My article in The Brooklyn Paper went like this: "Court Street's Andy Clay Silverstein is a Jewish John Travolta with a striking resemblance to the star. Looking like Grease's Danny Zuko and sounding like Kotter's Vinny Barbarino, he proceeded to dance like Saturday Night Fever's Tony Manero during a recent photo shoot ... Andy wants to be a star and his Travoltarized talents -- and looks -- are his temporary claim to fame, he says."

I was a fan from day one. After I wrote my first article on him - published March 6, 1979 -- I would go on to do a couple more -- but we became fast friends. From then on I would call what everyone close to him calls him, Andrew. I worked for the newspaper in the building next to his dad's business. During the 9 to 5 work day he would file court papers and deal with his Dad's clients.

He would often stop by my busy newspaper office and try to get me out of work so I could walk down the to courts with him where he had to drop off papers. My publisher would get so annoyed, but I would wiggle out of the office whenever I could to accompany him down to the courts on Jay Street. He enjoyed having an "audience" and for me it was a fun "coffee break."

Andrew would practice his act everywhere, making things up as he went along! One day he turned to me -- his platonic pal -- in an elevator filled with people, and said:" I don't care if you are pregnant, I'm not marrying you."

Everyone looked over at me with pity and shock. I was mortified. But he stayed in character. I came to expect him to do crazy stuff on the streets and in elevators. All the women adored him, and the men did too. To them, he was Fred Silverstein's handsome, charming kid! You have to understand, the neighborhood was very Brooklyn and had that Saturday Night Fever friendly vibe.

Andrew would say outrageous, unpredictable, and funny things all the time. He made people laugh. I spent much of 1979 red-faced at all the ways he embarrassed me in front of strangers. But I loved it! My girlfriends did too!

His performing career had begun about six months before my first story on him and it was taking off. He was playing at places like Rodney Dangerfield's (who he credits for helping him) and Catch A Rising Star.

His act, back then, consisted of coming out on stage like a sniveling, nerdy Nutty Professor character, then, lights would dim and he would transform into John Travolta and do Greased Lighting. In between were some snarky jokes. I once wrote that he sounded like "a shark who had eaten a pail of Don Rickles jokes." The crowds loved him, especially in Brooklyn.

I would take a gaggle of girlfriends to see him perform whenever possible. We were among the original true blue "Andrew Clay" fans. He'd dropped his last name and used his middle name as his stage name. There was no "Dice" in the middle yet.

I seemed to recall that he'd always single one of us out in the audience to be the target of a joke. Then we would go backstage, if there was one, and meet his Dad Fred and Mom, Jackie, and his sister, his aunt, the whole family. They would tirelessly trek with him to club after small club, and as the clubs got bigger, they were still there. Much of the Silverstein family life was centered around Andrew's career in those early years. His dad would manage him -- and be his best friend and guiding ligjht -- for many years.

Back then, I knew Andrew as a really funny, cute guy who truly wanted to be a big star. He had a huge personality, a personality that could not be contained. And yet he was like a regular Brooklyn guy in many ways, but a softy, not as tough as he was in his act. I realize it was 28 years ago, and time can change people, but I always found him to be "real." What you see is what you get.

He told me once he loved the Jerry Lewis Nutty Professor movie because he related to the character. Before going into comedy, he was a drummer and he did a little drumming in his act. He was not a mean, angry person. The Brooklyn Bravado was an act. Back then -- and I am sure to this day -- he kissed his father hello and loved his parents and family dearly. (On his show, he kisses his son hello in the same way). He opened doors for women. And once in a while he paid for the coffee we'd sip over conversation in the little coffee shop in 16 Court Street or Chock Full 'O Nuts (although most of his earnings went into his act, for which he was always purchasing black bell-bottom polyester pants and tee-shirts with things spelled out in studs).

Mostly, we talked about him, his act and his career. He was so determined, I used to love to listen to him go on about how he was going to conquer all aspects of the entertainment industry - movies, records, live performances. The energy behind his dream was palatable. I remember he would sometimes map out ideas on napkins over coffee.

"Just let them know I am aiming for the stars," he told me, "and I am going to get it too."

So I wasn't too surprised when eleven years later he was a huge star, hosting Saturday Night Live, doing movies, filling arenas. By then he was Andrew "Dice" Clay, a comedy legend in his own time.

I'd seen him over the years a few times since he'd left Brooklyn for Hollywood at 22, but when he was at the height of his fame, I got an assignment from Spin Magazine to profile him. His dad helped me "get" the interview.

I went back to meet him at his Dad's office -- also then the office of his production company Fleebin' Dabble Productions -- and he was still the same Andrew in so many ways. I really didn't see a big change in his normal personality. Still funny, unpredictable, regular Andrew. His posse was all long time friends -- back then it was Hot Tub Johnny and Kenny Big. Andrew was complaining that his stomach was bothering him, and sent someone downstairs to get an antacid or Alka Seltzer if I recall and then she showed me a new video.

"You see, I told you I would make it big," he said. He was proud.

In the next breath, his sister, who I always liked so much, was in his office saying "gimmie your car keys," and sort of demanding them the way sisters do of brothers because she had to pick up her son. He questioned why, the way brothers do with sisters, and finally tossed her the keys. I was happy to see him and his family again. It was all as I remembered it from years before.

My photographer and I took him out for a photo shoot in the Streets of Brooklyn where we used to walk in our twenties. It was truly an unbelievable sight: The streets came alive with fans. Workers hung out from office windows. Bus drivers stopped buses. People swarmed around us. Guys started calling out Dice jokes. Everyone was yelling, "Dice, Dice." Traffic stood still. It was so crazy the photos ended up in People Magazine and my article ended up in The Brooklyn Paper. He truly had become as famous as he always wanted to be. He was a hero in Brooklyn. It blew me away.

Andrew, in real life, was always funny, with amazing delivery and timing. I've always known that the Diceman character was an act. His dad once told me than Andrew was doing a very different performance "but the people wanted the dirty stuff." So Dice delivered.

Decades ago Jim Morrison was arrested and charged for allegedly showing his penis to a crowd in Miami. These days, rockers regularly show their parts. And look at the Britney, Paris, Lindsey photos that have been publicly published, along with sex tapes of so many stars. Jim took the hit for what would become a trend. Many think it was part of his demise.

I think Andrew Dice Clay took the same kind of hit. He rose to fame simultaneous to the cultural push for political correctness and he became an "example." I can't say I loved all of his material, but I would defend his first amendment rights. Howard Stern continues to have women disrobe and talk about their body parts. Look at Sarah Silverman. She is Dice in a bra. She's so cute, she gets away with it. And let me tell you, back in the day, Andrew Clay Silverstein walked around in the same way as Sasha Baron Cohen, goofing on everyone and overcoming them with his charm and personality. I notice that Borat, in fact, is the proud sponsor of the Andrew's show.

When I watched last week, I was a little shocked to see Andrew older and crankier (like me) but he seems like the same old Andrew in many ways. The reason I am blogging on this is that so many people panned his show and called him boring, old, graying, and questioned whether he will get more than 15 minutes of fame out of it. They are calling his portrayal is Dice Undisputed, "The New Dice."

I dispute that. I don't think they are seeing a new Dice. It is just Andrew, in real life, with his foibles and insecurities and crankiness. His Brooklyn-ness. And his drive. He does seem a little angrier than I remember. He once told me that "comics are the nastiest people" and in my innocence I couldn't understand why. Perhaps it is due to the many disappointments that come with the job?

I actually found it extraordinary that he could allow himself to be so vulnerable and exposed on his show. He's a little bit Nutty Professor now but perhaps a transformation is in the works. In some ways, he is reminding me of the Rodney Dangerfield character, who can't get no respect. Everything seems to be an uphill battle for him. It will be interesting to watch.

Yes, it was a little weird to see him bigger and grayer (cause that means I am bigger and grayer). But I was happy to see him, and know his Dad is doing well (and talks to him exactly as he did 28 years ago, assuring him "you'll do it"), and that his kids have grown up well. And that he has a new woman in his life who does not take crap from him -- a wrestler no less.

Andrew, congratulations on your engagement and on your new show!

VH 1 has picked up 7 episodes of "Dice Undisputed." Watch tonight at 10 PM on VH1

© 2007, Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is a leading interfaith and non-denominational wedding officiant. She creates unique ceremonies for couples of all backgrounds and faiths, and is also widely recognized as a relationship coach, bridal stress expert and columnist. She is author of WEDDING GODDESS: A Divine Guide To Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss (Perigee Books, May 2005) and the new online course, Discover the Goddess. Visit Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway at www.WeddingGoddessWisdom.com.