Comic breaks endurance record

His New Year’s night at Hollywood's Laugh Factory is the latest volley in his rivalry with Dave Chappelle to take the club’s record for the longest performance.

Chappelle performed for 6hrs 12mins last month – but now 35-year-old Cook has raised the stakes even further.

He took to the stage at around midnight, and continued until 7am on Wednesday. He even ordered in take-away food to keep his audience from flagging.

On his website, he wrote: ‘On January 1 I hit the stage and walked off the morning of January 2 to bright skies. I never sat down or left the stage.

‘The show started with a small, mighty crowd of around 60 and 35 of us were together this morning still laughing and recapping 2007 with laughs galore. It felt fantastic.

‘The longest set I have ever done before that was 3 hours 50 minutes at the Laugh Factory as well. It's a historic club with so much positive energy.

‘I talked about anything and everything. From tigers mauling people to my parents’ deaths. Reconstructive surgery to starting my very own race war. Sex, drugs and anything else that my brain served up.

‘I knew everyone in the crowd by the end and now they know me too. I dedicate my record-breaking set to all comedians that inspire me past and present.’

Club owner Jamie Masada told entertainment website E! Online: ‘I thought it was amazing. Dane kept the energy going. It reminded me at one point of Richard Pryor. He made the audience laugh for seven hours... It was really history-making. It was wonderful.

‘If this rivalry keeps up I'm going to turn the Laugh Factory into a bed-and-breakfast.’

Here’s a clip of Cook from an earlier show:

Published: 3 Jan 2008