Pauly Shore Visits Broad Ripple This Weekend

Just a few days before the release of his Showtime documentary (Pauly Shore Stands Alone, Dec. 4), the former MTV personality will perform at Crackers comedy club Nov. 21–22. We caught up with The Weasel before the show.
Your mother, Mitzi Shore, has owned The Comedy Store in West Hollywood since you were very young. What was it like to grow up with such legendary comics?
When I was a little kid, I just thought of it as my house. Then as I got a little older, I was like, ‘Shit, who were those people?’ When they started making it, like Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, David Letterman, and Jay Leno made it, I knew there was something different about my upbringing.
Do you think that growing up around comedy made you want to pursue it as a career?
Comedy isn’t one of those things you choose. It chooses you. My brothers and sister are not into standup. I think it’s a bug, you know. For me, it’s therapy—a stress reliever. I just feel at peace when I’m in front of a group of people making them laugh.
When did you first know that you wanted to be on stage?
I was 17 years old, and all of my friends were going to college. They were taking their SATs, and I wasn’t interested in doing that at all. I knew then that I wanted to get right into standup.
What is your new documentary, Pauly Shore Stands Alone, about?
It’s pretty much a film about being on the road. I’m playing the Midwest and doing these shows. I’m interacting with the fans, and at the same time, I’m moving my mom out of her house of 40 years and kind of dealing with that because she has been ill for awhile. I hope the movie is honest and funny and relatable.

Can you imagine yourself doing anything but comedy?
Not really. I’m definitely lucky that I found “that thing.” There are so many people who are still trying to find that thing they can make a living off of and enjoy. I think that’s the key to life—finding something that you would do and not care if you got paid for it. That’s how standup is for me, you know?
What kind of material do you tackle onstage these days?
I definitely reintroduce myself to the audience. I’m very aware of the fact that some people out there might not know who I am. So it’s almost like group therapy—you kind of introduce yourself: “Hi, my name is Pauly Shore. This is who I am.” I talk about the television shows and movies people know me from, then venture into getting older, taking care of my mom, being single, and stuff like that.
What are your fondest memories of the MTV days?
Just the freedom to do and say whatever we wanted, knowing we weren’t going to be censored. I was living the dream of a young guy, and hopefully viewers got to experience a little bit of that through us on television. I mean, it was pretty awesome.
You can follow the comedian’s exploits on Twitter at @PaulyShore.