Photo: Kelsey McNeal/SHOWTIME
Andrew Dice Clay is back with a brand new series, Dice, and it’s a slam dunk for Dice fans and even for those who weren’t under the spell of the Diceman when he was on top. And it’s really really funny.
For those who didn’t buy the Andrew Dice Clay character when Dice was a bigger than life comedy rock star in the late 80’s and 90s, it may be time to reassess. His performances on Entourage, in Blue Jasmine and Vinyl should have changed your mind, but any doubt that remains about whether Dice can act is emphatically removed with the new series. Dice can act, Dice can be funny in many ways, and there is more to his story than you imagined.
The new series which debuts on Showtime on Sunday April 10th takes place in the years Dice lived in Vegas, between his superstardom, and his re-emergence as an actor. The premise of the show is so unexpected that it’s phenomenal. Dice realizes that Dice is ridiculous. And what I mean by that is, Andrew Dice Clay who created the series, is fully aware that Dice the character does insane things, gets in his own way all the time, and behaves in a way that is completely self-destructive. He gets it and he loves it. And so do we. It’s completely charming.
In the series, you’ll see Dice lose (and win) giant sums of money at the blackjack table, deal with an Oscar winning performer who wants to learn masculinity, save a gay wedding, argue over gigs, and fumble his way through moments so cringeworthy that you’ll find yourself laughing out loud while holding your hands over your eyes.
Dice described it himself in a recent interview with SiriusXM host Ron Bennington. He says the premise of the show is “Dice ruins everything.” And that premise runs throughout the six episode series.
Last week Clay taped an episode of Unmasked with Bennington and explained how the series came about. Dice loves to fuck with people and do crazy things to make himself and his friends laugh, and he’s fearless with his willingness to go too far. There is nobody too big, too famous, too powerful to screw with, including director Martin Scorsese. Scorsese cast Dice as a scene stealing coke snorting radio executive in the HBO series Vinyl. What should have been a one-off moment became by far, the series highlight.
During the Unmasked interview, Dice described a weekend that he was hanging out at Scorsese’s house during rehearsals for Vinyl. Dice had been talking with Marty about a pet project he always wanted to do, and Dice decided this was a perfect moment to bring Marty into Dice’s weird world of bizarro candid camera.
Dice walked to the room filming with his phone, and talking about wanting Marty to hook him up with Rob Reiner about possibly directing this pet project. Scorsese said he was interested in directing. There’s not a performer on the planet Earth who wouldn’t leap at the chance to have Martin Scorsese helm their project. But Dice, being Dice, said no, no, no, you’ve got a lot on your plate. Just hook me up with Reiner. Shocked, Scorsese insisted he’d make time for it. So now Dice has the fish on the hook. Dice kept saying, nah, let’s call Rob. It escalates to where Scorsese said he’s insulted, Dice raises the stakes saying “I’m gonna take a little break, cause I don’t want to get mad at you.” Dice is filming the entire time, way past where any reasonable person would have taken a joke.
He takes the footage to producers, Sean and Brian first (The Cooler), and shows them the video. That’s the show, he said to them. “Dice ruins everything. He doesn’t care who it is, what the situation is, if it’s the biggest shot of a lifetime, he just ruins everything.” And now it’s a series that we hope gets a season two, if for no other reason than just so that event with Scorsese gets scripted.
Photo: Kelsey McNeal/SHOWTIME
The creative team put together a great cast for the series. Kevin Corrigan plays Dice’s sidekick Milkshake, an instant classic character. Milkshake is amalgamation of many of the guys in Dice’s entourage, and the chemistry between the two characters is a big part of what makes the show work so well. Also on board is Natasha Leggero, perfectly cast as Dice’s live in girlfriend and an amazing list of guest stars including Adrien Brody,Lorraine Bracco, Wayne Newton, David Blaine and Rita Rudner.
DICE on Showtime pulls back the curtain, to show us that Andrew Dice Clay was always a great actor, maybe so great, that we never realized we were seeing someone act at all.
Entourage, Blue Jasmine, Vinyl and now Dice on Showtime. It isn’t just a one two punch. It’s a one two three four punch and it’s too consistent to be a fluke.
The series premieres on Showtime at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT with each new episode airing on Sundays, or you can watch the entire series starting on Sunday on Showtime Anytime or Showtime On Demand.
Listen to Andrew Dice Clay tell the story about Martin Scorsese on Unmasked.
Read more comedy news.
The post Face It, Andrew Dice Clay is a Great Actor appeared first on The Interrobang.