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Retaliation

by

Dane Cook

 
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Retaliation
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Avg: 3.5 (334 ratings)

We always liked this guy. Now we like him even more!

  • We Say...

    Review by Bill Wasik

    Retaliation is the second release by Dane Cook, the spastic stand-up whose extremely likable first record Harmful if Swallowed became a breakout success (by comedy standards, at least) in 2003. The two-disc Retaliation is even more likable, and the reason is that Cook has let himself get more ambitious with his choice of subjects; where Harmful's best jokes emanated from obscure precincts of the male imagination, Retaliation sets its sights on more universal matters — relationships, groups of friends, workplace socializing, parties, even politics (don't miss the brilliant "Abducted" from disc 1) — and yet does so with the same demented originality. As might be expected from a double album, there are some weak bits where Cook lapses into formula — especially when he stretches for "callbacks" to previous jokes in the bit or the album, a tried and true stand-up device that Cook flogs way too frequently here. (Because of this you'll definitely want to listen to both discs in order, even though the second disc is stronger.) Nevertheless, Retaliation should move Cook another step toward recognition as not merely a funny comic but a great one. Indeed, on the record Cook himself points out that "we all want to be remembered for something," though he claims already to have solved that problem — by finding a boy with an ice cream cone, smashing the cone into the boy's face, and then instructing him, "You remember me forever."

  • They Say...

    Review by David Jeffries, All Music Guide

    Dane Cook's Retaliation is a fantastic combination of this hyper, cutting comedian's talents and the Comedy Central record label's fantastic attitude toward packaging. Here, fans get "100 minutes of new material" on the audio portion (new to CD anyway, as some of these routines are already Cook classics for bootleg-trading fans) and just about every appearance the "Dane Train" has made on the Comedy Central network. The network's handling of the late Mitch Hedberg was a little better since the CD/DVD combo barely overlapped at all, but ingesting Cook's ramblings on his car crash fetish twice is no big deal since listening to him and watching him are entirely different experiences. He treats the stage like the Mick Jagger of comedy, strolling back and forth, flailing arms, and shaking his hips. His intense energy overshadows some of his most stinging verbal darts, making the two CDs included just as vital as the DVD. He's shocking, sometimes gross, sometimes cocky to a fault, but he's incredibly brilliant and takes observational humor in a vicious, cathartic direction that few comedians have attempted. The jokes seem like they're erupting out of him like the chest-buster in Alien and with so many stinging lines flying past the listener, Retaliation not only stands up to repeat listening, it demands it. Sometimes he repeats especially witty lines twice in a self-congratulatory way that undermines the punch, but this slight annoyance is miniscule when you realize 100 riveting minutes of one man barking just passed by like it was ten. The creepy guy at work with fat in all the wrong places, the one person in your group of friends that nobody likes, and the people you don't know who turn around in your driveway all get their due in a stinging way that should have them helplessly twitching on the floor for days. The audio would earn this collection a recommendation on its own, but add a DVD of Cook's appearances on Crank Yankers, Shorties Watchin' Shorties, and various other Comedy Central productions and you've got a fan's dream. Cook's in-your-face style is love-him-or-loathe-him, but if you love him, Retaliation is everything you could ask for and more.

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