Roots Seller

A few years back, Dane Cook was damned near unstoppable. His 2005 album Retaliation debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, eventually going double platinum to become the most successful comedy album since Steve Martin’s 1978 juggernaut A Wild and Crazy Guy. Then the backlash began, along with accusations of plagiarism and general douchebaggery. Subsequent film roles stacked up as less than Oscar-worthy, and most recently, Cook’s millions-swindling half-brother/business manager was indicted for larceny and forgery. It’s a credit to Cook that he decided to step back, take a deep breath, and return to his roots with the new disc Isolated Incident. But does the CD/DVD truly represent an epic transformation, as he’s hinted, to that of a darker, decidedly more mature performer? Sure, he openly discusses the 2006 death of both parents and refrains from his trademark prowling about the stage like a horny orangutan, but is he still, you know, funny?

Find out when Cook -- along with such fellow Boston funnyboys as Tourgasm vets Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene -- brings his Isolated Incident: Global Thermo Comedy Tour to Jobing.com Arena. Expect plenty of new material and high energy, and slightly fewer shrieking co-eds.