Hickory Dickory Dice

I just caught Andrew Dice Clay's comedy special, Indestructible.  Dice was as big as standup got twenty-odd years ago, but he's spent a lot of years in the wilderness since.  This special apparently caps his comeback.  But is it any good?

Dice was something back in the day. He managed to be funny without being particularly clever or witty--not easy.  Many hated him, tried to drive him out of show biz, calling his material and his character repulsive, but he truly knew how to put his act over as a performer.

Years later, he's thicker in the middle and thinner on top, but he's still got chops.  He interacts with the audience through most of the show and it all flows naturally, as if he's making it up on the spot (except for his famous Mother Goose rhymes at the end).  Unfortunately, the material is weaker than in the past--not that it was ever that strong--and his act has less insight. You'd think he might have gained some perspective over the years, but if he has it doesn't show.

His audience still seems to be the same. (They like the show, of course--it's a cable special.) They hoot at his filthiness and love when he calls them names.  But the show seemed mostly a hollow experience.

PS  Many comedians aren't much as actors, but Dice Clay was always an actor first.  And he's quite good in Woody Allen's latest Blue Jasmine.