And then, he disappeared. Many thought he was dead. Thankfully, he wasn't. “That's the thing about the entertainment business,” Shore said. “When you're around a lot and then you're not around, people think you're dead. A normal person when you're not around, you're just not around. People don't notice if you're around or not. It's kind of confusing. I did the movie “Pauly Shore Is Dead” to answer everyone's question.”
Being totally alive and well has its perks. Shore is still touring and he'll be doing a three-day stay at the Improv in Chicago January 12-14. When asked what fans can expect from his shows, Shore said, “Spontaneity, charm, and enthusiasm. Does that make sense?” His show may also include a cameo or two by his famous character, The Weasel. “I'll throw a weasel in. If there's a stoner in the back that needs it. If it's like his heroin and he needs a fix,” Shore said. “[Chicago is] gonna be my first performance since the whole incident in Odessa, which will be cool.”
For those unfamiliar with the Odessa incident, Shore is referring to his recent show in Odessa, Texas, where a man came out of the audience and punched Shore in the face. Later, it was released that Shore had staged the incident. “It was a brilliant move on my part. It was a good publicity stunt. I just released today the making of the punch so it should be all over. As a comic you just constantly try to think of things that are funny, whether it's personal or the world. The whole Kramer, Michael Richards thing was terrible but it was also kind of retarded... So I wondered when I flew into Texas, I was thinking about what can I do to do something retarded here 'cuz these people are crazy. I wanted to do something where I got beat up on stage. So we set the whole thing up.” When asked if the stunt was purposely in response to the Michael Richards incident, Shore responded, “Well I guess, yeah. I think if I would've done it six months ago, before the Michael Richards thing, it wouldn't have taken off as much.” Shore says he hopes no one will try to recreate the incident during any of his Chicago performances.
Though his full-time residence in is Los Angeles, Shore often visits Chicago. “Well my brother Peter lives [in Chicago] so I'm gonna spend time with my niece and nephew out there. I don't know specific places, but I know the airport's nice. I don't know which one. The one that's got the big arches in it. I don't know specific places that I go when I'm there. I've just been there a lot. I like Chicago. I think Chicago's one of the coolest cities in America, definitely.”
Naming his favorites cities seems to come easier for Shore than naming his favorite contemporary comedians. “I saw Chris Rock last night. He's funny. I don't have a favorite. I'm pretty jaded when it comes to standup. I grew up around the best at The Comedy Store,” Shore said, referring to the famous comedy club that his parents, Sam and Mitzi Shore, founded in Los Angeles in 1972. Shore also seems to be at a loss when choosing a companion. “I'm like Oprah,” Shore joked. “I don't date anyone. It just hasn't happened yet. I'm into my work, and into my houses, and into my mom and my family. It's not for everyone. All my friends are either divorced or there're more people that aren't successfully in relationships than are that are in my life, you know? All my friends get divorced. It's a nightmare.”
Shore plans to continue touring and doing live standup performances indefinitely. “Well I'm always touring. I love doing standup. It's just… it's great. I get to get out of Los Angeles and travel. I get to perform and see people. I get to feed off the audience and promote my stuff to the local radio stations…I get to comment on the world and hopefully bring smiles to people. It's a cool opportunity. And it's a cool thing.”
And, in the next year, he has quite a few projects to keep an eye on. “This year I've got, it's called “Once I Got Sean Penn.” And it's a documentary of the mocumentary 'Pauly Shore Is Dead.' It's like a documentary film. There's that. And there's, I call it a comedy variety show special called 'Natural Born Komics' with a 'K' and that's with Charlie Murphy and Vivica Fox. I haven't sold it yet. We just finished it. I got independent financing through a producer in Canada and I'm going to NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) next week from Chicago. It's the world wide television sales convention. It's where all the buyers from Showtime and HBO and all over the world and America come to purchase products. I'm going to have my own booth there. So if people want to come see me there, I'll be in booth No. 1338 and I'll be selling 'Natural Born Komics' and 'Once I Got Sean Penn.' Natural Born Komics has a website at NaturalBornKomics.com about what the whole thing is about. It's been a long time since I've been kinda whacky and goofy you know? And I wanted to do that in a comedy special in Miami. And then I also have an episode for the TV show “Entourage” on HBO coming out in the next month or so.”
Although Pauly Shore is somewhat reviving his public image while keeping busy doing what he enjoys, he also spends much time relaxing and reflecting on what he's accomplished. “It's pretty cool. It's definitely cool. You know? I think in life in general, we're never fulfilled, which I think is good. I think it's good that we're never, kind of, happy. We have happy moments… I was watching Larry King last night and Winona Judd was on it and usually when you hear the Judds are on you're like I don't wanna hear them, you know? But she's pretty cool. You can see she learned a lot about just relaxing. That's the hardest thing, you know?” And, commenting on his sparse number of appearances in the last few years, Shore had this to say: “I'm already famous, babe, I don't have to work as hard anymore. I've already had my run… I'm semi-retired. Isn't that what everyone wants?”
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