A plagiarism scandal. Some seriously inappropriate jokes. A succession of movie flops, and a very
public embezzlement. Whatever happened to Dane Cook? Keep watching to find out!
There's a lot of give and take in show business, and if a prominent performer rejects
too many prestigious opportunities, it's not long before those offers stop coming in. When Dane
Cook missed out on one particular opportunity, his entire career trajectory changed forever.
In the late '90s, the comedian was offered a regular spot on "Saturday Night Live,"
which remains one of the most sought-after gigs in TV. As Cook told The Daily Beast,
"So 'Saturday Night Live' was scouting for a couple of new cast members,
but I knew that after [Adam] Sandler left, they specifically wanted someone young,
white, energetic [...] all I had to do was go in front of [showrunner] Lorne Michaels."
Reps told him that an audition for Michaels was essentially a formality. Sadly,
Cook suffered a terrible panic attack just before the meeting, and he couldn't go in, revealing,
"I disappointed a lot of people that day. I really disappointed myself. And then there
were a lot of years on the road when I’d see [Jimmy] Fallon. Because Fallon got it."
Understandably, not taking a spot on the long-running sketch show
set Cook on a completely different path.
It's one thing for an actor to score a couple of choice movie roles and drift back into obscurity,
or for a musician to record a hit single and never repeat the achievement. Those sorts of
things happen all the time. But at its height, Dane Cook's popularity felt almost unprecedented.
"He's a wonderful fella."
For instance, Cook sold out Madison Square Garden in 2006. The list of
comics who have done the same is very short, and includes George Carlin and Eddie Murphy.
Billboard notes that before 2005's "Retaliation" climbed to the No.
4 position on their general chart, which includes music,
too, there hadn't been a comedian in the top 5 since Steve Martin in 1978.
However, before the end of the 2000s, Cook was overhyped and overexposed,
and liking the comedian became as uncool as liking Nickelback.
Needless to say, he hasn't been invited back to Madison Square Garden recently.
To his credit, Cook seems to have a pragmatic attitude about his downfall,
and revealed that he knew the backlash was coming. As he explained on "You Up? with Nikki Glaser,"
"I think I helped. I'm like, 'I'm ready to devolve and then evolve
again.' [...] We're in it for the long haul […] fans are going to come and go."
As far as stand-up comedy goes, Dane Cook's popularity was virtually unmatched at its height.
Transitioning to TV or movies seemed like the next natural step, and one that many comedians have
taken. Sadly, Cook's move into acting was a little less successful, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
In 1999, Cook appeared in two very different movies,
the much-maligned "Simon Sez" starring Dennis Rodman, and the literal classic "Mystery Men."
Though "Mystery Men" was technically a significant financial failure upon its release,
it's largely regarded as being way ahead of its time.
Cook has a brief but highly memorable cameo in the film as up-and-coming superhero "The Waffler."
"I am The Waffler. With my griddle of justice I bash the enemy in the head."
In 2005, Cook took a role in the Ryan Reynolds vehicle "Waiting," which is
about the pitfalls of working in the food service industry. There were also some
attempts at positioning Cook as a leading man in films like 2006's "Employee of the Month,"
opposite Jessica Simpson, and 2007's "Good Luck Chuck," with Jessica Alba.
He also appeared in the curiously conceived murder drama "Mr. Brooks,"
and an NBC sitcom titled "Next Caller" that never even made it to broadcast.
Basically, Dane Cook tried it all. Unfortunately, he never really clicked anywhere beyond the stage.
Granted, some of the all-time great standup comedians have enjoyed
success in mainstream media. But we can hardly expect everyone to be Robin Williams, can we?
Cook was faced with some scandal regarding whether or not he wrote his own jokes.
At least three skits audible on Dane Cook's monster smash album "Retaliation" sound pretty
similar to bits by Louis C.K. performed years prior. Joke stealing is a major
no-no in stand-up comedy, but Cook denied that any deliberate plagiarism took place.
"That was my first backlash, you know, ever."
Louis C.K. apparently got tired of every single interviewer he spoke with
asking him about the allegations against Cook.
As a result, Louis C.K. wrote Cook into a Season 2 episode of FX's "Louie." This way, fictionalized
versions of the two comics could squash their beef once and for all on primetime cable.
Louis C.K. abruptly lost his status as a major Hollywood star in 2017
due to revelations about his alleged inappropriate behavior.
In 2019, Cook suggested that his disgraced ex-colleague benefited from falsely accusing
him of intellectual property theft, telling The Hollywood Reporter:
"I think he knew that he could be more popular talking about why I shouldn't be
popular [...] It helped him, it really did. It was like he was on a press tour because of it."
However, the tarnishing of Louis C.K.'s image wasn't
enough to save Cook from allegations of thievery.
Whether or not you count yourself as a Dane Cook fan,
what unfolded in his family life around December 2008 was undeniably awful.
According to CNN, Cook's half-brother and former business manager, Darryl McCauley,
and his wife confessed to embezzling $12 million from their famous sibling.
Mr. McCauley was sentenced to six years in prison,
while Mrs. McCauley was sentenced to three, and both received lengthy durations of probation.
It's safe to assume that when an immediate family member steals millions of dollars from you,
that takes a major toll on your emotional and mental well-being.
If Cook wasn't as focused on his career as he should've been between 2008 and 2011,
it's more than understandable. After all, he clearly had a lot of other things on his mind.
Despite the sensitive nature of the situation,
Cook hasn't completely shied away from commenting on the theft. For instance,
in June 2018, the comedian took to Twitter after "Jeopardy" referenced the crime.
"I just love Jeopardy. I can just watch it and get away from it all."
The prompt was revealed as being,
"Dane Cook’s half-brother and business manager stole millions from the comic,
this crime of misappropriating bank funds."
A contestant quickly gave the correct answer,
"What is embezzlement?" Needless to say, Cook had the perfect deadpan response.
Following several misfortunes, Dane Cook attempted to revive his career by finding a new niche. The
comedian decided to try his hand at acting in some gritty, independent films and intense dramas.
Obviously, these projects were worlds away from the broad comedies he once
starred in. Unfortunately for Cook, most of his movies throughout the 2010s were major
commercial and critical bombs, much like his very first forays into movies had been.
In 2011, Cook headlined the bleak "Answers to Nothing," a relationship drama about a missing
child that scored a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and only $22,049 in ticket sales.
In 2013, Cook starred in the poorly received small-town heist drama "Guns, Girls and Gambling."
He followed this up with the straight-to-DVD, art heist thriller "American Exit" in 2019.
He also appeared as part of the ensemble cast of "400 Days,"
a psychological thriller about deep-space astronauts losing
their grip on reality. It earned horrible reviews and just $391 at the box office.
It's a stand-up comedian's job to point out the absurdities of daily life,
and humor often helps people process the darker parts of existence.
However, jokes that bully or mock the undeserving don't always land well. So when
Dane Cook joked about a mass shooting, he drew career-damaging and popularity-stifling criticism.
In July 2012, James Holmes opened fire on a packed Aurora, Colorado
movie theater during an opening-night screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."
He murdered 12 people and injured more than 70 others.
Less than a week later, Cook took the stage at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles,
and made a joke suggesting the shooting was related to "The Dark Knight Rises" being,
in his opinion, a terrible movie.
The audience responded with groans and scattered laughter and applause. But when
an attendee uploaded surreptitiously captured footage to the internet, it quickly spread and
turned into negative publicity for the comic. Cook quickly apologized via Twitter, writing,
"I am devastated by the recent tragedy in Colorado [and] did not mean to make light of what happened.
I made a bad judgment call with my material
last night [and] regret making a joke at such a sensitive time."
However, the damage had already been done.
Dane Cook didn't actually disappear into the abyss forevermore.
He embarked upon a national tour in 2019 and performed at the West Hollywood Laugh
Factory's post-pandemic reopening night in early May 2021, a relatively high-profile gig.
He also starred in the 2019 indie crime thriller "American Exit,"
and the serious role could be the start of a new direction for Cook.
However, it's hard not to wonder whether comedy has moved on since Cook hit superstardom.
The most talked-about comedy special of 2021 was probably Bo Burnham's "Inside."
The 30-year-old comedian recorded the special during the 2020 pandemic and managed to mine the
isolation and helplessness of lockdown for laughs, which no-one thought was possible.
"Inside" captures the moment by zeroing in on the emotional and technological day-to-day of lockdown
life. It's a refreshingly honest and intimate, yet somehow hilarious, look at the dark subject
matter of anxiety and depression. It's also millions of miles from Dane Cook's comedy style.
It would seem that the intense, thought-provoking content of "Inside" is the kind of humor that
people go for these days. As a result, many viewers probably aren't stoked to revisit
juvenile bits that high schoolers thought were hilarious in 2005 about bad breath and how public
bathroom floors are always wet. However, Cook's loyal fanbase would likely disagree.
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