Excerpt from Playgirl, August 1994. At the age of nine, Pauly Shore was hanging out at The Comedy Store in L. A. in his Little League uniform, studying Richard Pryor and Robin Williams. A self-proclaimed creativity sponge, he was absorbing all he would need to know to conquer—for himself and by himself—the world of comedy. The son of Sammy and Mitzi Shore, this 26-year-old heir apparent to the world of laughter has proven through hard work and sheer determination that he has the talent and timing to climb to the top and stay there. Over a three-hour lunch in the posh Rendezvous restaurant in Manhattan, we found him to be funny, direct, intelligent, and surprisingly warm and sensitive. He told us about the surfer-dude language he borrowed and improved upon (weazin’ the nugs means chasing, courting, and/or getting it on with women); his new comedy album, Pink Diggelly, Diggelly Pink, out this summer from Priority Records; and his new film, In the Army Now, slated for August release from Disney.
PLAYGIRL: What part of stoned-out gypsy-surfer fits the real Pauly Shore?
What people actually see on TV or Encino Man or Son in Law? It’s me, but not all of me. I guess it’s the carefree part, which is a lot of me; but then, it is just part of me.
Does it bother you that people perceive you to be fully into the drug scene?
I’ve had guys come up to me and say, “Man, how much pot did you smoke before that MTV show?’’ And I’ll say, “None.” I’ve never ever been stoned on TV. Never.
Do they believe you?
No. But I’m high, you know. My high is life and making people happy and looking in the camera and having a genuine, real smile. People who like me understand me because they look at me and go, “He’s real. He’s not phony and he’s not fake.” People just relate. And when the language came about—
The Pauly-Speak?
Yeah, that was just icing on the cake. Sam Kinison once said, “It’s about getting your own color in the rainbow.” It’s also a burden—because then people get to know you as that. Then you gotta go through this transition period, which I’m going through now, showing that there’s more to me. So it’s kind of Dice.
Kind of what?
Dice Clay. He’s trying to prove there’s more to him than just being mean to homosexuals or down on women. And just like Robin Williams and Steve Martin—they started off with shtick. Robin was always going “Na-nu na-nu….”
So, the stoned-out gypsy-surfer is kind of your shtick.
Yeah, it’s shticky stuff, but it’s like my last two movies. Encino Man was, basically, the way my MTV character was.
That was the Weasel character.
Yeah, he was the guy who went and changed people. And in Son in Law it was the same.
Let’s talk about the PLAYGIRL shoot. You almost got totally naked for us, but you put your hat on the wrong head. Why not let our readers enjoy you in your full glory?
I’ll do that on my next PLAYGIRL shoot.
You’re on! We did see your tush in Son in Law. What’s the difference between showing the back and showing the front?
I just think it’s more mysterious….There’s a lot of good-looking guys nude in PLAYGIRL: but no one really knows who they are. People know me. So, if I showed them everything, then there’s nothing left to discover.
The pictures of you in the suit are very sexy and romantic, even a bit smoldering. Is this the new, grownup, sophisticated Pauly?
That’s just a side people haven’t seen yet. I was on MTV for three years. They just took me off. which is, in a way, sad. But it’s also cool. The last show was a one-hour special where I actually got a girl to marry me.
But the marriage wasn’t for REAL?
No, but it wasn’t fake….It was annulled before we could do the honeymoon thing.
A girl won a contest to marry you?
Yeah. It was called Take Your Daughter to the Slaughter: Let Her Marry Pauly Shore. On MTV it was always just me and the camera and being free.
But now that you’re going into movies, it’s a whole new world.
Yeah. I’m slowly starting to feel it out. I want to try something else, but without losing what got me there, because that’s what people dig. Why should I fuckin’ force myself to be someone else?
Were you surprised that Disney wanted you?
Well, no….
I mean it is Disney. Your stand-up act is pretty raw.
Yeah, but again, that’s people only seeing one side. This is the movie where Pauly grows up.
What’s it called?
In the Army Now. It was directed and written by Dan Petrie, Jr. who also wrote Beverly Hills Co,. Turner and Hooch and The Big Easy. He’s a filmmaker, you know what I mean? A lot of directors are good, but this is Disney’s first-class guy. We’ve got the real choppers and the real soldiers and we’re going to film the basic training sequences at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
How does it feel so far?
It’s great because there’s no dude or buddy or any of that stuff. I play a character, yet I am the character. His name is Bones Conway, and he’s a salesperson at Crazy Boys, which is a real cheesy stereo store. His best friend, Jack, does installation, and we get fired in the opening scene.
We’re playing miniature golf the next day. and we see these two soldiers. I freak out over their heads because they’re buzzed. I say. “Don’t you have to give your whole life away to the army?” And then they start explaining. “No. We’re in the Reserves.” which is only a few weeks a year. Plus, you get a guaranteed check just for signing up, and you get a special skill. We join up for the special skill that we think is least likely to call for active duty, which is water purification. So we wind up in North Africa. Our truck blows up and we get stuck in the desert.
With a romantic interest?
Yeah—Lori Petty, another private. The cast is me, Lori, David Alan Grier from In Living Color, Andy Dick and Esai Morales. We also got Charles Dutton from Roc.
It’s heroic for me because I get to take off—well, not all my clothes but, I mean, if you’re stuck in the desert with no water and no food and you’re trudging, you got to slowly peel off your clothes.
What about the biker shots with the long, blonde wig? Were you going for Fabio, Garth or Daryl Hannah?
No. it’s the character I did on MTV called Paulette, who is kind of a biker slut. She’s just a groupie, a girl who likes to fuck rock stars.
In Son in Law we saw you dressed up like Carmen Miranda. Why do you think straight comics like to dress up in drag?
I don’t know. I think guys think that it turns girls on when they dress like that…
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