Look! Up on the stage! It's leather, it's cigarette smoke, it's obscenity, its misogyny, it's a blow-dried ducks-ass hairdo, it's the Diceman! Make no mistake, Andrew Dice Clay, the Brooklyn-born comic who begins his shows with the immortal words "So, I got my tongue up this chick's ass..." became an American hero faster than a speeding bullet with his album and HBO comedy special, both titled The Diceman Cometh. Last fall, on a mini-concert tour, he sold out a 17,000-seat show in New York's Nassau Coliseum. And since Clay likes to spread his considerable macho and self possession around, he also acts: Casual Sex?, Crime Story and the upcoming movie Ford Fairlane--he's Ford, An additional, not insignificant credit is his being permanently banned from MTV because of his performance during last summer's video-awards ceremony. Contributing Editor David Rensin met with the Diceman in his Los Angeles apartment. On hand to greet him were Clay's moxie/magnificent girlfriend, Trini, and his road manager/bestfriend, Hot Tub Johnny West. "Finally," says Rensin, "Dice strolled into the living room, requested hot coffee and lighted the first of many cigarettes. He sent Hot Tub off on errands, took phone calls from Gene Simmons and Billy Joel (So? These guys dig me, OK?) and told Trini to take a shower. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he was feeling a little dirty, too."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: What special circumstances gave rise to the memorable opening line of your HBO comedy special?

Andrew Dice Clay: "I got my tongue up this chick's ass" came just as I was walking on stage one night. I was wondering what I could say to the crowd to nail 'em. It hadda be right off the top of my head. I don't use a pad and pen. Since then, I've got new lines. I'll give you one: "So I'm banging this chick, balls deep...." That's an opener.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: If comedians are prize fighters, name your division and the matches you'll have to face on your road to the championship.

Andrew Dice Clay: I'm a heavyweight, but it's not the comics I have to fight. There's nobody in my way; there never was. My struggle is with the industry: the casting agents, the secretaries to the casting agents. You walk in with a leather jacket, they're saying, "Oh, another New Yorker." The battle was getting the right time spots at The Comedy Store; going up against the talk-show producers, the talent bookers. I had to show them that I was not just another stand-up; my aim was acting. There are generic comics. They come out with a suit and tie and they tell generic jokes, and if they work hard, they can make a million dollars a year. But they're not actors. I developed a very rough character that can hit a lot of levels. But I'm not Dice. He's just one thing I can do.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: For what were you best known in high school?

Andrew Dice Clay: The jazz band. I was a drummer. I was the only musician in the class who knew what he was doing, so they used to center the band on me. There was always a big drum solo. If it weren't for the drums, I would never have graduated. Never. I thought I'd be the next Buddy Rich, but by the time I hit eighteen, nineteen years old, I realized there were no big bands anymore. So I went into comedy.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison and others have been criticized for being too raw on stage. Why do you think you can get away with it?

Andrew Dice Clay: In a way, you have to get away with this kind of material; and the only way is to give it to 'em in a character form. Parts of Dice are me: I'm with the leather, the collar, the moves and the cigarette. But I'm doing it real comedic. Maybe Eddie came off too serious. That's one reason I put my hand around the back of my head and smoke a cigarette in the act. The minute people see that, they go, "He can't be serious." So no matter what I say, it's gotta be taken lightly. I'm not a politician, I'm not running for office, I'm a comedian telling jokes.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: To what dark recesses of the American subconscious does the Diceman appeal? Who writes your material?

Andrew Dice Clay: I talk about what people do, think or say behind closed doors. As I tell the crowds, "I don't write this material. You write it for me." I'm just delivering it in a real blue way that, heard through a P.A. system, sounds really fucking funny.