May 24, 2010, by Rodney Ho
Rob Schneider, based on his film resume, seems to scale the height of silliness.
“Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.” “The Hot Chick.” “The Animal.”
Not exactly Shakespeare. But in a 30-minute phone interview, Schneider talked seriously and intelligently about stand-up comedy, which he is doing at the Punchline Memorial Day weekend. And he name-dropped Noam Chomsky, the Marshall Plan and the Vietnam War.
Q: I had no clue you were a stand-up comic. Is this a new thing?
A: The last time I did this was 17 years ago. I had to stop doing it. My act wasn’t working anymore. I had become famous. I had to write a whole new act. I never got that killer hour of stand-up. By the time I got a half hour, I was on TV and doing movies.
Q: So why go back?
A: While I was working on the movie "Grown Ups" [which comes out next month with Kevin James and Adam Sandler], Chris Rock talked me into doing it last summer. It's nice doing it now. I feel more fearless. I can talk about what I want to talk about it. I really respect the art form of stand up. You can really comment about what's happening here in the United States. It reminds me of England in the 1950s and '60s, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook up through Monty Python. That led to SNL.
Q: It’s been 16 years since you left SNL. How do you feel about it now?
A; I spent four years of my life there. I feel that was enough. When I first got there, I felt like it was the greatest place ever. It was exceedingly fair and democratic. Everything got read in front of everybody. Usually 90 percent of what was funny got on. [SNL creator] Lorne Michaels is a real genius keeping the network away and letting what's funny get on.
Q: Will Lorne Michaels ever leave?
A: That’s his umbilical cord. He’ll never leave. You’ll have to pry him away kicking and screaming. He earned it.
Q: Getting back to your stand up, what do you talk about?
A: I talk about America. Like I said, we’re like England when its empire was ending… There’s an edge to the humor when you’re losing control of the planet. I just read that one in six American men will probably never find employment again in their chosen field. That’s pretty outrageous. Good comedy comes out of that. I find audiences want to laugh.
Q: So do you talk about your SNL days and your movies and say “You can do it!”
A: I’ll do some of the lines from the movies. I’ll go through them quickly. I know they want to hear some of that stuff. But I’m there as a real stand up. I’d hate to disrespect the craft by doing a victory lap. What would be more boring than that? I talk about how we’re broke and borrowing all our money from the Chinese. People are kind of stunned by some of the things I say. I’m still working it out. I like the immediacy of it. People have responded to it.
Q: Tell us a bit about “Grown Ups.”
A: It’s my last Adam Sandler picture I’m going to do. [He's been in at least 14.] This is it for me. We’ve done it so many times. I’ll do stand up for awhile. I love Adam. He’s a wonderfully sneaky film maker. He’s a craftsman. It’s comedy that never gets the credit it deserves. I’ve done all I can do with him. I am going to venture off on my own.
Q: Ever pondered “Deuce Bigalow: Half-Asian Gigolo”? [Schneider is part Asian.]
A: It depends how broke I get! That horny guy at 35 is not as funny at age 45. He’s just a little sadder. If I’m tempted to do it at 55, please kill me!
STANDUP COMEDY
Rob Schneider
Friday, May 28, 8 p.m., 10 p.m.
Saturday May 29, 7 p.m., 9 p.m., 11 p.m.
Sunday, May 30 8 p.m.
The Punchline Comedy Club
280 Hilderbrand Dr. NE, Atlanta
$32.50, 404-252-5233
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