Dane Cook On Directing Himself In New Stand Up Special ‘Troublemaker’ & Remaining “Authentic” Following Feuds, Beefs With Fellow Comics [VIDEO]

Comedian Dane Cook is prepping to release his new stand up special on Showtime, Troublemaker, which premieres this coming Friday, Oct. 17 at 10 p.m. Before kicking it off, the famed comedian sat down with Variety to do a little Q&A about the special, keeping himself authentic – perhaps subtly hinting at past feuds and beefs he's had with some fellow comedians in the past regarding him "stealing" material? – and moving into the directing profession ... specifically with this new special.

The comedian, who has been in the industry for just about 25 years, recently told the publication that comedy specials can often be much less genuine than an actual comedy show. "Most comedians will tell you if you ever want to throw off a performance, put a camera in the room," he said of his newest special. "It's pretty much an authenticity killer because we're creatures of what's happening in the room in the moment, as opposed to when we can really make a plan an stick to an overall formula."

Perhaps at an attempt to maintain some sort of that authenticity, Cook chose to put himself behind the camera, directing the special. "By being the director, putting all of this on myself, and presenting it the way I wanted it, I never had to show this to anybody."

The comedian goes on to admit that sitting in the director's chair gave him a much higher appreciation for the work that goes into making something such as this, noting that he would love nothing more than to direct others of his ilk. "I think that would be a cool way to build my repertoire," he said.

Check out the full interview over at Variety.

Troublemaker will be Cook's first special since having released 2009's Isolated Incident.