Search - Andrew Dice Clay :: The Day the Laughter Died, Part II

The Scarface of comedy albums.

S. Murphy | Los Angeles, CA | 04/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1993 release came on the heels of Clay's fall from the top of the mountain. Everyone was sick of the Dice Man, including the Dice Man himself. It's a must-listen not because it's a piece of genius, but because it's a snapshot of abject pain and frustration. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to witness that urban legend, the commuter shoved in front of the subway train and twisted half-above and half-below the platform, waiting to die, then this is the album for you.



Recorded in front of what sounds like 15 (MAYBE 20?) people, this recording is a slice of those nights we all knew too well, when nothing was working and nothing was going to, no matter how badly we needed it. Over the course of an hour, Clay begins as the cocky Dice-Man and crumbles into a belligerent road comic who's shooting stage time like it was heroin and taking comedic swings into the air like a leather-clad Cool Hand Luke, grasping desperately for the fame he had so recently lost.



I recommend this album not because I want to make fun of the guy, but because I really feel for the man. The poignant moments aren't the shouts and exclamations, they're the moments (and stretches) of silence. So, so many of them.



It's a reminder of those nights when it was more important to be on stage and in front of people than it was to actually be funny.



Only true comedy fans will dig this release. The people who know, tragedy is the best comedy of all."