Dave Attell

Dave Attell (born January 18, 1965) is a popular American stand-up comedian and host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell. Attell has been called "one of the most original voices of his generation". He is originally from Rockville Centre, New York and now lives in New York City.

Stand-Up Beginning

Dave Attell's initial dive into stand-up comedy is attributed to his indecisiveness as to what he should do after college. In 1987 (the same year he graduated from New York University (NYU) with a degree in communications), like many other fledgling comedians, he worked normal jobs during the day and put in his time at comedy clubs at night. He worked his first gig at Governor's in Long Island and, according to Attell, "totally bombed". After years of finding his voice, he found himself being described as "the comedian's comedian". When working a club, the other comedians on the bill would come in to watch his act. While the audience didn't always follow his up-front delivery, fellow comedians were refreshed by his originality.

Attell's material is what one would consider "blue". His point-of-view is that of the everyman, yet slightly imbalanced. He has an affinity for the bizarre, such as midgets and odd sexual encounters (or odd sexual encounters with midgets, depending on which day you catch him).

His delivery is punching. Like Mitch Hedberg, his jokes are mostly one-liners, often sloppily delivered with too much force, making them that much funnier. For examples, see the "Quotes" section below.

Attell is also notorious for comedically striking down hecklers to the point of embarrassment.

Television

Attell's first appearance on television was in 1988 on VH1's Stand-Up Spotlight, which also featured early appearances by Lewis Black, Margaret Cho, Jeff Garlin, Jay Mohr and Wanda Sykes. The show was hosted by Rosie O'Donnell.

But perhaps his biggest break to date was achieved on November 23, 1993 when he made his debut on The Late Show with David Letterman. The appearance was seen by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, who then recruited Attell to be a writer, and occasional performer, on SNL (you can see Attell behind Chris Farley during the famous "Rudy Giuliani Inauguration" sketch). Attell worked on the show for the '93-'94 season.

In 1995, Attell was featured on two HBO specials: Alongside up-and-comers Louis C.K., Anthony Clark, Eric Tunney and Dave Chappelle, he was a featured performer on the 1995 Young Comedians Special, hosted by Garry Shandling; and he was also given his own 60-minute special on the channel's "HBO Comedy Showcase". Subsequently, Attell was also given an episode of "HBO Comedy Half-Hour" in 1997.

Also in 1995, Attell appeared as Squiggly Dave on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, kicking-off a long-standing relationship between Attell and Comedy Central. In 1999, the network issued Attell an installment in their ever-popular Comedy Central Presents series.

The same year, the network signed him on as a regular commentator on their satirical news show, The Daily Show. When he arrived in '99, the show was just finding its audience after the departure of brash host Craig Kilborn and the arrival of the more charmingly affable Jon Stewart, an old friend of Attell's from the New York comedy circuit. The three-year stint was possibly the best thing that had ever happened to Attell's career, as it was the first time that he could address a massive audience on a regular basis (The Daily Show has done much the same for comedians Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Lewis Black and many others). Attell's series of commentary on the show was called "The Ugly American".

In 2003, Attell began appearing semi-regularly on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. The show featured many of the performers he works with every day at the (literally) underground comedy club the Comedy Cellar and is based on the conversations they would have off-stage at the Olive Tree Cafe, the restaurant above the club. A breath of fresh air to an industry of pre-packaged jokes, the show was completely unscripted and uninhibited. Much to the dismay of it's cult following, the show was cancelled in November of 2004 due to poor ratings and controversial subject matter.

Other notable television roles for Attell:

"Dave" in a couple of the early episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond".
The voice of "Frank Demore" on "Crank Yankers".
"Motherboy XXX" on "Arrested Development"
"Brad Campbell" on "Ed"

Attell has also been on numerous talk shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman", "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "Last Call with Carson Daly".

Film

Attell played the roles of "Don" in Los Enchiladas!. The film was written, produced and directed by his late friend, comedian Mitch Hedberg, and co-starred Hedberg as well as fellow comedians Todd Barry and Marc Maron.

In the short film The Office Party, Attell once again played the role of "Don". The film co-starred ex-Karate Kid/Outsider Ralph Macchio, Jon Stewart, Carol Kane and Tate Donovan. The film was written and directed by Daily Show producer Chiara Edmands.

In the cult hit Pootie Tang saw Attell as the bumbling corporate lackey, "Frank". The film was written and directed by fellow comedian Louis C.K.. It co-starred Lance Crouther, Wanda Sykes and Chris Rock among others.

Attell also played "Efram the Driver" in the Independent feature My Suicidal Sweetheart, written and directed by filmmaking newcomer Michael Parness. The film co-starred Natasha Lyonne, David Krumholtz, Tim Blake Nelson, Lorraine Bracco, David Paymer and Rosanna Arquette.

Attell played the role of "The guy on the Couch" in the movie "Halfbaked" as well.

Though not a film, the video game Outlaw Golf 2 featured the voice of Attell as the Color Commentator.

Insomniac with Dave Attell (2001-???)

Though it may not have made him a house-hold name, it at least made him a 1 out of 10 house-hold name.

Insomniac with Dave Attell. Described by Attell as ""Wild On E!" for Ugly People", the show featured Attell walking the streets of the America's greatest (and some not-so-much) cities late at night, meeting the people in a haze of ecstatic inebriation. The show occasionally went overseas.

The American cities featured on the show were New York (4 times), San Francisco, Miami, Kansas City, New Orleans, Houston, Baltimore, Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Boise, Reno, Atlanta, Phoenix, Charleston (WV), Myrtle Beach, Portland, Albuquerque, Nashville, Anchorage, Cleveland, Little Rock, Oakland, Long Island, Columbus, Honolulu, Austin (2 times), Key West, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

The non-American cities featured on the show were Tijuiana, Montreal, Toronto, Dublin, London Amsterdam and specials that took place in Tokyo, Berlin, and Rio De Janeiro.

The most common activity (besides roaming the street aimlessly and visiting bars) was visiting workers on their night shifts. Instead of spending time with gas station attendants, he went searching for odd professions to highlight. Among them were crime-scene cleaners, bail bondsmen, cow-milkers, brothel-hookers, bicycle cops, coal miners and Porn overdubbers.

Arguably, the most memorable episodes involved a visit to Chicago's world-famous Weiner Circle, where the staff routinely gets in cursing matches with their customers and a visit to a Phoenix nudist camp.

Throughout the run of the show, Attell carried around a cheap disposable camera and took pictures of random events, which would be shown during the end-credits.

The future of the show is not known, but Attell has said that he decided to more-or-less end Insomniac because the show had gotten too popular to establish a level of spontaneity. As soon as he would walk into a bar with a camera crew, crowds would surround them, desperate to be on his television show. He has said, though, that people aren't so aware of his show overseas, so he would more than likely do a few specials in other countries.

The Insomniac Tour & Insomniac Special

Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour was a tour that travelled across the country. It directly followed the Comedy Central Tour that featured Attell and Lewis Black. The Insomniac Tour featured "Tough Crowd" alum Greg Giraldo and lesser-known comedian Sean Rouse as the tour regulars, while comedian Dane Cook closed select shows.

One show in Las Vegas was filmed and became a concert film. It featured Attell as the main comic/MC, Rouse, Giraldo, and a rousing 45-minute set from Cook.

Present

Dave can be seen touring occasionally. He is a mainstay on the New York comedy circuit and performs several times a week at the Comedy Cellar.

- Dave Attell on Wikipedia, Caroline's, New York, December 27, 2005

Quotes

I kinda have a weird look. I kinda have an Andre Agassi with a drinking problem kinda look. Not many ladies go for it, it's their loss, that's how I see it.
Yeah, I know, some people are against drunk driving, and I call those people "the cops." But you know, sometimes, you've just got no choice; those kids gotta get to school.
A security guard said to me I should look less threatening when I fly. Less threatening? What am I suppose to do? Walk around holding a balloon and a Hello Kitty lunchbox? 'I'm going on the fly-fly'.

Discography/Videography

The Best of Insomniac Uncensored (Vol. 1) - DVD, 2003
The Best of Insomniac Uncensored (Vol. 2) - DVD, 2003
Skanks For The Memories - CD, 2003
Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour - DVD, 2006
Hey, Your Mouth's Not Pregnant! - DVD, 2005

External links