The Washington Post
May 11, 1990, Friday, Final Edition

THE 'SNL' BAILOUT;
Taking sides in the Flap Over Guest Host Andrew Dice Clay

Jim Naughton, Kim Masters, Washington Post Staff Writers


   Andrew Dice Clay, the comic whose act one critic described as "the ultimate
in lowbrow loathsomeness," put the matter succinctly in a commercial for the
"Saturday Night Live" episode he will be hosting this weekend.

   "I don't know who else will be working," he said, "but I'll be here."

   Clay's scheduled appearance on the cutting-edge comedy program has
precipitated a boycott by Nora Dunn, a "SNL" regular, and musical guest Sinead
O'Connor. But the show apparently will go on with the rest of the cast intact.

   "We're advising our people to stay with the show," said Bernie Brillstein,
whose company manages "SNL's" Executive Producer Lorne Michaels, as well as cast
members Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller. " 'Saturday Night Live'
represents what is happening. Fortunately or unfortunately, Andrew Dice Clay is
what's happening."

   Clay, born Andrew Silverstein, was a struggling comic and impersonator when
he created Dice, the leather-jacketed, cigarette-smoking speaker of Brooklynese,
several years ago. The Village Voice described his act as "hour-long
vituperations on women, dwarves, dogs, Latins, Pakistanis, Arabs ... beggars,
paraplegics and Oriental business acumen."

   Supporters of Clay's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" say he is in the
tradition of Lenny Bruce and other cutting-edge comedians whose foul mouths made
them controversial.

   "I believe in freedom of speech," Brillstein said. "Fifteen years ago they
said the same thing about Richard Pryor."

   But comedian George Carlin, who became famous with his routine on the seven
words that can't be spoken on television, sees things differently. "Andrew Clay
is picking on underdogs: gays, women and immigrants. His audiences share his
beliefs, so they cheer him on."

   O'Connor, whose album "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" is No. 1 on the
Billboard pop chart and whose song "Nothing Compares 2 U" is the top single,
apparently agrees.

   "It would be nonsensical of 'Saturday Night Live' to expect a woman to
perform songs about a woman's experience after a monologue by Andrew Dice Clay,"
she said in a statement earlier this week. "I feel it shows disrespect to women
that 'Saturday Night Live' expected me to perform on the same show as Andrew
Dice Clay."

   "We weren't asking her to embrace Andrew Dice Clay," Michaels told USA Today.
"We were asking her to sing two songs."

   Dunn, a cast member since 1985, announced her withdrawal from the show on
Monday, calling Clay's work "hateful" and adding, "I know in my heart I can't
work with him."

   Clay criticized her decision Wednesday on "Entertainment Tonight." "I think
Nora Dunce is a very silly girl, because I've watched 'Saturday Night Live' many
times and I've seen her play from hookers to just, like, street tramps and I
wouldn't look at that and go, 'If that's really her, I wouldn't do the show,' "
he said.

   Michaels, who has said he understands Dunn's decision, could not be reached
yesterday for comment. Dunn's contract expires with next week's season-ending
show. It is not clear whether it will be renewed.

   Brillstein described Michaels as "upset that Nora Dunn did not come to him
first to discuss" her defection. "I know what I'd do if I were the producer.
She'd be history."

   Support for Dunn came from other quarters of the show business community.  "I
think it is terrific," said Harvey Fierstein, the actor and Tony Award-winning
author of "Torch Song Trilogy." "She is right and she is standing by her
beliefs. If everybody did that ... you could kill off prejudice in 15 minutes if
everybody did what was right instead of going along with the pack."

   And Clay attracts quite a pack. He has recorded a popular HBO comedy special
and sold out a succession of 20,000-seat arenas on his winter tour. His double
album "The Day the Laughter Died" is No. 56 on the Billboard pop chart, and one
of only two comedy albums in the Top 200.

   Clay describes himself as "the hottest comic in the world today," but he may
also be the most reviled. He has been banned permanently from MTV because he
delivered an obscene monologue during a live awards program in September.

   But Clay, who tells his audiences that he uses reviews as toilet paper,
contends that Dice is nothing more than a comic persona and that his fans
realize that. "I know the fans come to see me because they know this guy isn't
for real," he told Gerri Hirshey of Gentlemen's Quarterly. "If I really meant
all the things onstage, there wouldn't be a person in the room because they
would just say this is just nasty, mean, violent humor. Anybody with a brain
could see right through me."