Standup comic Pauly Shore, who rapidly rose to fame in comedy clubs as The Weasel, then dive-bombed in Hollywood following a string of critically panned movies, appears in Red Deer this week.
The comedian who starred in Encino Man and the far less successful Son In Law, In the Army Now, Jury Duty and Bio-Dome, will perform for a soldout crowd on Friday night at Bo’s Bar and Grill.
He got his taste of super stardom in the 1990s. And thinking back to those heady days when he was part of the pop-cultural lexicon, Shore recently mused to the L.A. Times, “Heavens, I was a rock star. ...”
His show Totally Pauly became an MTV hit, running for six years and leading to more television and film work — including the successful 1993 one-hour HBO television special, Pauly Does Dallas.
Shore was also hot-out-of-the-gates in Hollywood with Encino Man. He then seemingly ran out aground as a film actor, holding the dubious distinction of making five movies with a below 10 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film offers dried up following this string of duds and he went back to doing what first got him noticed — standup comedy.
But Shore has some seriously impressive comedy chops to fall back on.
The son of two comedians (his mom founded the Comedy Store and his dad was Sammy Shore), Shore junior became a massive pop-culture phenom with his far-out surfer-dude persona, The Weasel, in the late 1980s.
Shore’s first recording, The Future of America, was named Best Comedy Album by the college music journalists in 1991, while the National Association of Record Merchandisers nominated his second album, Scraps from the Future, for a Best Sellers Award.
Over the last decade or so, Shore has made several appearances on Howard Stern’s late-night show and David Letterman’s talk show. He also produced, wrote, directed and starred in Pauly Shore Is Dead, a semi-autobiographical 2003 mockumentary, and in 2005, he starred in the reality television series Minding the Store.
His company, Landing Patch Productions, has crafted multiple films and specials. And last year he made Pauly Shore Stands Alone, a true-life road documentary that follows him as he performs in obscure towns throughout Wisconsin while dealing with personal issues back home.
Shore seems to take life’s ups and downs in stride. He recently told the L.A. Times, “I don’t make Chris Rock money... (but) I found something I enjoy that I get paid to do, so I think I am pretty lucky.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com