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Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com
Dane Cook arrives at the 14th annual Andre Agassi Foundation for Education’s Grand Slam for Children benefit at Wynn Las Vegas.
Published Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 | 12:13 p.m.
Updated Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 | 3:15 p.m.
Beyond the Sun
Dane Cook watches TV unlike you or I. He’s a comic, hard-focused on funny material and precise delivery.
And last night, Cook was “fascinated” by David Letterman’s 10-minute explanation of how he was blackmailed by a man threatening to write a book and screenplay about what Letterman described as “creepy stuff,” in the form of Letterman's admitted sexual activity with women on his staff. In measured tones, his voice unwavering, Letterman explained how a man attempted to extort $2 million from him in a scheme that began a little more than three weeks ago. The audience, unaware of what Letterman was about to disclose, laughed and applauded throughout the segment, which was slotted after the opening monologue and before the night’s first guest, the luck-of-the-draw Woody Harrelson. Letterman was seated at his desk during the segment and spoke to the camera.
Cook was watching. He happens to be between Vegas dates -- he was a featured performer last weekend during the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children and next weekend performs two shows at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel. In another unexpected bit of timing, we were scheduled to talk by phone this morning about the gig at The Joint, and he called from Los Angeles. But our time was largely eaten away by the Letterman saga, taking up eight of 10 minutes after I asked Cook what he thought of Letterman’s bracing oratory.
“Well, I was fascinated,” Cook said (he used that term a half-dozen times in those 10 minutes). “He did the whole monologue and it was typically funny, nothing different, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this guy’s a pro.’ He didn’t let you see him sweat.”
Far more thoughtful and well-versed than his frat-boy-centric onstage character, Cook said the seamless, undetectable shift from comedy to “nine or 10 minutes of deeply personal material” gave the audience no warning of what Letterman was going to reveal. “He didn’t set it up by saying it was going to be serious. I really noticed that he didn’t start with an announcement saying it was not a joke,” Cook said. “So the audience is with him, but you’re thinking at the end, Dave’s going to say, ‘And the guy was Regis Philbin!’ ”
Cook stressed that he was speaking of Letterman “strictly as a performer,” not casting judgment on the specifics of the incident. “This guy is such a pro, he had a really articulate way of handling it. It was almost like watching a great magician in the sense that he got through this thing that shouldn’t have worked. It wasn’t for us to hear, but I was really fascinated by it. Somewhere within that very serious and personal story, he had kind of won the audience over.”
It was not possible, watching the show’s original telecast, to put aside the extortion story even as Harrelson made his appearance. “Welcome to the fun!” Letterman said in greeting his first guest.
Cook continued, “Now, he’s actually talking about his wife and his kid, he’s connecting, and I just kept thinking, wow, what a spot to be in. I’m kind of thinking today, and I’m not casting any judgment because everything here is none of my damn business, that he was able to stay in the pocket and deliver. It made him even more human, it made him more relatable.”
Cook hadn’t yet spoken with any other comics about the show, but he said something to agree with: “This isn’t over. However this shakes out is certainly going to be difficult.”
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.
Letterman did exactly the right thing. He contacted the authorities & he came clean to his audience. This too shall pass.
I think Don Imus on Cavuto's show today summed it up more correctly, he said, "Letterman is a creep".
Letterman is another example of the far left degenerates who easily slide from one ethical side of the road to another as long as it pleases their self important right to express themselves and "do their thing"! He played the whole "affair" as a joke and blew by the fact that he exposed the whole CBS network operation to multiple claims of sexual harassment fro the women staffers over whom he excercised power! Where is NOW and the rest of the women's liberation movement screaming for his scalp! Oh, right, Dave's just a "funny" guy with a loose zipper and hypocrite attitude toward women!
Karma Lettermen more Karma. Letterman is playing with his own feces.
you guys sure like to throw stones... based on what you are saying about Letterman (pot calling the kettle black)--you must have some HUGE skeletons in your closet! **Remember--Letterman is a comic** NOT an elected official but nice try trying to make this a democrat vs republican thing!
Lay off the hate people..your lives will be better for it.
Thanks for stopping by Lisa, honey. It's always so refreshing, sweetie, when one of our moral betters stops by to preach to us against "hate."
I can't tell you, sugar britches, how ashamed I feel every time a moral relativist shows up to remind us that the worst thing one can do in this life is be "judgmental" of someone else. That's precisely the sort of behavior skunks like Letterman and Michael Jackson count on!
If more people would be judgmental, babydoll, maybe the concept of "shame" would return to this world and girls like Lisa and/or her daughters wouldn't show up on Girls Gone Wild videos to embarrass themselves and their families.
Sell it somewhere else, little lady. But aren't you CUTE!
Hey lisa80268: Your nothing but a hypocrite! If this would have happen to a conservative or a Republican or a wall street business man or a preacher' Then N.O.W. would have been all over this as some form of attack on woman. They would have been filing lawsuits on behalf of those woman within 72 hours but since David Letterman is a liberal then he gets a pass.
I think its great when any of these famous people get exposed (pun intended).
In terms of tastiness though, it is always the best when you have some right wing religious nut who is homophobic being caught in a men's room soliciting gay sex - and then denies it.
Even though he had the guts to admit it, Letterman should still get raked over the coals for this. I personally dont care if he cheats on his wife/girlfried, but not with people who work for him. That is a basic HR101, and sets himself up for all sorts of lawsuits.
I "hike the appalachian trail" at every opportunity. I often wave to my Russian friends from my house and kill my dinner. I emerge from my undisclosed location periodically to shoot my lawyer in the face. This stuff won't end because a talk show host got blackmailed.
I agree..if this was a conservative guy the lefties would be all over him. To me Letterman is a typical leftist no-it-all.
Dane Cook AND David Letterman are both douchebags..
FOR SAINT.lisa80268: You are one example why women are taken advantaged of and why there are men who doesn't respect women. So you are preaching us about hatred, what about being IMMORAL? I CAN DEFINITELY casts stone on that creep David Letterman because I am not like him. So shut up and just continue to talk to your imaginary unicorn and stay away from blogs. If you want to preach go to some church.
I'm surprised no one has cried racism yet.
Dave doesn't run around talking about 'Family Values' and he is a comic. He doesn't act like he is better than anyone, he just makes people laugh. And that is why few will have the energy to attack him. As far as left vs. right, that is a lame attempt to make this political. A rich, powerful guy is caught sleeping with women. What's interesting about that? It would only be shocking if we had been led to believe over the years that he was a gay man. Dave was rich and single for a long time. I am sure he lived it well! Politics have nothing to do with his horny desires.
I'm sure David Letterman cares what you think.
I like Dave. He's a funny guy.
What a gag he played on that schmuck!