Who is the dice guy? Andrew Dice Clay‘s rise, controversy and enduring influence

The "dice guy" referred to in the popular question "Who is the dice guy?" is Andrew Dice Clay, the controversial stand-up comedian who became nationally famous in the late 80s and early 90s for his outrageous onstage persona "The Diceman."

Clay pioneered a raunchy, arrogant comedic style and sold out arenas at the height of his fame. However, his vulgar material also drew intense backlash for misogyny and homophobia that derailed his career. Despite this, Clay‘s influence on stand-up comedy remains undeniable.

Let‘s explore Clay‘s origins, meteoric rise to fame, the scandals that engulfed him, his career decline and comeback, and his net worth over the years.

From school dropout to developing his Diceman persona

Long before Andrew Dice Clay became a household name, he was Andrew Clay Silverstein, born in 1957 in Brooklyn, New York. He reportedly struggled with a learning disability in school and dropped out of high school in 9th grade.

As a teenager in the 1970s, an early Clay started performing stand-up in neighborhood clubs and bar mitzvahs, developing profanity-laced material and a swaggering tough-guy persona.

In 1980, he legally changed his name to Andrew Dice Clay as his comedic style evolved. Throughout the decade, his onstage "Diceman" character took shape – wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, chewing on a cigar, spewing one-liners and morphed nursery rhymes filled with vulgar language.

Clay‘s friend Rodney Dangerfield helped give him initial exposure, featuring him as an opening act at Dangerfield‘s comedy club. But it was Clay‘s novelty act and boundary-pushing crudeness that quickly attracted a following in the 1980s comedy scene.

Becoming a stadium headliner in the late 1980s

Clay‘s popularity exploded after the release of his debut album The Day the Laughter Died in 1987, which was the first comedy album certified gold for sales over 500,000 copies.

His follow up album, 1990‘s Dice Rules, cemented Clay‘s popularity. Dice Rules became:

• The first stand-up comedy act to sell out 2 consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden
• The highest grossing stand-up act in history at the time
• The first solo stand-up act to sell out Shea Stadium in New York

Clay also sold out:

• Multiple shows at Radio City Music Hall
• Several shows at Las Vegas‘ MGM Grand Garden Arena
• Headlined arena tours grossing nearly $25 million in ticket sales

In 1989, Clay also starred in his first HBO comedy special The Dice Man Cometh. Thanks to his packed arenas and popular albums, Clay‘s net worth reportedly peaked at around $15 million by 1990.

The controversies and backlash of the early 90s

Despite his massive popularity, Clay drew intense criticism and protest for his graphic sexual language and portrayal of women, as well as homophobic content.

In 1990, Clay was selected to host the iconic show Saturday Night Live. However, musical guest Sinead O‘Connor boycotted the episode, and cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear with Clay.

That same year at MTV‘s Video Music Awards, Clay went off-script and performed vulgar nursery rhymes, which got him banned from MTV award shows for life.

Clay later claimed his Diceman persona was satirizing macho stereotypes. But for many, his content went beyond being provocative to outright misogyny and bigotry.

Still, Clay had millions of young male devotees laughing uproariously at his vulgar one-liners. In 1990, his concert film Dice Rules grossed over $20 million at the box office, demonstrating his massive appeal.

Plummeting career and net worth through the 90s

While outrageously popular in sold-out arenas, Clay was panned by critics and social commentators disturbed by his content. The backlash took its toll on his career.

Clay‘s attempt at a mainstream sitcom, Bless This House, was canceled on CBS in 1992 after only one season of dismal ratings and reviews:

Without a hit TV vehicle, Clay‘s opportunities dried up. His comedy bookings and ticket sales plummeted through the 1990s. He released no new comedy albums from 1990 to 2014.

Clay‘s net worth reportedly fell to around $500,000 by 2003. He was sometimes heckled and protested during his smaller club performances. While he took some acting roles, Clay failed to re-capture the dizzying success of his heyday.

Clay‘s comedy comeback since the 2010s

After his fall from arena headliner to comedy pariah in the 90s, Clay slowly regained some popularity starting in the early 2010s.

Reality TV appearances like Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Wife Swap introduced him to a new generation. He won $50,000 for his charity on a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Clay still toured and performed stand-up consistently. He guest starred on shows like Entourage and Raising Hope, showing he could act beyond just his Diceman persona.

In 2014, Clay released his first album in 18 years, The Filthy Truth, through Netflix. His comedy tour grossed over $1 million in 2016, indicating enduring popularity with his loyal fanbase.

Most recently, Clay brought back his Diceman character for a 2020 stand-up tour called Dice Clay 2020 before it was cut short by the pandemic.

Thanks to his mini-comeback, Clay‘s net worth has reportedly rebounded to around $10 million in recent years.

Clay‘s complicated legacy in comedy

To this day, Andrew Dice Clay remains a polarizing figure in comedy. His misogynistic Diceman character is considered highly offensive now, even if it once packed arenas of young male fans decades ago.

However, Clay‘s enormous success also represented a breaking down of boundaries in comedy‘s possibilities at the time. He modeled that stand-up could become a stadium-filling spectacle, paving the way for current comedy giants like Kevin Hart who sell out football arenas.

Love him or hate him, Clay‘s influence is still felt in today‘s stand-up scene. He took profane, macho swagger to new extremes in the 80s. In the age of Internet outrage and cancel culture, Clay‘s level of controversy is hard to imagine today.

So while Clay‘s actual material has not aged well, his legacy demonstrates comedy‘s power to attract and offend massive audiences. Decades later, the Diceman still fascinates as a cautionary tale of the excesses of 80s culture.