Comedian Dane Cook is a lucky man, and he knows it.
“I have a job that is a dream come true,” he said. “That’s all I ever wanted to do, be a stand-up comedian. … I just truly love getting people going. I just love to hear the sound of laughter.”
In which case, Cook must be almost deafened by the laughs he’s collecting these days. Thanks to his new comedy CD “Retaliation,” he’s now one of the most in-demand stand-ups on the comedy circuit, and on Friday he appears in the new comedy film “Waiting.”
“The CD debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard top 200, which was quite stunning,” he said. “It’s definitely a highlight of my career and life, being able to share that with my family.”
Cook, a friendly, happy guy whose comedy act is based on observational comedy– “the best kind to me,” he says–is no overnight success, however. The 33-year-old comedian had been toiling away on the stand-up circuit for the past 15 years before “Retaliation” and now “Waiting.”
“It’s taken quite a while to hit the gear that I’m in now,” Cook said. “But the wonderful thing is, I’ve got this movie that I’m proud of, and I know that it’s going to appeal to my fans.”
But while his fans may rush out to see Cook in “Waiting,” they may think twice before eating out again after seeing the raunchy comedy about what really goes on behind the scenes of restaurants–and what goes into your food if you upset the kitchen staff and the waiters.
Written and directed by newcomer Rob McKittrick, who based the script on his own experiences as a waiter in a chain restaurant in Orlando, the film features a large ensemble cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Justin Long and Luiz Guzman as some of the unhappy employees at an establishment called ShenaniganZ.
“It is pretty outrageous and raunchy in places, but it also has heart, and I think it really nails the whole tone of working in a restaurant, the same way ‘9 to 5’ nailed that whole office cubicle life,” said Cook, who plays Floyd, one of the cooks.
“People might think what happens–like the scenes where the staff take revenge on rude customers by tampering with their food–is pretty exaggerated, but I can tell you from personal experience it’s not,” he said. “Back in the day, I had tons of jobs similar to this, where I’d either be working in the kitchen or as a busboy or waiter, and I had plenty of customers who were so rude or cocky and arrogant.”
Cook is happy that Floyd has “few redeeming qualities. … Floyd is just in-your-face the whole time.”
After “Waiting,” Cook said, “I definitely want to do more movies, and I think what’s happening with me now is that the stars are aligning. Due to the success of the album, I’ve already been offered two lead roles in comedies that are awesome–good, really well-written scripts with renowned directors. So I’d like to follow in the footsteps of guys like (Adam) Sandler and Jack Black and take my comedy army and bring it into films.”
