Damme Words: The Filthy Truth

After Dice ended it's 6 episode run on Showtime, I was still hankering for the Andrew Dice Clay fix so I picked up his recent autobiography The Filthy Truth and polished it off in just a few weeks. Co-written by David Ritz, it's not overly long and generally pretty entertaining. Dice came to prominence in the late 80's and early 90's with his vulgar, angry and sex filled opinions on life. The book dives into his childhood and family growing up in New York, being a natural drummer, getting into trouble and honing a showbiz persona that at first was an act where he'd go from goofy Jerry Lewis to slicked back cool guy John Travolta in Grease. Ending up in Los Angeles and crafting his Dice Man character for over 10 years, Clay's comedy would be branded the kind of thing you think but never say. But putting it out there worked wonders for Clay as his albums went Platinum, he was the first comic to sell out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row and was signed to a three picture deal with Fox studios among other achievements.

Along the way, Dice discusses his professional ups and downs, trying to stick to his guns, how his manager father might not have had his son's best interests in mind after the money started coming in, brushes with the mafia and oh so many sex stories, most of them about blowjobs or pleasuring women. Dice mentions the likes of Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone as two 80's allies, even working out with Stallone's long time trainer for years. There's a funny yet ridiculous story about super producer Joel Silver calling Dice in for an emergency meeting in regards to The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and berating the comic for not taking the movie seriously as he was caught eating pizza. Silver would not make a film with a fat star so Dice went on some Hollywood cleanse before filming started.

Of course what goes up, must come down and Dice's career hit the skids after being labeled a misogynist and homophobic while his personal life crumbled with failed marriages and a near death experience. But always the fighter, and what's old is new again, Dice managed to parlay a guest stint on Entourage into a new comedy special, the book, a Woody Allen movie appearance, the Showtime series and working for Martin Scorsese. Keep it coming, Dice Man. Oh!