Howard Stern Show alum Artie Lange knows he's a lucky guy.
In a new interview with The Jersey Journal's Adam Robb, Lange says his "fifth second chance at life" has left feeling both grateful and "humbled":
"When I came out of the daze coming out of rehab, everything came back much quicker than I thought, and I remember coming back to Hoboken and looking at the view and appreciating it with a clear head for the first time. I should be in a f***ing studio apartment in Newark right now trying to get ready for my job at Applebee's, instead I'm in a suite still talking to you, and I'm just f***ing lucky, man. I'm very humbled by everything."
<---See video of Artie Lange at the Borgata here
Lange left the Howard Stern Show in December 2009, after struggling publicly with heroin addiction for years. A few weeks after he was placed on mandatory medical leave by Sirius XM, he stabbed himself nine times with a 13-inch kitchen knife and was discovered by his mother hours later.
Lange has since said that the incident was not an "actual suicide attempt," and described what sounded like a psychotic break in which he thought stabbing himself would cause him to lose enough blood to pass out and "get some rest". Lange spent 18 months in and out of rehab facilities and psychiatric wards following the incident. He returned to the public eye with a suprise radio appearance in July 2011. He is now the co-host of Fox Sports Radio's nightly 'Nick and Artie' show in addition to his stand-up career.
Artie Lange performed his first large scale stand-up gig since leaving rehab as part of last weekend's Anti-Social Comedy Tour at the Borgata in Atlantic City, where he told the audience:
"They call stuff that makes you relapse 'triggers. I get a gig at the Borgata, my manager (a smart guy) says: 'OK, before we take this, any 'triggers' at the Borgata?' I said: 'Let me see, besides roulette, black jack, craps, liquor, hot annoying chicks, coke, heroin, every wh**e I banged below Metuchen--besides that I'm fine."
Lange is currently working on his second book, a memoir that will explore his latest experiences with addiction and recovery.
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