Comedian

HOLLYWOOD -- Andrew Dice Clay's big-screen caree continues with ups and downs.Watch for an announcement, reportedly from Warner Bros., that the controversial comic will star in a buddy picture, "The Cop and the Comedian," playing . . . the cop.20th Century Fox, which earlier dropped Clay's concert film from its release schedule, has now quietly dropped the foul-mouthed funnyman from its feature "The Gossip Columnist," according to sources.A familiar Clay image -- his sneering face -- turns up on unauthorized T-shirts and bumper stickers, covered with a red circle and slash, plus the words "No Dice."

Comedian is alternately breezy and prickly - a likable, brainy documentary with a neat retractable edge. Director Christian Charles chronicles Jerry Seinfeld's struggle to build a whole new comedy routine and uses it to encompass the plight of all stand-ups facing an open mike, a bare stage and a packed club. The comic's version of the writer's blank page lies somewhere between his ego and the audience, and inspiration can wilt at any point in-between. Subtle changes in the Zeitgeist and in audience awareness may affect whether a riff on, say, "think tanks" will soar; after all, listeners at some clubs may be far more familiar with drunk tanks.

Among the few props that comedian and social activist Dick Gregory uses during his show at Center Stage are a basket of fruit, a glass of water and a pile of newspapers.The fruit -- apples and grapes -- he hands out to the audience; the water, he drinks, reminding the audience to drink eight glasses a day; and the newspapers he relies on to provide material for his show, "Live on the Great White Way." The show represents Gregory's return to stand-up comedy after an absence of more than two decades; it opens off-Broadway immediately after its engagement as part of Center Stage's Off Center series.

It is inevitable that actor Greg Kinnear's name is going to come up in any discussion of actor-comedian Joel McHale. Both became widely known through the irreverent and popular E! entertainment channel TV show now known as The Soup. And both have moved beyond it. Kinnear used the show as a launching pad to become a film star. And McHale, who appears Saturday night in a comedy concert at Baltimore's Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as he continues his winning weekly performance with The Soup, is starting to break out on screens big and small as well.

Dave Chappelle has the stretch and bounce of an elastic band pushed just shy of the breaking point. That goes not only for his beanpole physique but also for the breadth and range of his humor and sympathy. His superficially wayward yet dead-on aim makes him constantly surprising. What's most enveloping about him is his generosity of spirit. He's a small-D democrat, small-C catholic satirist of race. And he's a celebrant of all that's genuinely funky. When he forges an unexpected human connection, his face, which can seem as round and unformed as a newborn's, beams as powerfully as a lighthouse.

ABC Sports threw the television equivalent of the Hail Mary pass yesterday by selecting acerbic comedian Dennis Miller as the third man in the booth for "Monday Night Football" next season. Miller, who hosts an Emmy Award-winning social commentary show on HBO and plugs long-distance phone service, was the surprise selection of the show's producer, Don Ohlmeyer, after a 3 1/2 -month process that began when former Maryland quarterback Boomer Esiason was fired, along with the show's producer and director.

Before he became famous for his album Here's Your Sign, comedian Bill Engvall bombed big-time. It was 1980-something, and Engvall was living in Dallas and regularly performing at a comedy club there when he got a call from Star Search. They wanted him to perform on the show. "I thought, this is the break, this is my big break," Engvall said. Engvall told a joke about tornado-proofing Texas with fake trailer parks and got a great reaction from the crowd (you can watch the clip at youtube.

Canadian Jim Carrey took a star-spangled turn in a recent interview to promote his new movie, The Majestic. The comic actor who earns more than $20 million a film (in U.S. dollars) said he was becoming an American citizen. "I love this country," he said. "This country defined me. This country allowed my dreams to come true." Star: The often-frenetic comedian turns more reflective. Carrey did not say where he was in the process, but joked that he was learning the state capitals. The soon-to-be-40-year-old, known for his rubbery face and manic schtick in such hits as Liar Liar and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, was downright serious in pledging his allegiance to the United States.

"Mr. President, Mr. President," the reporter shrieks. "Now that the governor-elect of New Jersey, a Republican, has admitted to inhaling . . . does that change your previous explanation on the subject?"With a practiced smile on his face and his left hand in the patented "thumbs up" position across his chest, the president braces, then responds:"I'm glad you asked that question," he says. "When I smoke, I don't inhale. When I drink, I don't swallow. And when I make love, I just like to watch."

If it weren't for his college football coach, comedian Brian Regan might have become an accountant. Luckily for his fans, Regan was persuaded by his coach to switch his major from accounting to theater and communications before leaving college in 1980 to pursue a career that would highlight his comedic prowess rather than his bookkeeping ability. Today, Regan is headlining a national Comedy Central-sponsored theater tour. At 8 p.m. tomorrow, fans can see him live at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.