By Lucas Schoeppner, News Staff
Comedian Tom Green, of MTV’s “The Tom Green Show” and movies such as “Road Trip” and “Freddie Got Fingered,” will film his first-ever stand-up comedy special at the Wilbur Theatre Friday. The News checked in with the gross-out king to see what he’s up to.
The Huntington News: So you started doing stand-up comedy at 15, right?
Tom Green: I did for a few years in high school, until I started doing “The Tom Green Show” on public access TV. I was at Algonquin College [in Ottawa] at the time and had a show on the Ottawa University radio station. Then I started doing my TV show, which got picked up by MTV [in 1999] and it was a lot of fun. But now I’ve been touring, doing stand-up for the last couple years and having a great time. I’m really looking forward to coming to Boston. We’re going to have a crazy night.
HN: How is stand up different from doing TV shows like “The Tom Green Show?”
TG: It’s fun because you’re on stage in front of a lot of people. You’re with real people who are coming out to laugh and have a good time. [The Wilbur is] going to be a big show for me; it’s my first stand-up comedy television special.
HN: How do you approach humor when you are on stage and need to work a live crowd?
TG: It’s exciting because you’re on stage and everyone’s laughing and having a great time. But you have to connect with the audience, you have to speak about things that people are concerned about and aware of and interested in. And the most important thing is that it has to be funny. I’ve been having a great time touring and a really great couple of years of doing shows now. So it’s a great time to come and see what I’m doing right on the cusp of this television special. I talk to the audience a bit, but I also have a lot of material, a lot of jokes, a lot of stories and a lot of things I like to discuss with the crowd, so it really is a lot about just connecting, I think.
HN: A lot of us were little kids when “The Tom Green Show” was on. It was the cool show that was too edgy for our parents to let us watch. But how do you look back on the work you were doing years ago, which people might know you best for, now that you are using a different medium of humor?
TG: It’s awesome. I have so many people who remember me from the show from MTV, we’re sort of celebrating some of the old show and some of the history of the stuff I’ve done, but also just taking it to the next level and doing a very high-energy, ridiculous stand-up comedy show. So anyone who remembers my show from MTV, or if you were too young to watch it, that’s a good reason to come because now you’re not too young to watch it and it’s going to be crazy.
HN: In the past, you’ve done a lot of stunts, a lot of physical comedy and now you’re moving into stand-up. And you have guys like Steve Martin, comics who are now trying to transition out of what they’ve done in the past. Now Steve Martin is trying to move into more serious things like art criticism, but he still seems somewhat locked into the slapstick of his past, at least in the eyes of some of his fans. How has the transition been for you?
TG: Yeah, I’m really trying to keep the physical aspect of my comedy. I don’t use any props or anything like that, but it’s very high energy, very silly at times, but I’m also talking about social issues in a high-energy, fun way. And you mentioned Steve Martin, who is one of my heroes who I really grew up loving and watching him, but I don’t plan on getting serious any time soon; I am definitely sticking with being as ridiculous as I possibly can.
HN: Any other comedic influences or heroes?
TG: Oh, absolutely. Richard Pryor, George Carlin and people like Norm Macdonald or Harland Williams. I love Monty Python and David Letterman. There’s tons of stuff I grew up loving that inspired me to want to do comedy. That’s the thing, I was always really interested in doing comedy, I loved watching it and I just decided that it was what I was going to do, and I’ve stuck with it. It’s something that I think anybody in college should also do. Just find out what you want to do, stick with it and go for it.
HN: Your dry delivery is a big part of your humor. How do you keep a straight face?
TG: When you understand the mechanics of the joke, as far as what it takes to put it all together and how to make an audience laugh, you’re kind of able to stay in your zone and not crack up. You’re not surprised by what’s going on and I think that is a big part of laughing, that element of surprise. So because you are actually creating the laugh, you don’t end up laughing yourself.
HN: But when you were out on the street, doing more physical pranks, what about then?
TG: Well, when I was out on the street, filming pranks, and something crazy would happen, when I first started doing it I would crack up. Then I’d be in the editing room editing everything because it would look so lame if I was there cracking up at my own jokes. And it would also sort of tip-off the person you were interviewing that this was a joke. And part of it was always to try and confuse people and make them not know what was going on. So I got kind of good at just holding that in and not cracking up when I was doing that.
HN: So it seems like you have some new competition. You aren’t the only bearded deadpan comic out there now; you’ve got other guys like Zach Galifianakis. Do you feel a little threatened?
TG: I don’t really know those guys, but I’m glad to see they’ve gotten on the beard bandwagon. I’m not going to say that they are copying my beard, but I am happy that they’ve joined the club.
HN: So I have to ask an obligatory question on behalf of Northeastern. You have two huskies, right? How are they?
TG: Oh they’re great. I love my huskies.
