Artie Lange & Vegas: a potent mix

LANGE says he kicked drugs and began rebuilding his career through appearances on television and in movies, and things really took off when Stern hired him in 2001. "When I got on Stern I realized that this was the one job where you could be really honest and open, almost like Richard Pryor or something. You can be honest about your life and get laughs." Yet even without drugs, Lange's laughs often come from the chaos of his life devotion to hobbies like drinking and gambling. "It is a double-edged sword," Lange says of using his life for his material, which stresses the crude and the blue.

Nowhere are both edges of the sword more apparent than when Lange comes here. "I am a guy who has struggled with every kind of addiction. I love gambling, and it has gotten me into trouble before. I love drugs and booze. The drugs finally had to go, but the booze is still very much in play. And you know I love broads. I am definitely not someone who is embarrassed to get a hooker or two," he says.

And there are those who expect the spectacular ways Lange's professional and personal life tend to merge in Vegas to one day be the end of him. Especially over the past few years when Lange has arrived in Vegas for remote broadcasts with the Stern crew, his experiences the night before often became fodder for the show. "The last few times I came here with the Howard Stern show I nearly died," Lange admits.

Once people even thought he did expire. A prank call by a fan during a 2004 Vegas expedition resulted in media reports of Lange's demise. "The depressing thing is that everyone believed it. Here I am in my mid-30s, and everyone just goes, 'OK, he's dead.' "

But avoiding Vegas is not an option for Lange, citing the lucrative fees. Lange says he's made "up to $40 grand in one night doing stand-up."

The most recent drama to grip his world (and be a topic of endless interest to Stern's audience) has been the dissolution of his relationship with his longtime girlfriend Dana. "You know, I have never been that much in love with a woman before in my life. It is the most adult like I have ever felt in a relationship. We dated for 4 1/2 years. But it has been dying a slow, painful death. I think it might be officially over. It is very hard."

So, newly single, Lange returns to Vegas this week for a television taping as part of a typical workweek: "It is going to be a whirlwind few days. I've got to do the Stern show July 17 and July 18 and then get on a plane and fly to L.A. to shoot 'Entourage' on the 19th and 20th and then fly to Vegas and do 'The Best Damn Sports Show' from the Mandalay Bay. Then I am going to hang in Vegas and take the red-eye back on July 22."

Taking a measure of the personal and professional blessing and curse Vegas has been to him, Lange says, "Financially, I am probably down about $30,000, and emotionally, I am about even right now."

That is, until he returns this week. Then all bets are off.

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