Andrew Dice Clay

Andrew "Dice" Clay
Born	(1957-09-29) September 29, 1957 New York City, New York, USA
Medium	Stand-Up Television Film
Nationality	American
Years active	1984 – Present
Genres	Black Humor Observational Humor Satire
Subject(s)	American Politics American culture Everyday Life Obscenity
Website	Official MySpace

Andrew "Dice" Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein on September 29, 1957, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for his profane comedy in a career that has lasted over 20 years.

Rick Rubin was quoted on the "E! True Hollywood Story: Andrew Dice Clay" as saying, in effect, "What's the bad news? That he's making seven figures in Vegas?", a reference to Clay's popular Las Vegas Strip comedy shows. He was ranked number 95 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. After a live comedy appearance on the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards he received a "lifetime ban" due to his profane language and offensive jokes. According to his new show Dice: Undisputed on VH1, Clay is engaged to Eleanor Kerrigan, a former professional wrestler named EZ Rider from Women of Wrestling.

Early career

As Andrew Clay, he made sitcom appearances on M*A*S*H and Diff'rent Strokes. He then landed roles in movies such as Making the Grade, starring Judd Nelson (1984) (playing a character named "Dice"), Pretty In Pink (1986) (credited for the first time as Andrew "Dice" Clay). As Andrew Dice Clay, he also had a regular role on Crime Story from 1986–1988. That was followed by a series of less-notable films. He eventually turned from acting to pursue a career in stand-up comedy, focusing on the character "Dice" from Pretty in Pink.

The Day the Laughter Died

Clay recorded his most successful example of "Dice" as performance art. The two CD set The Day the Laughter Died, lasting just under two hours, hit the Top 40 Album Chart.

Nursery rhyme adaptations

One of his routines involved the subversion of traditional nursery rhymes, turning them from child friendly rhymes into sordid sexual encounters such as Dice's adaptation of "Old Mother Hubbard" and "Little Boy Blue".

Popularity and controversy

Clay garnered a recording contract with Rick Rubin's Def American label. His debut album Dice was a commercial success. Sampled excerpts from the album made their way to tracks by gangsta rap artist Ice Cube. In 1989, he appeared on the annual MTV Video Music Awards, where his raunchy and profane material caused MTV to ban him from the network for life. When he hosted Saturday Night Live, musical guest Sinéad O'Connor and cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear, protesting Clay's misogynistic persona. Clay donated the money from this appearance to charity. One segment on the program parodied both It's a Wonderful Life and the controversy surrounding Clay's appearance on the program, with Clay pondering suicide on a bridge, when he is met by his "guardian devil," played by Jon Lovitz. Lovitz shows him what the world would be like if he had not been born, including Nora Dunn crushed by Sinéad O'Connor's guitar amplifier.

Commercial success

Clay's first starring role in a feature film was as the title character in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane in 1990.

A stand-up performance at Madison Square Garden was given movie release as Dice Rules in 1991 but many movie theatres refused to show it. [1] Then in 1992 he realeased 40 Too Long.

His 1993 album The Day The Laughter Died, Part 2 was recorded in front of a small audience at Dangerfield's in New York. On the comedy album, he verbally insults his audience. Apart from the audience-baiting, he also attacked American film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert for giving Dice Rules and Ford Fairlane bad reviews. (Ebert, giving Dice Rules zero stars, stated that, "It could not be more damaging to the career of Andrew Dice Clay if it had been made as a documentary by someone who hated him.")[2]. (Dice mispronounced Ebert's surname as "Ebrik") He also insulted Marlee Matlin, the deaf film actress. He went on for a number of minutes trivializing her struggles as a deaf actress. Responding to a request for a nursery rhyme, which he had previously refused to do in The Day The Laughter Died, he claimed, "You don't know how much I hate those fucking poems, you have no idea how I hate those fucking poems, I wish I'd never thought of those fucking poems."

Bless This House

He returned in 1995, dropping the "Dice" from his name, eschewing his "Dice Man" persona, and playing the part of a caring family man in CBS' sitcom Bless This House. It co-starred Cathy Moriarty.

Later works

Following the sitcom's cancellation, Clay again retreated from the media spotlight, for a couple of years. In 1997 he made appearances on the short-lived UPN comedy Hitz as a record exec named Jimmy Esposito, which was very similar to the Dice character. He attempted a return to comedy with his HBO special Assume the Position and his 2000 album, Face Down, Ass Up. Clay did land one small film role in One Night at McCool's (2001), featuring Matt Dillon and Michael Douglas.

In 2006, Clay signed a deal with Sirius to produce and broadcast his own show, Out of the Cage.

CNN appearance

In an interview promoting his recent work on November 12, 2003, Clay used several profanities on a live CNNfn cable news program, The Biz, hosted by Allan Chernoff. Clay was angry that the newscaster asked him if he was running a gymnasium instead of working as a comedian. During his recent show on VH1 he is seen getting upset when others imply that he is no longer successful.

Dice: Undisputed on VH1

On March 4, 2007, Andrew Dice Clay premiered a weekly celebreality series on VH1. The show focuses on Clay and his entourage as he attempts to promote his comedy career. The series is produced by Fox and follows Clay as he writes a book, records a CD and produces his own Sirius satellite radio show. VH1 Senior Vice President Jeff Olde describes the show as a "real-life 'Entourage,' only with disheveled fortysomething guys in the comedy world." Dice: Undisputed is executive produced by Danny Salles for Fox TV Studios. Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, Alex Demyanenko and Damla Dogan are executive producers for VH1.

Clay was banned from MTV, but his current show is on sister network VH1. Both VH1 and MTV are subsidiaries of MTV Networks, which itself is owned by Viacom.

Discography

• Dice, 1989
• The Day the Laughter Died, 1990
• Dice Rules, 1991
• 40 Too Long, 1992
• Day The Laughter Died, Part 2, 1993
• Filth, 1999
• Face Down, Ass Up, 2000

Recordings featuring Dice samples

• "A Gangsta's Fairytale" on Ice Cube's album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Priority Records, 1990): Dice is heard saying "Good old Mother Goose, remember her? I fucked her." from "Nursery Rhymes" at the end of the song.
• "Just Don't Bite It" on N.W.A's EP 100 Miles and Runnin' (Ruthless/Priority Records, 1990): Dice asking the question, "But does she suck a good dick?!?" from "Couples In Love", is part of the song's chorus.
• "Unbelievable" by EMF (EMI, 1991): Assorted interjections of Dice's "oh."

Starring roles

• Casual Sex? 1988
• Crime Story 1986–1988
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, 1990
• Dice Rules, 1991
• Brainsmasher: A Love Story 1993
• Rapekit snd Crawlspace in the Morning (lead pedophile) 1993
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
• Bless This House, 1995
• Dice Undisputed reality show on VH1 2007

External links

• Andrew Dice Clay at IMDb
• Rotten.com: Andrew Dice Clay biography
• Andrew Dice Clay MySpace
• Andew Dice Clay on Tom Green Live at the Action Sports Awards
• Andrew Dice Clay on Tom Green Live 14/01/2007
• Andrew Dice Clay on Tom Green Live 11/01/2007
• Review of Andrew Dice Clay