Dane Cook

Born:

March 18, 1972

Quick Dane Cook Facts:

• Dane Cook has been doing stand-up since 1990
• He released three full-length comedy albums, two comedy specials and a reality show between 2003 and 2009.
• He rose to fame through Internet publicity and MySpace.
• Cook became the first comic in over 20 years to have a comedy album chart in the Billboard Top 10 during the first week of release.

Dane Cook Overview:

Dane Cook is easily one of the most popular and successful comedians currently working. With multiple platinum-selling comedy albums, starring roles in feature films and massively successful arena tours, Cook has become the biggest name in stand-up comedy.

Cook's comedy is rarely topical or political. Instead, he combines an observational comedy style with absurdity and manic physical energy, making his act as much visual as it is verbal.

Becoming Dane Cook:

Born March 18, 1972, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, comedian Dane Jeffrey Cook has been doing stand-up since graduating high school 1990. For most of the 1990s, he toured clubs and colleges performing comedy. In 1997, he made his television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman, followed by a number of appearances on Comedy Central.

Using the internet to build his celebrity, Cook helped break new ground in how comics market themselves. In 2002, he spent his savings to start his own official website. He also launched a MySpace page, where he currently has over 2.3 million friends.

Dane Cook's First Album:

For the better part of the 2000s, Dane Cook has been just about the biggest thing to happen in stand-up comedy. His first comedy album, 2003's Harmful if Swallowed, went platinum and kicked off Cook's enormous popularity. The album featured now-classic Dane Cook routines such as "Tire in the Face" and "The BK Lounge" (Cook's name for Burger King).

Making History:

His follow-up, the 2005 double-length albumRetaliation, was an even bigger success. The album went double platinum and debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 during its first week of release, making it the highest charting comedy album in 27 years. Cook became the first comedian since Andrew "Dice" Clay in the 1980s (and Steve Martin in the '70s) to sell out stadiums and receive the "rock star" treatment.

Dane Cook Moves to HBO:

In 2006, Cook taped his first comedy special for HBO, Vicious Circle. That same year, Cook produced his own six-episode reality series for HBO, called Dane Cook's Tourgasm. It followed the behind-the-scenes exploits of a 30-day, 20-show tour with Cook and fellow comics Robert Kelly, Jay Davis and Gary Gulman.

His third album, Rough Around the Edges: Live at Madison Square Garden was released in 2007. In January of 2009, the special Dane Cook: Rough Around the Edges premiered on Comedy Central.

Dane Cook: Isolated Incident:

In 2009, Cook released his most ambitious album and special to date, ISolated INcident. Taped in an intimate comedy club setting rather than a stadium, the album found Cook covering new kinds of material, from the personal to the political. The special, which debuted commercial-free on Comedy Central in May 2009, was also shot in one single, edit-free take from beginning to end.

In 2010, Cook released the double-length "greatest hits" compilation album I Did My Best: Greatest Hits.

Dane Cook the Actor:

Like many stand-up comics, Cook has also attempted to make the transition to feature films, and has been acting on screen for over 10 years. Until recently, his resume consisted mostly of small parts in unsuccessful movies like Mystery Men (1999), Torque (2004) and Waiting...(2005).

In 2006, Cook had his first leading role opposite pop star Jessica Simpson in Employee of the Month. His second lead performance came in 2007 with Good Luck Chuck, in which he starred with Jessica Alba as a guy cursed to lose any woman he becomes involved with to another man.

Recently, Cook has begun taking roles in a few dramatic films, including Mr. Brooks (2007) with Kevin Costner and William Hurt, and Dan in Real Life (2007) opposite Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. Critics were kinder to his dramatic performances than his comedic turns.

In 2008, Cook starred with Kate Hudson and Jason Biggs in the romantic comedy My Best Friend's Girl, which he also produced.

Additional Dane Cook Facts

• Cook filmed two sitcom pilots that were not picked up for broadcast: Humor Me in 2004 andCooked in 2005. Both were packaged together and released on DVD in 2007 under the titleDane Cook - The Lost Pilots.
• He was named "Hot Comic of the Year" by Rolling Stone and "Coolest Comic" by Stuffmagazine in 2006.
• Cook has his own production company, called SUperFInger Entertainment.

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Sarah Silverman

Born:

December 1, 1970

Quick Sarah Silverman Facts:

• Silverman was born and raised in New Hampshire.
• She did her first stand-up gig at age 17.
• She was a writer on Saturday Night Live for one season.
• She released her own concert film, Jesus is Magic, in 2005.
• She stars with her sister Laura on her own Comedy Central series, called The Sarah Silverman Program.
• In 2010, Silverman released her first book: the autobiographical The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee.

Sarah Silverman Overview:

Sarah Silverman, a 20-year veteran of stand-up comedy, combines a sweet and perky delivery with shocking, vulgar material. Her disconnected style has spawned a number of young imitators. For her act, she's developed the persona of a self-obsessed princess with absolutely no awareness of the awful things she says. Though her jokes could be considered offensive or "politically incorrect," they're actually about political incorrectness; her ignorance becomes the butt of the joke.

Her comedy also often includes songs that she writes and performs on an acoustic guitar.

Starting Out:

Sarah Kate Silverman was born in Bedford, New Hampshire, in December of 1970. The youngest of four sisters, Silverman began performing in local theater around the age of 12. Her Jewish upbringing later became a big source of material in her act. She began doing stand-up at age 17 and continued to perform around Greenwich Village while attending college at NYU.

SNL and Larry Sanders:

Silverman was a writer and featured player during the 1993-94 season of Saturday Night Live, alongside fellow comics Dave Attell and Jay Mohr. After spending an entire season without getting a single sketch on the air, Silverman was fired (via fax) in 1994.

In 1997, Silverman joined the cast of The Larry Sanders Show as Wendy, the new staff writer. Some of her story lines on the show were indirect references to her experience on SNL. She stayed on the show for its remaining two seasons.

Sarah Silverman on Film:

Though she acted in a number of films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s (including There's Something About Mary, The Bachelor andHeartbreakers), most of Silverman's movie roles consisted of "best friend" types. She wouldn't get the chance to play the romantic lead until 2006, when comedian Jeff Garlin cast her in his film I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With.

Rather than wait for a lead role to come to her, Silverman released her own concert film, Jesus is Magic, in 2005. It consisted of material from her stand-up act and several short music videos of songs she wrote for the film.

Controversy:

Silverman's take-no-prisoners comedy style has caused minor controversy throughout her career. During an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2001, she used a racial slur for Chinese people as part of the punchline to a joke. Though her deliberately clueless bigotry was the point of the material, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans expressed outrage and asked for an apology. Silverman, explaining that the comment was a satire of racism, refused to apologize.

MTV = Success:

By 2007, Silverman had become one of the biggest names in stand-up comedy. She hosted both the Independent Spirit Awards and the MTV Movie Awards, as well as opened the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. She's also a regular guest on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Silverman's own Comedy Central series, The Sarah Silverman Program, premiered in early 2007. It co-stars her sister, Laura, and comics Brian Posehn and Jay Johnston (both formerly of Mr. Show), and features the comedienne playing a spoiled and narcissistic version of herself. After three seasons, it was canceled in 2010.

Additional Sarah Silverman Facts:

• She's one of the only stand-up comics to land on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" list, where she appeared in both 2006 and 2007.
• Silverman made regular appearances on early seasons of the HBO sketch comedy seriesMr. Show with Bob and David.
• She appeared on the Comedy Central roasts of both Pamela Anderson and Hugh Hefner.
• Silverman won a Creative Arts Emmy in 2008 for her popular web video, "I'm F-cking Matt Damon."
• She received a 2009 Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on The Sarah Silverman Program.

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David Cross

Born:

April 4, 1964

David Cross Overview:

A pioneer of the "alternative" comedy movement, David Cross has always experimented with the stand-up form. In his early years, he would fool the audience into believing he was another character altogether (homosexual, or racist, or his own heckler, for example). As he became more recognizable, he wasn't able to do that. He stays away from traditional "joke" telling, instead spinning long stories or constructing seemingly stream-of-consciousness rants on American culture. His comedy is very political; he is left-leaning and extremely critical of government and organized religion (Cross is an atheist).

Quick David Cross Facts:

• Cross hails from Atlanta, Georgia.
• He first began performing stand-up comedy at age 17.
• His first professional television job was as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993.
• In 1995, he created Mr. Show with Bob and David with fellow comedian Bob Odenkirk. The HBO show lasted four seasons.
• In 2003, Cross starred on the Emmy award-winning sitcome Arrested Development, which lasted for three seasons.
• He has released two stand-up albums, one HBO special and a tour documentary.
• In 2009, he published his first book, called I Drink for a Reason.
• His third stand-up album, Bigger and Blackerer, was released in 2010.

Young David Cross:

Born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, David Cross moved around a lot as a child before returning to Atlanta, where he remained for most of his formative years. After graduating from a performing arts high school in Atlanta in 1982, Cross immediately moved away to New York pursue a career in comedy. He began doing stand-up at age 17, spending most of the late '80s and early '90s performing around Boston (where he attended one semester of college at Emerson College) and New York.

Finding Sketch Comedy:

By 1990, Cross had become a regular at New York comedy club Catch a Rising Star. There, he and twelve other performers formed "Cross Comedy," a sketch group that put on weekly shows. Though he had previously been a member of another sketch group -- called This is Pathetic (where he met future Mr. Show cast member John Ennis) -- Cross Comedy laid the groundwork for the kind of comedy that Cross would eventually find success with at HBO.

Moving to L.A.:

In the early '90s, Cross relocated to Los Angeles. He became a regular at the city's Un-Cabaret nightclub, where -- thanks to comics like Cross, Patton Oswalt and Paul F. Tompkins -- the burgeoning "alternative" comedy scene was growing.

In 1992, Cross took his first professional television writing job with the staff of the short-lived FOX sketch comedy The Ben Stiller Show. The show was canceled after only 13 episodes, but it was there that Cross met another comedian and writer, one Bob Odenkirk. Together, the two would break new sketch comedy ground for the rest of the 1990s.

Mr. Show with Bob and David:

In 1995, HBO premiered Mr. Show with Bob and David, a sketch show conceived, written and performed primarily by Cross and Odenkirk (with help from other comics like Ennis and Tompkins). It was smart, satirical, edgy and absurd, but maintaining such high quality took its toll on Cross and Odenkirk. In its fourth season, HBO began moving its time slot around and ratings went down. It didn't come back for a fifth season.

Cross and Odenkirk did make a Mr. Show spin-off film, Run, Ronnie, Run. Post-production on the film was a mess, with Cross and Odenkirk locked out of the editing room. The film was buried and finally released directly to DVD in 2002. Cross has all but denounced the finished film.

Back to Stand-up

Following the end of Mr. Show, Cross turned his focus back to stand-up. His first full-length HBO special, The Pride is Back, debuted in 1999. In 2002, he released the double-length albumShut Up, You Fucking Baby!, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.

One year later, Cross put out a behind-the-scenes tour documentary, called Let America Laugh. His second album, It's Not Funny, was released in 2004.

I Recognize That Guy

In addition to stand-up, Cross became a ubiquitous character actor in the 2000s, appearing in films as widely varied as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to She's the Man to I'm Not There (playing beatnik author Allen Ginsberg) to Alvin and the Chipmunks. He also lent his voice talents to a number of video games, children's cartoons and edgier, "adult" animated shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Tom Goes to the Mayor.

Cross's biggest role, though, was that of disgraced therapist Tobias Funke on the FOX sitcomArrested Development. The show, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2004, lasted only three seasons but inspired a huge cult following.

In 2008, Cross reunited with Odenkirk for a new HBO pilot. The show, called David's Situation, is a sitcom based around the comedian and his roommates. Cross and Odenkirk opted not to go further with the pilot, and the show never went to series.

In 2010, Cross released Bigger and Blackerer, both a comedy album and stand-up comedy special on Sub Pop.

In August 2011, Cross announced he was engaged to his longtime girlfriend, actress Amber Tamblyn.

Additional David Cross Facts

• Cross won an Emmy for his work as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show in 1993.
• He was named number 85 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
• He was voted "Most Humorous" by the North Side High School of the Performing Arts Class of '82.
• In 2005, Cross got involved in a well-publicized feud with comedian Larry the Cable Guy. Both attacked each other's comedy and politics in print.
• Cross is very active in the independent music community, appearing in and directing videos for bands including Superchunk, The Strokes, Tool and The Black Keys.
• In 2009, Cross co-created and starred on the BBC series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. The series began airing in the US on IFC in the Fall of 2010

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