Entertainment

Who's That Hamster?

by Kristie Rohwedder

Hi there. Are you itching to know more about the hamster who plays the dad in the Sprint Framily ad campaign? You've come to the right place. His voice (and that "OH!") should've been a dead giveaway: That little furry friend is Andrew Dice Clay, aka Dice the Hamster. He's a comic, actor, and rodent. A hamstactoric! (Oof, that’s hella clunky. I have to set aside some time for a brainstorming session because “hamstactoric” will not do. It sounds like a sleep disorder.)

Dice the Hamster was born in a Petco pet store cage in 2007. He was one of four in the litter. (Cool fact: The hamster in the "Tiny Hamsters Eating Burritos" video is his brother.) The Stevensons (a family of humans) brought him into their home shortly thereafter. Inspired by the color of his coat, the Stevensons decided on the name Butterscotch.

The youngest Stevenson noticed something special about their new pet almost immediately: In interviews, Becky Stevenson says it was something about the way he ate sunflower seeds. (“Positively captivating,” she recalls.) Dice/Butterscotch had the “it” factor.

Becky helped him get signed with an agent, he changed his name (he didn't think "Butterscotch" would mesh with his not-so-sweet act. However, he doesn’t remember how he came up with his stage name) and went to a voice coach, and a star was born.

In addition to selling out comedy clubs around the country (he's a funny critter), Dice the Hamster starred in Hamsterblanca, was in Les Miserodents (he sings too!), won a Golden Mousetrap for his performance in Planes, Trains, and Hamster Wheels, and had a cameo in—Oops, just kidding. Scratch everything I said. All of it is complete bunk.

As fun as it was, I'm done spinning that yarn. I'm ready to be real now: Dice is a human, not a hamster.

The very human man behind the Frobinson framily’s fuzzy patriarch's (fraytriarch?) voice is Andrew Dice Clay. Dice is a famous comic/actor. And a human. Dice has been a standup for a long-ass time, appeared on reality TV, and acted in a boatload of movies. And he’s not a hamster.

OH!

Image: Sprint/YouTube