes away, we'll always need laughter. Sure. And then suddenly that was gone. And that was like gut-wrenchingly depressing. Yeah. I mean, I didn't even know what I was feeling. when I was exploring that idea of like, I may never do it again.

Like, I don't know what the world's going to do, but like, I may never be with a group of people in a building, making them laugh in that way again. So gratitude to be able to get on a stage somewhere. And not only that, but just be able to get on stage. And also, it's still the last place that you can really go unless people are filming it and sharing it. Like, and just share thoughts and it doesn't all have to make sense or always be, you know, you know, you can, it's still a place a bit like a speak easy that you can go into and like just talk some smack and, you know, most people are cool with that and understand it's jokes. So that and then the third that I got to, I'm always grateful and another day goes by where I don't

thank God that I got to show my mom and dad everything that they hoped for me. Everything that the pieces that they saw of possibility. and get all the obstacles and being self-loathing and having all that, you know, fear when I was a kid in anxiety and being, you know, what I, you know, told you about, which is just like not really having a lot of self-worth as a young person. Yeah. And I'm thinking about it now that, you know, I got to hug them and show them that I could do this incredible thing in front of all these thousands of people and make them laugh. So those three things are, that's it. I can't wait to see what's next for you. I can't wait for you to see this.

I can't wait to see this. This is it. This is like, you know, I don't know what I would even do past this. I usually always have an idea like I'm working on the next one now, but I can't honestly say because I'm still trying to discover what is that theme moment. This is like this is something I look at and go, man, I just don't know what I would do past this. I've played a lot of stages that I got to play Radio City in 2019. And that was like the last place that I really felt like I need to play.

And when I did that show, I remember leaving there and feeling like, I don't have another stage that I have to play in the world. There's not another place. I've performed for all the troops. I've done the greatest USO shows. Those are things that were really important to me. And I got to do, obviously, Madison Square Garden, Boston Garden, a bunch of great arena shows.

But those classic locations, but it was always raised. Radio City that I wanted to play in my house. I always wanted to do this show. So I don't know what's next, but I, too, am excited to try to figure it out. Dude, thank you so much. Oh, man, you got it. Thank you, for it.

Appreciate it. Well, there we go, my friends. I can't thank Dane enough for joining us. Check out his website, Danecook.com for all the details of his new comedy special. Above it all, comes out on October 5th. And I'm sure you have a friend or a family member who's a Dane Cook fan.

So please share this. episode with them and take a screenshot, posted on social media, and tag us so we can share it out as well. Dane Cook, by the way, and he mentioned it during this interview, but he's so good with fan interactions. So if you do tag him in this,

I'd say there's like a 98% chance that he's going to repost this, especially on Instagram. So he's at Dane Cook. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And I'll leave you with a quote about smiling and about laughing and about comedy. Because

who doesn't like all that stuff? A smile starts on the lips. A grin spreads to the eyes. A chuckle comes from the belly. But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul. Overflows and bubbles all around. That's from Carolyn Birmingham. So good. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, There were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley?

How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this.

Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.