Banned for Life

Andrew Dice Clay names his 2000 release Banned for Life after his appearance at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, where a quick set of dirty nursery rhymes earned him a permanent suspension from the network. Released alongside another televised hour, I’m Over Here Now, and the audio album Face Down, Ass Up, the performance captures the Diceman in the middle of a concerted comeback effort.

A decade removed from becoming the first stand-up to sell out Madison Square Garden on consecutive nights, Clay was back on a nationwide tour to reclaim his audience. He leans entirely into the leather-jacketed, cigarette-flicking persona that caused his initial media backlash, delivering the explicit material that made him a target in the first place.