When asked about his engagement with late-teens-to-early-twenties fans, Dane said, “It’s always been very important for me to do these college shows because let’s face it, those high school and college years, those are the years that you pick up whatever music, whatever comedy, whatever those entertainment moments are in that part of your life, you hold on to those moments forever. Those four years of college, that will always be your music. That band you wanna listen to for the rest of your life because it’s gonna remind you of that time. And I believe comedy works in the same way as music…I think you have a greater possibility of making a fan for life, because you’re now part of the fabric of their life, of their years.”
No one connected with young people the way Dane did. He updated his MySpace page constantly with pictures and posts from his tours. He passed out his AIM handle freely and invited fans to chat whenever he was online. He would spend up to three hours after every show signing autographs, taking pictures, shaking hands, and making personal connections. Campaigning. And his constituents loved him for it.
The rest of the comedy world, however, was not quite as enamored by the v-neck wearing yoked comedian who dominated the public sphere. His reputation and credibility came under public attacks from Joe Rogan who claimed that Cook had stolen material from both him and Louis CK – of course, it would ironically be Louis CK and Joe Rogan who would undergo the most dramatic shifts in public opinion for very different reasons.
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Rogan and CK would later squash their beefs with Cook, but during the waning years of Dane’s dominance, it seemed like every comedian who’d ever had a Comedy Central spot was coming out of the woodwork to pile onto stand up’s biggest target. Said Jim Breuer about the situation, “Everyone kills this guy … Not one comedian comes on and says ‘I’m so happy for him’, which is weird. … They can’t stand this poor guy.” Journalists, critics, and commentators all joined in on the Dane Cook hate train, attacking his material, his bro-y persona, and his – uh – “Superfinger.”