Great Dane

Cook comes to Philly…finally

 

By Padraic Maroney

Philly EDGE Correspondent

 

Dane Cook is a hot comic property with a stand-up act that has resulted in CD, DVD and movie success. But there is one obstacle Cook has never tackled: a Philadelphia audience. That all changes today.

The comedian makes his Philadelphia debut at the Wachovia Spectrum tonight in support of his recently released comedy album/DVD, Rough Around the Edges. Even with this being his first show in the city, Cook has felt the wrath of scorned Philadelphians who have wanted him to play here for years.

“I’ve got a very intense relationship with my Philly fans,” Cook says with a laugh. “I would have Philly fans come up to me, point into my chest and be like ‘You need to come to Philly!’ For years, I would say, ‘I want to!’ …I know I have such a massive support system there, but it was just one of those things where it never seemed to work out gig wise – even on a smaller scale.”

To make up for overlooking the city all of these years, he said a stop in Philadelphia was a deal-breaker this time around.

“Like a few shows on this tour, this is my first introduction to Philly on this level. I think Philly has a real strong chance of being a highlight on this tour. I so look forward to it,” said the comedian, who has already performed seven shows on his current tour schedule.

Cook hadn’t necessarily planned on touring or releasing a new album: The Edges CD was recorded at a pair of performances at Madison Square Garden late last year which were supposed to follow along with his Vicious Circle special on HBO. At the time, he realized much of the material being performed at the shows would be different from what was done during the earlier special.

“I looked through my material and realized ‘I don’t think this is going to be a repeat show of Boston,’” Cook explained. “I had a good solid hour of, not just new stuff, but a few things that weren’t included in the Vicious Circle show.”

Cook didn’t have time to enjoy the aftereffects of the Garden shows due to having to get back to Rhode Island to continue filming the recently released Dan in Real Life. However, once he got a chance to look at the footage of the New York performances, he decided it should be released for everyone to see. The tour, though, was an afterthought that came, not from a place of greed, but rather pieces just falling into place.

“It manifested itself very naturally. It wasn’t like a ‘Hey, let’s make a lot of money and put this thing on.’ The tour literally came together about a month-and a half ago. We should have been planning it for four or five months for something of this caliber,” the Boston native said.

“Then the CD release just happened to coincide. It wasn’t clever marketing or me saying ‘The CD has to come out.’ I said, ‘I want to do a tour. When do I have time to do the tour?’”

Fans going to the show, which falls on Thanksgiving Eve, can expect a “very unique” night from the comedian, he said. Usually, Cook won’t retread comedy bits that he has done, opting instead for new jokes. But he has decided to sprinkle in some old favorites into the routine.

“I didn’t want people to feel like this show is just the new stuff because there is either stuff that you want to experience live that you never heard, or you are bringing people who are maybe new to me,” Cook explained.

“People who follow me know that year to year, I kind of hit the reset button and I constantly like to be putting out new material.”

The past year has been hectic for the comic, who, along with pulling the tour and album together, has had four movies hit theaters. It was also hard to escape his mug on television too, thanks to baseball playoff commercials that aired incessantly during the postseason.

The avid Red Sox fan is happy with his hometown team being the World Series champs, but he’s still able to relate to the suffering Phillies fans. Despite being empathetic over the Phillies postseason plight, he adds with a laugh, “But there can only be one highlander.”

           

Dane Cook

Wed. Nov. 21

Wachovia Spectrum

3601 Broad St., Philadelphia

Tickets:$30-$100