Pauly Shore on Growing Up Around Stand-Up Legends at the Comedy Store

You got babysitted by Sam Tennyson. It's one of the funniest fucking stories of all time. Like what a crazy thing your mom did. She left you as a little child as one of the most maniacal comedians that's ever existed. Well it wasn't exactly like that. It was more like Sam was, I was 14 years old, I was a shorter to cook at the Comedy Store in Westwood. My mom would put Sam on last because all he would do is scream. And then he would literally, there would be six people left in the room in Westwood and he would throw the stools. He'd throw his stool at the audience members, they'd scamper off. He'd smoke weed in the parking lot. And then he would feed them hamburgers. So I kind of just, I was always taking care of comedians. What year was this? This was probably 84, 84, 85. I was in high school. So he really hit in 86. Yes. Yes, and he really hit. Yeah. Did I ever tell you my story how I found out about him? It was probably Boston with Prento or something. No, a girl that I worked with at the Boston Athletic Club. Still to this day, I can't remember her fucking name. She was really cool though. She was this big volleyball player girl. Like big athletic girl. And she goes to me, she goes, have you seen Sam Kennison? Sam Kennison, whatever his name was. I go, no I haven't. And so she acts out in the parking lot. And I think I heard a whole bit about him. No, no, no, the homosexual necrophiliacs. Having sex with her. Oh, God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She acted it out in the parking lot. She's like, oh, oh, life keeps fucking in the ass even after you're dead. It never ends. Me laughing at her acting it out in the parking lot made me go get the VHS tape. So I got a VHS tape of his HBO special. And I was like, holy shit. So I found out about it from a girl acting out the bit. She was on her stomach in the parking lot going, oh, oh, feels like something's in my ass. I know, you can't believe it. That angle was genius. It's such a fucking genius. Hilarious bit. Genius point of view. That night was 1987. And that was at the Roxy on Sunset. And my mom had an after party for him at the house. At the Doheny house. That night, afterwards, Sam came to the house with everyone. And I was so excited because I wanted to show him my saltwater fish tank. Because as a kid, I had a saltwater fish tank and I brought him up to my room. And I said, Sam, look at my tank. And he wasn't impressed at all. He's like, but he told me to take the top off the saltwater fish tank. It was a big black top. And I took it down. He dumped all this coke on it. And he started chopping up lines. And he says, have fun. And me and my friend Dave, we snorted Sam's coke that night. Oh my God. And I felt like so cool. I felt like, no, for real. I was like, fuck this guy. And then I just followed him around. So as far as him babysitting me, it was no lie. So that was just the way it would describe it. Yeah. I mean, Lois Bromfield babysitted me. Jackson Purdue babysat me. Mike Binder, Argus Hamilton, all those guys. So you were essentially just like his young protege. Yeah. It was like the Michael Jordan commercial. The kid wanted to be like Mike, I want to be like Sam. Right. So yeah. Look at you. Yeah. So what year was that? I was probably 11. Wow. It was probably 11. What a fucking crazy place to grow up. Yeah. Back then. Oh my God. Yeah. Back then. Back then. I mean, back then. I mean, there's so many stories, dude. I mean, I'm there now. And it's great, obviously. It's the store. But when mom was there, it was just like you never know what the fuck was going to happen. You never knew who was going to pull in the fucking lot. You never knew who was going to come up. It was like someone shooting guns. Not literally, but just as far as the energy. Boom, boom, boom. I mean, Eddie Murphy used to show up with like six Rolls-Royces. For real, dude. And then Richard would show up. And all these guys would just roll. And this is around when you got there. It was kind of towards. You got there in 94. 94. That was probably before when I got there. Yeah, I saw the calendar you had for my mom, where she put your name. I thought that was really cool. Yeah, it's very cool. Yeah. So yeah, so that was that time. You know, I'm really proud of his arguments. Look at this right here. What is that? What year is that? That was last year. Poly Shore bringing up Eddie Murphy. When did Eddie retire? So he retired in what year? He stopped doing stand up. When? I don't know. I was at his house probably five years ago. And I was just like, dude, what are you doing? Like, you're fucking you're the best, dude. Like, let's go. Your mother had amazing taste. The funniest was is I'd sit next to her as well. And I would see people go on stage. And if she called you over, you did good. And if she didn't call you over, she wasn't interested. And I would just be here. They do their set. And they just walk by her. And they're like looking at her. And she's just like just going through her papers and shit. But yeah. But if she liked you, she brought you in. But having something like that, like some gold standard bear keeper at the top was very valuable for comedians. It was very valuable. And she also would do when she thought you were funny, she'd put you on after killers. You always had to follow whoever was famous that was going to go down there. She wanted to make sure that you were tested. Throw you into the fire. And that's how you get better. She just fucking knew, man. She knew. And it's all things that people talk about now. But I think in her own way, she sort of devised like a modern strategy for getting better at stand up. Having the environment, which she created, having one person who's like ruthlessly critical that watches over everybody's material and everybody sets. And then everybody aspires for the approval of your mom. And she had it set up so perfectly. And because she wasn't a comic either, and because she's royalty in the stand up comedy world, she had everyone's respect. And she was right. She was right. She knew what the fuck to tell you. She didn't like Seinfeld. Which was hilarious. Which is hilarious. He lived up the street from me and my mom. So me and my mom would walk the dog, Kelly her dog, and we would walk by his house. You know what I mean? Oh, there he is. Not happening. You know, rat tat tat New York. Keep it going. Just keep moving. I'm like, mom, be nice to him. No, let's go. And she just didn't buy into it. That's so funny. You know what I mean? She didn't buy into it. I wonder why. Maybe because he didn't need her. I don't know. Because he had already made it. He had a sitcom. He was Seinfeld. Oh, so he was already on Seinfeld when he was a. I mean, he'd been on that show for a while. It was around that time. It was the early 90s, right? I don't know what the exact date was or Seinfeld. She didn't like it when you were too developed. Correct. Yeah, she liked getting people that had talent that were on the up. She didn't really like a lot of New York comics for some reason. You know what I mean? There was also a rift between, obviously, her and Bud Friedman and her and Lauren Michaels. People asked me like, hey, when you're doing all your movies, did you ever do Saturday Night Live? Did you ever host Saturday Night Live? I never did. And I think a lot of it has to do with Lauren Michaels and my mom. I'm sure it can't help. No. Can't help. Because she was harsh. You know what I mean? My mom had Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans and all these guys, and they were from the store. Yeah. And so. I wonder if your mom was concerned that if someone like Seinfeld got on, that people who would want to see sitcom-style stand up, like very sterile stand up, would start coming to the clubs. And then you would start getting people going to see people just because they're famous and not really because they're good. I mean, she probably had a method to her approach. I wonder what she was thinking. Or I wonder if she just didn't want it because he was already developed and she couldn't work with him. I don't think she just liked him. I just don't think that. I just don't think she liked that style. But if she's driving by his house, you're still talking shit. No, we're walking. Walking by the house. And then he said some shit. He said, and that's another thing, he never asked me on his fucking car show. I got all my friends on his car show. I'm like, dude. And it's again, I think, it's always awkward. And Leno too, whenever I see Leno, it's fucking weird. Letterman's cool, I love Letterman. But Leno's always been weird because these guys, Leno's striked against my mom and there was this weird thing. My relationship with Leno is very different. He's always been very nice to me. And we both love cars. So I have great conversations with him about cars. I don't know the history of that. I mean, I do know it, but I wasn't aware of it. But my point is is that he never did anything to me. I'm just talking about my mom's relationship with Jay. And I think it has to do with the strike. But when I did see Jay at the Palm restaurant in Beverly Hills years ago when my mom was there, he came up and gave her a kiss. But then of course she mumbled. What the fuck is going on with him? Don't even get the fuck out of here. Ah! That's just the way she was so hilarious. Oh, that's funny, dude.The Jerogan experience. You got babysitted by Sam Tennyson. It's one of the funniest fucking stories of all time. Like what a crazy thing your mom did. She left you as a little child as one of the most maniacal comedians that's ever existed. Well it wasn't exactly like that. It was more like Sam was, I was 14 years old, I was a shorter to cook at the Comedy Store in Westwood. My mom would put Sam on last because all he would do is scream. And then he would literally, there would be six people left in the room in Westwood and he would throw the stools. He'd throw his stool at the audience members, they'd scamper off. He'd smoke weed in the parking lot. And then he would feed them hamburgers. So I kind of just, I was always taking care of comedians. What year was this? This was probably 84, 84, 85. I was in high school. So he really hit in 86. Yes. Yes, and he really hit. Yeah. Did I ever tell you my story how I found out about him? It was probably Boston with Prento or something. No, a girl that I worked with at the Boston Athletic Club. Still to this day, I can't remember her fucking name. She was really cool though. She was this big volleyball player girl. Like big athletic girl. And she goes to me, she goes, have you seen Sam Kennison? Sam Kennison, whatever his name was. I go, no I haven't. And so she acts out in the parking lot. And I think I heard a whole bit about him. No, no, no, the homosexual necrophiliacs. Having sex with her. Oh, God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She acted it out in the parking lot. She's like, oh, oh, life keeps fucking in the ass even after you're dead. It never ends. Me laughing at her acting it out in the parking lot made me go get the VHS tape. So I got a VHS tape of his HBO special. And I was like, holy shit. So I found out about it from a girl acting out the bit. She was on her stomach in the parking lot going, oh, oh, feels like something's in my ass. I know, you can't believe it. That angle was genius. It's such a fucking genius. Hilarious bit. Genius point of view. That night was 1987. And that was at the Roxy on Sunset. And my mom had an after party for him at the house. At the Doheny house. That night, afterwards, Sam came to the house with everyone. And I was so excited because I wanted to show him my saltwater fish tank. Because as a kid, I had a saltwater fish tank and I brought him up to my room. And I said, Sam, look at my tank. And he wasn't impressed at all. He's like, but he told me to take the top off the saltwater fish tank. It was a big black top. And I took it down. He dumped all this coke on it. And he started chopping up lines. And he says, have fun. And me and my friend Dave, we snorted Sam's coke that night. Oh my God. And I felt like so cool. I felt like, no, for real. I was like, fuck this guy. And then I just followed him around. So as far as him babysitting me, it was no lie. So that was just the way it would describe it. Yeah. I mean, Lois Bromfield babysitted me. Jackson Purdue babysat me. Mike Binder, Argus Hamilton, all those guys. So you were essentially just like his young protege. Yeah. It was like the Michael Jordan commercial. The kid wanted to be like Mike, I want to be like Sam. Right. So yeah. Look at you. Yeah. So what year was that? I was probably 11. Wow. It was probably 11. What a fucking crazy place to grow up. Yeah. Back then. Oh my God. Yeah. Back then. Back then. I mean, back then. I mean, there's so many stories, dude. I mean, I'm there now. And it's great, obviously. It's the store. But when mom was there, it was just like you never know what the fuck was going to happen. You never knew who was going to pull in the fucking lot. You never knew who was going to come up. It was like someone shooting guns. Not literally, but just as far as the energy. Boom, boom, boom. I mean, Eddie Murphy used to show up with like six Rolls-Royces. For real, dude. And then Richard would show up. And all these guys would just roll. And this is around when you got there. It was kind of towards. You got there in 94. 94. That was probably before when I got there. Yeah, I saw the calendar you had for my mom, where she put your name. I thought that was really cool. Yeah, it's very cool. Yeah. So yeah, so that was that time. You know, I'm really proud of his arguments. Look at this right here. What is that? What year is that? That was last year. Poly Shore bringing up Eddie Murphy. When did Eddie retire? So he retired in what year? He stopped doing stand up. When? I don't know. I was at his house probably five years ago. And I was just like, dude, what are you doing? Like, you're fucking you're the best, dude. Like, let's go. Your mother had amazing taste. The funniest was is I'd sit next to her as well. And I would see people go on stage. And if she called you over, you did good. And if she didn't call you over, she wasn't interested. And I would just be here. They do their set. And they just walk by her. And they're like looking at her. And she's just like just going through her papers and shit. But yeah. But if she liked you, she brought you in. But having something like that, like some gold standard bear keeper at the top was very valuable for comedians. It was very valuable. And she also would do when she thought you were funny, she'd put you on after killers. You always had to follow whoever was famous that was going to go down there. She wanted to make sure that you were tested. Throw you into the fire. And that's how you get better. She just fucking knew, man. She knew. And it's all things that people talk about now. But I think in her own way, she sort of devised like a modern strategy for getting better at stand up. Having the environment, which she created, having one person who's like ruthlessly critical that watches over everybody's material and everybody sets. And then everybody aspires for the approval of your mom. And she had it set up so perfectly. And because she wasn't a comic either, and because she's royalty in the stand up comedy world, she had everyone's respect. And she was right. She was right. She knew what the fuck to tell you. She didn't like Seinfeld. Which was hilarious. Which is hilarious. He lived up the street from me and my mom. So me and my mom would walk the dog, Kelly her dog, and we would walk by his house. You know what I mean? Oh, there he is. Not happening. You know, rat tat tat New York. Keep it going. Just keep moving. I'm like, mom, be nice to him. No, let's go. And she just didn't buy into it. That's so funny. You know what I mean? She didn't buy into it. I wonder why. Maybe because he didn't need her. I don't know. Because he had already made it. He had a sitcom. He was Seinfeld. Oh, so he was already on Seinfeld when he was a. I mean, he'd been on that show for a while. It was around that time. It was the early 90s, right? I don't know what the exact date was or Seinfeld. She didn't like it when you were too developed. Correct. Yeah, she liked getting people that had talent that were on the up. She didn't really like a lot of New York comics for some reason. You know what I mean? There was also a rift between, obviously, her and Bud Friedman and her and Lauren Michaels. People asked me like, hey, when you're doing all your movies, did you ever do Saturday Night Live? Did you ever host Saturday Night Live? I never did. And I think a lot of it has to do with Lauren Michaels and my mom. I'm sure it can't help. No. Can't help. Because she was harsh. You know what I mean? My mom had Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans and all these guys, and they were from the store. Yeah. And so. I wonder if your mom was concerned that if someone like Seinfeld got on, that people who would want to see sitcom-style stand up, like very sterile stand up, would start coming to the clubs. And then you would start getting people going to see people just because they're famous and not really because they're good. I mean, she probably had a method to her approach. I wonder what she was thinking. Or I wonder if she just didn't want it because he was already developed and she couldn't work with him. I don't think she just liked him. I just don't think that. I just don't think she liked that style. But if she's driving by his house, you're still talking shit. No, we're walking. Walking by the house. And then he said some shit. He said, and that's another thing, he never asked me on his fucking car show. I got all my friends on his car show. I'm like, dude. And it's again, I think, it's always awkward. And Leno too, whenever I see Leno, it's fucking weird. Letterman's cool, I love Letterman. But Leno's always been weird because these guys, Leno's striked against my mom and there was this weird thing. My relationship with Leno is very different. He's always been very nice to me. And we both love cars. So I have great conversations with him about cars. I don't know the history of that. I mean, I do know it, but I wasn't aware of it. But my point is is that he never did anything to me. I'm just talking about my mom's relationship with Jay. And I think it has to do with the strike. But when I did see Jay at the Palm restaurant in Beverly Hills years ago when my mom was there, he came up and gave her a kiss. But then of course she mumbled. What the fuck is going on with him? Don't even get the fuck out of here. Ah! That's just the way she was so hilarious. Oh, that's funny, dude.