What you have to appreciate about Dane Cook is that he's like a guy all of us know. He's that college buddy, fun sibling or cutie we pine over. When asked how he felt about being one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, he said, "I wanted to send it to every ex-girlfriend that told me I was an idiot and say 'See, I'm influential!'"

As a stand-up comedian, Cook has been able to break that celebrity stigma and connect with his audience. Whether it's through his consistent use of social networking sites or his own Web site, Cook has always used technology as a way of promoting his craft and keeping the lines of communication open with his fan base.

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"I’ve been doing standup for 19 years now, and for years it was like, “Are they going to laugh at this? Is that funny? Should I say that?” I can’t tell you how many times I said that to my friends who are comedians. Then you get to a point—and it’s different with everybody—when you lock into one moment when you put a real moment into a joke that’s superfluous and silly, it scares you and you start to realize that’s where the good shit is. When I’m a little bit scared and I can cathartically share something real that fucked with my head or impacted me in a certain way and make it funny and relatable—I am there to entertain, not to be woe-is-me—and I [snaps fingers] get the laugh or light out of people."

"At this point, it’s all about truth. Even if it’s something that just makes me laugh. It may be something [having to do with] my mom and dad, dealing with that and watching them become fragile and so sickly in front of me. And I was still doing shows and making them proud, doing what they raised me to do. They were the kind of folks that if you sat too long with them, they’d say, “I’m starting to feel a little sick” and I would ask, “What do you need?” and they’d say, “I need you to go do a show. I don’t need you sitting here with me. It’s bumming me out.” That’s both of my folks. What made them healthy was me calling from the road or from movie sets saying, “I’m doing those things I told you I was going to do.”

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BONUS: Behind the scenes video:

Dane Cook's dualities revealed in 'ISolated Incident'

Cook is, of course, joking about his lack of humor, which, if you think about it, is kind of funny -- or maybe it's not funny at all. This is the sort of paradox that swirls around the wildly successful touring comic who, more than anyone else on the comedy scene today, can polarize a cocktail party conversation.

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''My mom and dad were all about: You work,'' the 37-year-old Boston native says quietly while waiting his turn at an L.A. batting cage — a tribute to his baseball-fanatic father. ''Even sitting with them when they were sick, it was like, 'Why are you here? Go to work. Get out of this room.''' 

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“I was on stage the night my father died,” said Cook, who said he felt like his dad would have wanted him there. “It’s where I felt like I wanted to be. I wanted to share with my fans. It’s what I was raised to do, and how my parents viewed me in some of their proudest moments.”

Cook put all of that angst into the act for his latest tour. He’s been working on the material for more than year, honing in it legendary locales like Los Angeles’ Laugh Factory (he set a record there for standup, seven hours on stage).

“I worked on it literally from the moment my mom passed, straight through to the filming of it,” said Cook, referring to his upcoming Comedy Central special and the release of his new CD/DVD on May 19. “It was tough. At times, I would be very angry, and the material could come out angry.”

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Dane Cook Interview

By Paula Brunelle
Photography Ash Gupta for Studio 838
Styling Katie Maco and Lindsey Steede
Grooming Stephanie Daniel

Paula: I was fortunate enough to see a screening of “Isolated Incident,” your upcoming stand-up special on Comedy Central. Why that choice of title?

Dane: Well, a lot of reasons. From a creative standpoint, the way we shot it. It’s one long continuous shot. Confine myself to a small stage, don’t edit, and just tell the truth. Partly because of personal things that were happening in my life leading up to it, having lost my mom and dad and becoming famous during a time when my family was crumbling in many ways, and how that affected my comedy. I think that’s why “Isolated Incident”—it represents all those things in one showingI certainly would want people to judge me by this Isolated Incident, I think this is the best that I’ve ever been. That’s my occupation first off: to move you and make you laugh. And if I can put some of my truth in there, then it’s a twofer-- healing for me, and a great show for the crowd.

P: Do you ever get nervous?

D: Rarely ever. I’ve always been a bit introverted and more nervous talking to people offstage, one on one. Then I’d step on stage-- even when I first started it was like, this is where I belong; I can be fantastical and silly and irreverent and dirty and clean—you can be anything you want. That’s why it’s so glamorous to me. The anticipation of how to better what I was doing made me more nervous than actually standing in front of people and having them be critical.

P: What’s your take on “Googling” yourself?

D: It’s a bathroom wall, you know, a lot of things are written in stick and need a scrub-down once in a while. I never want to do that again. It gets in your head and you start forming ideas around public consensus and….what is that? It’s a pie-chart that’s like an amoeba. It’s always changing.

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See a photo of Dane from the Boston Common Cover party by clicking here.