Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Day The Laughter Died

Isn't show business fucked? One day you're America's favorite racist douchebag, and the next day you are just a racist douchbag. Folks, brace yourself for one of the most uncomfortable 45 minutes ever recorded. Not funny ha ha, not funny strange, just weird, tense, and a bit sad. The death of Andrew Dice Clay caught live on tape. Icky. Thanks to J. Harlow for part two. And thanks to Chaki for part one.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and today is the 58th anniversary of Jolson dying...
Lordsy, I knew this guy in th elate 70's when he was Andy Clay an impersonator who was used by club owners to go on last so's he could clear out the room for the second show.

Aesop said...

I vaguely remember him playing greaser thugs on a few '80s sit coms. Pretty much a one trick pony that somehow got lucky that America turn towards xenophobia and base fart humor for entertainment in the 80s. His recent "reality" show confirmed what I always believed, that he really is a butt stupid asscandle. I'm amazed someone thought it a good idea to release this, but I'm glad they did.

Anonymous said...

er.. he's not really dead is he?

Aesop said...

No, just his career. Seriously though, would anyone care if he was?

Anonymous said...

The artwork you have up is TDTLD part i. The recording is actually THE DAY THE LAUGHTER DIED part II.

Aesop said...

Thanks for the info. Jesus fuck, I can't believe there are 2 parts to this abomination. If anybody has the proper artwork for part two or a rip of part one please let me know here:

joinedattheass@hotmail.com


Thanks.

Aesop said...

Okay, fixed the artwork, but if anybody has part one let me know, although maybe we don't need anymore Dice here on the hearse.

Anonymous said...

So The story here (according to Artie Lange on the radio a couple of weeks ago at least) is that Rick Ruben had this brilliant idea which was to have Diceman show up at some shitty NYC comedy club at around 1am unannounced and record his brand new live album to follow up the million selling debut album. Whatta train wreck!

Aesop said...

Okay, I think we got it all up now.

Roger Camden said...

Dice states early on that he has no prepared material- he's winging the whole thing- and it shows!
Andrew "Dice" Clay will not be appearing at the UCB Theatre or headlining the latest Comedy Death Ray.
Some of the material- and I'm stretching the term here- could be funny if I ever got the impression that he were making fun of the type of wife-beating, boorish bigot that might say the things in his act.
I know that he's not kidding.
He seems to think that he's kidding.
But he's not.
It may just be totally appropriate that his fame crashed and burned so completely (remember his supposedly disasterous MTV Awards hosting gig?).

Anonymous said...

I look at this recording as important as any Bill Hicks or Lenny Bruce for the fact the balls it took for him to release this. His cred was gone, and he admits it on the tape. I think it is one of the most honest comedy albums of the past twenty years. Name me one comic you would buy a cd or lp from on the last ten years... Dane Cook? yeah right.

I don't agree with Dice's POV but he gets my respect as an artist.

just my .02-jabladav

Aesop said...

Dan Cook is a hack. Mitch Hedburg might be the only comedian I would buy a record by. Let's face it, 99.9% of stand up comedians suck.

Anonymous said...

Is that the guy with the old man puppet?

Aesop said...

LOLZ. No, Mitch Hedberg was one of the greatest comedians ever. Sadly he died at his peak in 2005.
Go here and check him out
http://loresviscera.blogspot.com/2008/09/mitch-hedberg.html

TMM said...

Aesop, you don't enjoy Bill Hicks every once in a while? Troy

Aesop said...

I love Bill Hicks (R.I.P.) however not sure that his material has stood the test of time.

TMM said...

I hear you,I have four or 5 of his recordings, want them?

Aesop said...

I believe I have them already. But thanks.

Anonymous said...

Q: Name me one comic you would buy a cd or lp from on the last ten years...

DOUG STANHOPE.
That's my only answer. -dh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8APlx9btTn8

Nate Christy said...

Yeah, this is painful...

Anonymous said...

Oh, he is the stoner dude. I remember him now. meh. sorta funny.

Aesop said...

Lous CK and the aforementioned Mitch Hedberg might be the only ones. I don't generally buy comedy albums because I seldom listen to them more than once or twice. Oh, Greg Geraldo has his moments.

Eldis said...

when you see clips of andrew dice clay in front of a room full of slack-jawed yokels cheering like maniacs every two seconds for those terrible nursery rhymes, it's clear how idiotic people can be and you get annoyed with him for reaping the benefits. however, when you listen to him talking about hairy cunts and shitburgers & chocolate shitshakes in front of what must be an audience of five or six, it makes sense and it's funny; that's really part of the joke. the videos of him doing the nursery rhymes, i think, are more awkward than these recordings because in the former, his humor and the overwhelmingly positive reception of it are so disparate, but on these recordings, the facts add up, all the pieces fall into place: he's a crass comic doing crude jokes in front of a terrible crowd, and thus, is completely in his element.

Anonymous said...

from what i had heard about it, i had always assumed this album was supposed to be an almost performance art kinda thing...like he KNEW it would be horrible and he just went on without any material to be an asshole and to fuck with people. of course, that was the opinion without actually having listened to it (downloading now) and only reading about it. so we shall see...
great blog as always.

Aesop said...

Eldis, Str8Ev, you both make excellent points. I definitely see this as beyond comedy, almost Da Da-ist anti-comedy in a sense. The mystery is what Dice's intent was, only he knows.

Anonymous said...

I think Rick Rubin was just stoned and had a dumb idea.

ümlaut said...

I saw Dice when he was on top 'o the world in 1992 at the Rose Bowl.. Guns N' Roses / Metallica / Motörhead.. Dice did a set before GNR came on in front of 100,000 people who ate it up. Seems bizarre now.

Anonymous said...

How has Bill Hicks' stuff not stood the test of time?

Ambassador MAGMA said...

Every time you see him, just remember that he started out as an Elvis-impersonator doing stand-up comedy as Elvis. Of course, nobody cared... Eddie Murphy's blistering sun was rising to burn off the sequins and turn him into the unloveable asshole we know today.

Adam said...

I think these are great, but then again I love watching/listening to situations that are completely uncomfortable. I think this was a great idea and definitely made me cringe

GRK. said...

Anyone into Jerry Sadowitz here? "Terry Waite? What a bastard. You lend some cunt a fiver & you never see 'em again!"

SPOTLIGHT said...

Actually, what you have here is one part of two different albums. Sorry to say, I don't have any of the artwork for these releases. But, here's the links for the full albums.


The Day The Laughter Died Part 1 - Cassette 1

http://www.mediafire.com/?mudw9f2mvjx


The Day The Laughter Died Part 1 - Cassette 2

http://www.mediafire.com/?e3ebdbjyf0m


The Day The Laughter Died II

http://www.mediafire.com/?cnu0lniihmn

Aesop said...

Cool, thanks, SPotlight. I ain't fucking with this post anymore.

Hi Denny!! said...

Aesop - Thanks for posting. I can't wait to listen to this and think about how far we've come.

Speaking as a Standup comic, yeah a lot of us do suck. But the subculture's in a good place now because we're one full generation past the mistakes of the "CRAZY WIVES N' FAGGOTS! HUH? HUH?" boom of the late 80's.

I agree 100% on Mitch Hedberg, the man was untouchable. That, and Louis CK and Patton Oswalt are also two of the best working today. Patton's latest album is killer, if you haven't heard it yet. Todd Barry's latest stuff, too. http://badyearmedia.blogspot.com/search?q=todd+barry

Aesop said...

Thanks, Ty. Good call on Patton Oswalt. I guess I'll change my 99.9% call into a 97% call. Todd Barry is great too. Stand up has definitely made leaps and bounds since the '80s.

Anonymous said...

A few of you got it. A few of you are just too pretentious and worried about being PC, and being "better than" people who would agree with an ACT like Dice's. This was recorded in an unannounced, unplanned performance at Dangerfield's in NYC. ONLY Dice has the balls to go up and show that you don't need "laughter" to have COMEDY. In Part 1, he says it himself. The point was to go up, make fun of the audience, make up BS bits, and see who laughs. In tDtLD Part 1, there is a track called "Hour Back! Get it?". If you want to learn what comedy is all about, find that track. His dirty moron act is a REFLECTION of the people he and we have to deal with on a daily basis. "People are pricks! That's why I do this act!" He's said it himself. Get over yourselves and get into one of the purest comedy albums of all times!

Anonymous said...

^^^ Thank you! Good to see someone actually "got it." Volume 1 is one of the most brilliant comedy albums of all time. It just went over the heads of nearly everyone here. The joke's on YOU, and your responses are exactly what Dice intended -- to make you feel uncomfortable. Andy Kauffman did the same thing, never ever breaking character, no matter what. You guys wouldn't have got him, either. Hilarious!

ido said...

Accurate assessment of Dice Clay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG1yxFbI0hA

I've noticed that a lot of stand-up now a days, at least on Comedy Central, has an abnormal focus on "crazy girlfriends" and gay or race jokes. But not exposing the racism in all of us, making people think, etc. No, its about making money. This kind of humor has become overused and passe, not even making me feel uncomfortable. Its just dull and lame.

I miss George Carlin.

Anonymous said...

Dice was the greatest comedian of all time. No one can even touch him in that regard.

The Resin Blog said...

Wow, I thought this was a damn good cd... The fact that he's not going through his "Normal Routine" and making stuff up as he goes was unique.. It is funny it's just not what anyone was looking for or expected..

Amazing what people think is good and bad these days (and I'm sure you're thinking it of me too... hahaha)