Andrew Dice Clay - Day the Laughter Died

Forgotten Classic from Another Time

Before I start this review, let's go into the fact the Andrew "Dice Clay" Silverstein never intended his "character" to be taken totally seriously. It was a charaicture of a "brooklyn bad boy", a sexist urban tough macho guy who lives to get laid, get drunk, and be rowdy.

That said, he sure had his share of controversy during his "era" that of the late eighties, early nineties. Like "Borat" after him, he never broke out of character, and went on many talk shows and awards shows (most infamously the Mtv Music Video Awards) with his image, getting "banned" from Mtv and other places.

Now on to the question, is the "act" funny?

It really depends on one's perception of what "funny" is. On this album, he's not only unfunny at times (pathetically), it borders on self-parody.

However, before you think I am bashing this record, I believe this to be the greatest album Dice has done, and also one of the best comedy records.

Why, you ask? Because it stands as a concept album of sorts, and its "concept" is so unfailingly awful, its like a bad car accident, we can't help but watch. I know that Dice intended to go to Dangerfield's that night with no material (though he had a few things already memorized) and he proceeds to berate the crowd with insults, say obscene things to the crowd (even after half of them had left (!)) and be a general obnoxious jerk..

In this, he succeeds, in spades.

I think part of the appeal is that he is slightly tongue in cheek about the whole affair, but play acts the thing so seriously that he starts to sound angry around the second disk.

He then explodes in some really pathetic monologues about Catfish and so on, and even stumbles mid sentence with an attempted joke about Penthouse (Second disk as well).


He sounds downright annoyed when asked to do his "nursey rhymes" even if the delivery on here (when he does a half-hearted attempt at some) is generally funnier than on some of his other albums.

Some of the funnier tracks are where he is just relentlessly attacking the crowd for their sweaters, girlfriends and boyfriends, and perceived sexual habits.

I think famous internet reviewer Mark Prindle had it best when he called this a comedy classic.

Its definitely not for the light hearted or the politically correct, but its done in such a way that I don't think its too far removed from something like Sarah Silverman or others would do nowadays (just the opposite sex).

"Hour Back, Get It?" is one of the more "scraping the bottom of the barrel" tracks for laughs, and it almost reminds me of some annoying kid in elementary school yelling weird stuff just for attention. That said, its so "bad its good" applies here, I find myself laughing at his delivery and performance of the bit. In fact, I think that's half the appeal of dice, delivery and timing.

Back to the humor bit: I generally enjoy stuff like the Jerky Boys, (early) Tom Green, and other similar stuff that's FUNNY, but almost bordering on ridiculous and unfunny. Its this gray area that I believe to have the potential for much of my preferred humor, stuff that's so unfunny at times that its funny ("So bad its good" irony once again), and when the moment comes when its actually "funny" (which there are times on here where its just that), its gutbustingly hilarious.

I think that its time this album got its due, with its unique concept, "anti-humor" and generally pathetic attempts at humor (and other juvenile, genuinely funny moments as well). I think its a great album, and I will continue to listen to it throughout my life. October 19, 2007

Andrew Dice Clay - 'Day The Laughter Died' (Warner Bros.)

Right along with the late Sam Kinison's debut CD,'Have You Seen Me Lately?'(see my review),this 2-CD release by the 'Diceman' himself is an absolute must-have comedy title. I listened to these two discs SO much,I'm amazed they still play. Simply love this New Yorker's extremely dry/sick sense of humor. Some of my favorite lines are, "Here's a nice family sitting down up front. Mom and the two daughters have the SAME haircut. Very nice!Dad..., he too has the same ****ing silly haircut". Another one: "So,you don't like fat chicks,pal? Check back with after you turn thirty. Ever date a 600 pound woman? It's like a ride at Wet&Wild...unbelievable, you know what I'm saying? So,I'm at this dive in the Bronx and I spot this cow of a woman, standing against the wall, like she's actually holding up the building. She's got six chins,her legs look like one(I dunno)and she has an eye patch and a neatly trimmed beard. So,I lure her back to my apartment with a bag of hershey kisses". You get the idea. Honestly, a laugh a minute. Get it! December 25, 2006

Crude, rude, sexist, and FUNNY....

I remember when Dice could do no wrong. He was massively popular. Yet, he got so much flak from the press and women's groups over his sexist attitude towards women and the like. But the reality was that Dice was very funny at the time. I went to see Dice at an outdoor theatre in the suburbs of Chicago, and there were both men and women there. The women weren't there with their boyfriends; they were there with other women. They went in groups. The women laughed their keesters off. They got the joke. There were no protestors, no rioting, and the world went on after Dice performed. Some compared him to Lenny Bruce because Dice was controversial; they were fools to do so. Bruce was a brilliant social commentator, a genius. Dice was just a rude, funny guy from Brooklyn. Nothing more, nothing less. This album is probably Dice's best. Sadly, almost all of Dice's material is out of print. While I don't play this album all the time, it's still nice to have. Dice is having a great time with the audience as well (recorded live at Dangerfield's). Dice is doing Vegas these days. September 20, 2006

No Material...No Fear....No Guts, No Glory

Dice was at the top of his game when he decided to make this double album, affectionatly known to fans as TDTLD. He stood on stage for a few nights at Dangerfield's with no material whatsoever....and made a comedy classic not unlike Pryor's That Nigger's Crazy and Sam Kineson's Have You Seen Me Lately?
Dice made a ballsy move in doing this album. He wasn't yet the comic who sold out Madison Square Garden, nor the man who went crazy with TDTLD Part II...avoid that one, BTW. The album was perfectly stated in his routine "...Laughter verses comedy...you don't have to laugh to enjoy it." If you love Dice, and you want his albums, then this is the one to get. December 12, 2004

An extremely underrated Comedy Album....one of the greats

Yes weve all heard Dice and his raunchy nursery rhymes....his crude indifference to homosexuality and such....but this comedy album made live in New York is a bit different. In this one, Dice makes up the whole show right there on stage. Not an easy task!! He riffs on the audience something fierce, when one guy wanted to hear rhymes Dice replied with 'Hey I know I do rhymes!! Wipe your f*****g a** with the rhymes!!!' And of course the audience explodes.

If youre a Dice Clay fan, its a must have. If youre an improvisation fan, its a must have. Bottom line, its a must have. Dice's finest hour. Period. August 14, 2004

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