Sober Andy Dick Revisits Old Haunts

Twelfth time's the charm? After 12 trips to rehab, newly sober comedian Andy Dick will return to his old So-Cal stomping grounds for a series of stand-up shows in Temecula—an area haunted by ghosts of Dick's drunken past. In July of 2008, he was arrested in neighboring Murrieta for sexual battery while intoxicated at a Buffalo Wild Wings—after attending the funeral of former Murrieta Mayor, and longtime family friend, Kevin Walsh. “We had a traditional Irish funeral, which involved drinking gin and parading through the streets, but in my story it involved going right to jail,” Dick recalls. Last year, in Temecula, he was arrested at a Marie Callender’s restaurant for public intoxication. Under more auspicious circumstances, and in light of his newfound sobriety, the comic is happy to be back in town for comedy gigs on June 8 and 9. “The show is going to be a good time and, contrary to popular belief, I really am very personable and friendly and I want to hang out after," he says. "Actually, that's my problem. I do shows out there and I don't want to rush back to Los Angeles. I want to just hang out. I think that's why I got arrested there in the first place." Despite the toll addiction and alcoholism have taken on his career, Dick—who spoke with The Fix after his most recent rehab stint—is proud to be in recovery. Instead of turning his back on his dark past, he mines it for comedic material in his act: "I like to talk about [my drinking problem] so that it's always right there in my face. You never really know for sure if the sobriety will stick, but I know for a fact that I'm not going to be drinking today. God willing, this time will be it."