I get Dane Cook

Dane Cook was way funnier than I thought he would be at Charlotte Bobcats Arena on Thursday. I saw the first few minutes of his HBO special, “Vicious Circle,” and I turned it off because I didn’t get his humor.

Now, I get it. His jokes are sophomoric, but not dumb grosser than gross humor. He does some sex/relationship stuff, but a lot of his material ranged from bits about family, Thanksgiving dinner and a family trip that didn't happen, to current events, such as why he shouldn’t go to war: "he doesnt' like backpacks."

The stage was set up in the round and he was energetic enough to fill it. The only problem was that you had to keep looking at the TV screen if Cook had his back to you because you couldn't see his facial expressions. The near capacity, mostly college-aged, crowd didnt't mind. They laughed their faces off for nearly two hours on Thursday.

He's an obvious student of comedy and did a good job of referencing jokes he set up earlier in the night. His sound effects were great. For example, he did a perfect imitation of tires screeching in a parking garage as part of his bit about the mad dash to find a parking space at the maul, as he spelled it, during the holiday season. He also referenced jokes from past material. He would say the most mundane thing, like “There’s only one October” and fans started howling. I totally didn’t get it.

He did a fan favorite; the one about his dad wearing a robe that was too short to hide the family jewels. He also delivered Cookisms, such as “In a fight, guys, we just want to make you cry, just a little…Aha! I win,” he said dancing around.

My favorites were when he talked about going to war. He said he wouldn’t want to be the guy playing the flute. Then he skipped around the stage playing an annoying tune on an imaginary flute until he got shot. The he limped around the stage playing the flute. The other piece I liked was about the condom fairy. Sorry, I can’t repeat the details, but imagine you and your boo are about to get in the groove and she asks, do you have a condom.