Andrew Dice Clay Is Back to Live Comedy and Coming to Fort Worth This Week

Comedian Andrew Dice Clay is coming to town on Tuesday to perform two shows at Hyena's Comedy Nightclub in Fort Worth. He'll leave sometime after Wednesday with a free Cadillac.

"I'm excited to come there. Have you ever been to Frank Kent Cadillac?" the comedian asks at the very start of our phone conversation. "They want me to come in there and pick a car. That's amazing. They know I've always been a Cadillac guy. So they were, like, 'Just come in, pick one out and it's yours.'"

Whether you like him or not, it's a testament to the influence and reverence Clay has from his fans and followers.

"[The dealership's owners] just wanna come to the show and maybe say hello and we'll ride around the block in the new car," Clay says. "I told them they gotta have the Pirelli tires."

Clay's meteoric career rose after a memorable appearance in a Rodney Dangerfield special, and fans filled his shows in the late '70s and throughout the '80s. He's one of the first comics to sell out shows at arenas and stadiums long before the likes of Kevin Hart and Larry the Cable Guy. His sold-out two-night show at Madison Square Garden in New York set a record. His fans still show up with masks in tow in freezing weather to watch him do live comedy again.

"I was going out in the middle of the pandemic in the freezing cold entertaining people, and I was considered one of the first big names out there," Clay says. "I couldn't take it anymore. People needed entertainment and I was enjoying it, and people were enjoying it."

His newest tour is designed to make up for comedy lost for his fans. Each night consists of one long show.

"They get their money's worth," Clay says. "We don't have to push them out the door. They get the full experience."

Clay says his style and approach to live performance haven't changed much. He still just goes out on stage and lets his experience, ego and persona guide his material.

"My rehearsals are on stage," Clay says. "I don't go to showcase clubs and try a bit. I just do what comes to my mind. I've always claimed I'm the greatest so when I'm on stage, my job is to show them why."

He still gets requests to do some of his classic bits, like his naughty take on Mother Goose's nursery rhymes. He still dons a spangled leather jacket with the collar as wide as a hang glider and a cigarette in one hand — even though it's not lit these days. However, Clay says he and his show are still "very current."

"I don't rely on old material at all," Clay says. "Some bits I've done in the past that are classic ... and I love to give the audience want they want, but most of the act is very edgy like it's always been. I've been doing a bunch of shows already and audiences have been thrilled and left great comments on social media."

Clay's even found new avenues of expression as a serious actor with memorable roles in shows like Martin Scorsese's Vinyl and the Woody Allen movie Blue Jasmine. He'll also play a film producer with mob ties in Hulu's upcoming series about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship, leading to the infamous production of their stolen sex tape. Clay's character is based on Louis "Butchie" Peraino, an adult film producer who helped provide the money that put the sex tape on porn store shelves and eventually the Internet.

"I like the acting thing," Clay says. "I like the drama more than the comedy stuff."
Of course, Clay has faced a lot of criticism for his act, going back to the start of his career. During the height of his popularity, his shows saw protestors outside and sometimes even inside the venue angry about some of his material deemed homophobic. His stint as a Saturday Night Live host in 1990 prompted cast member Nora Dunn and scheduled singer Sinead O'Connor to refuse to take part in the episode.

"I couldn't care less," Clay says of any outrage during his more recent shows. "You gotta be an asshole if you get a person that shows up to get angry. It's stupid, and you wanna know something that's happened in the past? That's when I'll go, 'You really can't get mad because [Jerry] Seinfeld does the same act. He just wears a suit and a tie.'"

Even those infamous moments in Clay's career produced their own unique comedy moments — like Clay's hilarious SNL opening that parodied It's a Wonderful Life with the brash New Yorker in place of a depressed George Bailey and whose guardian devil, played by Jon Lovitz, shows him his impact on the show and the audience. Clay's shows and specials also inspired The Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson to do a monologue roasting him and other popular comedians such as Sam Kinison and Eddie Murphy in the guise of his iconic, gay socialite Buddy Cole — proving that comedy can work just as well when the targeting goes both ways.

Clay says criticism has never shaped what he does.

"Everybody leaves a winner with me," Clay says. "I come up, and I kill the crowd. I make them laugh harder than they've ever laughed and then they leave. I couldn't perform if I didn't love doing it, honestly. I've been like that since I was a kid. It's in my blood to perform and be absolutely incredible at it."

Andrew Dice Clay will perform live at Hyena's Comedy Nightclub in Fort Worth at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 17, and Wednesday, Aug. 18. Tickets are available at PreKindle.com.