Shore keeps a sharp edge on his comedy

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Los Angeles stand-up comedian Pauly Shore will perform at the World Cafe in Honolulu this weekend, and on Maui next week. He's just completed his own movie and has a cameo in "The Wash," which stars Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and George Wallace. Pauly Shore With Matt Kazam as opening act 8 p.m. Saturday; doors open at 7 p.m. World Cafe $25 ($22.50 advance) 585-2877 (World Cafe), 526-4400 (Ticket Plus) Also: Shore does a Maui show, 9 p.m. Wednesday at Hapa's, 41 East Lipoa St., Kihei; $20 ($17 advance), (808) 870-9001

"I've always wanted to make people laugh, even before I turned professional," Shore said in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. "Comedy is serious; you have to be current. You also have to keep challenging yourself. The act I'm doing now is different than the act I was doing six months ago. I keep the comedy muscle in my brain sharpened, because I know there's a ton of room to improve and improvise."

Shore is in town for a gig tomorrow at the World Cafe (and a just-added Maui gig Wednesday). You may also know him from his breakthrough MTV show, "Totally Pauly," which clicked with audiences and opened up the comic tidal wave for other hip, on-the-edge stand-ups.

But then again, he practically was born to be in comedy. He grew up exposed to stand-ups, because his mother, Mitzi Shore, owned and operated (and still does) the renowned Comedy Store club in Los Angeles, a springboard for many a career.

But comedy, he said, is no sure thing. You can't ride on your laurels; you have to keep hammering away, writing or finding new material, sharing observations — albeit, on a humorous note — even if there's not much to laugh about these days.

Shore is one of the first jokesters to find some light and laughter in the fallout of the Sept. 11 events.

"I'm the type of a comic who'll talk about it, find some humor, and move on," he said of terrorism. "It's like, it's out there and in your face, just as the O.J. (Simpson) trial was in its time, but of course, this is 10 times heavier. And it's a challenge to find the light as a comic."

He's still personally numb from the horrors of the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies. "I can't believe it all happened, I'm still somewhat in shock," he said. "But personally, I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel — it's just that the tunnel's long."

Comedy provides that valuable escape valve for troubled souls and broken hearts, said Shore. In his round of shows prior to Hawai'i, he said that audiences have been willing and are ready for laughter.

"The only neurotic one about Sept. 11 is my mom," he chuckled. "She thinks I shouldn't fly (because of terrorists). Heck, I'm cool — I'll beat 'em up and hold 'em in a head-lock, if necessary."

On a serious note, Shore has had to think out of the box to complete his latest movie, "You'll Never Wiez in This Town Again."

He wrote it, produced it, directed it and starred in it. And ultimately challenged himself to take a new path of resolve, largely by necessity. Though he's had a string of comedic films, his stock as a movie "name" was sinking.

Pauly had to go into overdrive, re-inventing himself as a film hyphenate, producing his own feature to maintain visibility and viability. Thus, while the film is in the can, now he must seek out a distributor or interest a studio to get it into movie theaters next year.

"I know the first thing you're taught in show business is to not spend your own money," he said. "I had to, I had no choice, because nobody would give me the money — so I gambled on myself."

He described "Wiez" as a dark comedy, semi-autobiographical, in which he plays himself and basically loses everything and struggles to stay afloat. There's a host of cameo appearances by the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Todd Bridges, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Clint Howard, Kato Kaelin, Tommy Lee, Sean Penn, Mark McGrath (of Sugar Ray), Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Vince Vaughn, Sally Jesse Raphael, Earl Brown (of "There's Something About Mary"), Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit), Tom Sizemore (of "Pearl Harbor" and "Saving Private Ryan"), Verne Troyer (Mini-Me in "Austin Powers"), Heidi Fleiss, Hanson and more.

He also has a cameo (he's the Man in the Trunk) in "The Wash."

While he enjoys film and TV work, Shore said there's nothing quite like a livewire audience to get his juices flowing.

"It's really a trip, a feeling inside that's hard to explain," he said of the roar of laughter. "I don't know, it's got something to do with being in control of 500 or 1,000, who are in the palm of your hand, at the tip of your finger. I really have a good time ... being outrageous."

He launched his stand-up career at 17, fresh out of high school, eager to find his own stride, his own imprint, apart from a growing circle of sound-alikes and copy-cats.

"I don't know, a joke is a joke and if you have your own style and be who you are, you can get away with doing a familiar joke," he said. "It's also an energy — if you don't want to sound like someone else and be like someone else, you've got to be on the edge, be different, be a trend-setter."

He counts, among the Hawai'i comedy clan, Andy Bumatai as a friend. "I met him when he was doing the comedy circuit in L.A. and he's terrific," said Shore.

Told that Bumatai has traded comedy for a day job, he laughed: "Well, we all have to get away from it. But eventually, we all come back." He's right. Bumatai has been in semi-retirement but has made selective appearances in recent months. Once a jokester, always a jokester.