Philadelphia STYLE
Remember Pauly Shore? That guy with the crazy hair and stoner smile? He's back, but as himself this time, with a new reality series, Minding the Store, in which he takes over his mom's famous comedy club, the Comedy Store. In the spirit of getting real, Philadelphia STYLE sat down with Shore and got real. We asked him about working his mom, inappropriate women and what it's like to make fun of yourself. -Jen A. Miller
Q: How is Minding the Store going to be different from other celebrity-driven reality shows? A: It's different. That's it. It's different. I wanted to make an entertaining show. I didn't want to do a documentary show about me walking to my f--ing neighbor's lawn or me going to a chiropractor. I don't think my life's that interesting. ... You know, the Bobby Brown show? I haven't seen it, and there's probably funny elements to it, but I don't think it's that thought out. My stuff is more thought out. There're story lines that we commit [to], and we stick with them. Q: I thought it was more like Curb Your Enthusiasm. A: I'm trying to keep that sitcom structure with a beginning, middle and end, but what happens when we're rolling the cameras is-we don't know. As long as we hit these story points to propel the story, move it along. The show stems from a reality, and the show stems from truth. All these things are true, but we've broadened them. To me, the best comedy, and you should probably put this in bold-it's very much the truth. The best comedy to me is an exaggeration of the truth, taking something truthful that happened to you and totally exaggerating it and pushing it creatively so it's relatable but funny. Like Richard Pryor. Remember when he did the bit about him catching on fire freebasing his pipe? That's not funny, but he made it funny. My career being in the f--ing toilet and not being where Adam Sandler is and not being where I once was is not funny, but me making fun of it is funny. Q: What do you think would happen if you picked seven comics to live in the Comedy Store green room and asked them to stop being polite and start getting real? A: It happened recently. One comic punched the other one. Comics hate each other, most of them. Q: What weren't you prepared for when you took over the Comedy Store? A: Just dealing with my mom so much. She's very old school and sometimes to reinvent you've got to change stuff. She's got this thing, which is funny on the show, where I'm like, 'Mom, I want to change the bathrooms. They're all f--ing old and musty and sh--.' And she's like 'Change it, but don't change it.' Does that make sense? Q:Will we ever see Mom? A: No. Q: She doesn't want to be on TV? A: Never. No. It's always been her voice. Q: Anyway, which comics are playing the circuit right now who you think could be big? A: There's this guy Brian Holtzman at the Comedy Store that's really funny. He'll go on stage and a lot of people will leave because he's so dirty and just start making fun of people. He's harsh. Q: Based on the first episode of Minding the Store, why do you think hot girls can't be funny? A: I said that they can. I think comedy is something that you're born with. And I'm sure that there's some really pretty girls who are born funny. Jenny McCarthy's pretty funny. I think that if I were to really focus my mind and really work on coming up with the Pussycat Dolls of comedy, I think I could. Q: Why don't hot girls go into comedy? A: I don't know. That's a good question. Some of them do, here and there, [but] very rarely. There are some hot girls that were comedians on my show, so some of them are going into it. Q: In this search for love in Minding the Store, you say you're looking for an appropriate woman. What would you describe as an appropriate woman? A: Someone that doesn't need me financially. Someone that is intelligent. Someone that's healthy. Someone that likes to work out. Someone that doesn't have to go out with her friends. But someone that lets me be me. Someone that knows how to cook. Someone that wants kids. Stuff like that. Out in Q: Describe an inappropriate woman. A: Sexually or someone to get in a relationship with? Q: To get in a relationship with. A: The girls that I've been dating. Q: I didn't say they were inappropriate. A: They are, for a relationship. Mentally, I'm not stimulated by them. They're fun, they're adorable, they're light, they're airy, they're cool, they're sweet. But that lasts, what, a week, a day, two days? Q: So what gave you the idea to make Pauly Shore is Dead? A: I was definitely depressed at the time, and I was definitely going from a boy to a man. The phone wasn't ringing. It was right after my sitcom got cancelled on Fox. I knew the jig was up, and I knew it was time to stop. It was enough. I did it. Instead of looking at it positively, I looked at it negatively. I didn't look at the beautiful thing that I created and say 'Wow, I did these great movies and I made money and I've got a name, so now I'm going to stop for a while. This is good. Everything happens for a reason, and now I'm gonna go away and write." Instead, I got all nuts, and I started to think that comedians were dying, people were dying and they always made a big issue of it. I was known for being a joke and just a punch line, and people would laugh at Q: I have a question about former movies. Do you think Brendan Fraser appears more intelligent in Encino Man, George of the Jungle or Airheads. A:
Q: Why? A: Just because it'll make you say Encino Man. a couple of times in the article. Q: Alright. Do you feel completely responsible for his dramatic turn in Dudley Do-Right? A: [Laughs] Absolutely not. Q: Since your career has zigzagged so rapidly, do you even have someone to emulate anymore or are you entirely on your own? A: I'm on my own. Q: Is that scary, or is that a good thing? A: It's scary. I used to have Sam Kinison as a guy I looked up to, and I had these older comics, but they're all dead. Rodney Dangerfield died. Eddie Murphy's not funny anymore. Richard Pryor's in a wheelchair. Q: I saw on the show you mentioned Jamie Foxx. Do you think that is something you aspire to? To go from Booty Call to... A: No one would have guessed. There's no way in a million years you would have guessed back then. You look at him back then, and you just look at him as a comic. He's a pretty funny comic. I think the thing that's important about the show is people seeing me be me the way you're seeing me be me. In the show, I think I come across as, I wouldn't say funny, but I would just say myself and if that's funny to you, then that's good. But I don't see me doing anything weird and bizarre like I was back in the day. I think if the show gets picked up for a second season, I'll have some more leverage because that's really what it's about. You're as good as your last project. If the show works, then I think I'll have more leverage to, I don't want to say yell at my agents, but get opportunities, to get in the room. All I really have to do is get in the room. Once I get in the room, I might not get the job, but I know they'll fall in love with me because I'll be me and they'll definitely have an impression like, 'I thought he was something else. You know what, he's not right for this, but I'm going to find him something.' And if I do that enough, then I'll get that one roll then all of a sudden people will be like 'Sh--, did you see Pauly in those four scenes?' I know it's going to happen because of my vision for myself, and I also know I'm a really good actor. So I'm not really concerned and worried about it. It'll happen when it happens, but this TV show, if it works, will be a stepping-stone for it. Q: If you could say one thing to the weasel right now what would it be? A: Die, motherf--er, die! Q: And what would he say back. A: Hey, buddy, chill, stop harshing my gig so hardcore. Q: And this is my last question. A: Are we going to make out when it's finished? Q: No. A: Why? Q: No. A: I thought we're supposed to. Q: No, sorry. A: Alright. Q: Alright. A: I love you. Q: I love you too, Pauly.
The Shore of It
Pauley Shore Stops Being the Weasel and Starts Getting Real
September/October 2005
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