R.I.P.
:(
sharehttps://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/6h6vvt/did_anyone_watch_at_midnight_last_night_is_pauly/diw9pfq/
Pauly Shore is one of my go-to examples of wasted potential.
His family owned the Comedy Store - one of LA's most famous comedy clubs - for a long time. That means that while he was growing up, he had free access to a wide variety of LA's top stand-ups. He could hang out with them and get tips on how to become a master comedian himself.
And perhaps more importantly, he had an unlimited amount of stage time. A lot of aspiring comics spend (waste) a lot of time waiting around in clubs in hopes that they can get a 5-minute set in front of 10 sleepy people at like midnight. They also travel back and forth between clubs to get as much practice time as they can get. But Pauly was probably able to go up whenever. He didn't need to shuttle between clubs. He could've just asked his mom if he could host, and boom, he'd host and get to hone his material every night in one of the country's hottest clubs.
You would think that a guy with easy access to such a fantastic comedy resource would be one of the best comedians of today. He should be at the Bill Burr / Louis CK level, or beyond. Nope. His act has never been particularly funny, and he's had a reputation of being a douchebag for a long time, too.
Big waste of a decades-long opportunity.
Having access to opportunity doesn’t mean you’ll succeed (or should). I watched 30-40 minutes of his new documentary and I had to turn it off. Whatever the “weasel” is, he seems to still be playing it.
Hey I don't know...you ever watch that show, "I'm dying up here"? Its based off the comedy scene of the 70's and 80's, revolving around the actual Comedy Store. And it depicts the comedy scene as absolutely brutal...especially in the context of how little love was shown to comedians by the owners of it...it was dog eat dog, highly, highly competitive.
As rough as it may sound, I can easily see his parents not giving him stage time if they didn't think that he was up for it. Especially considering the kind of drama that it would likely have initiated, putting him above so many other seasoned comedians that were there vying for the same sets.
It'd be interesting to hear it directly from Shore himself, what it was like growing up like that, and although it gave him an edge, I highly doubt it was as much a ticket to success as you seem to think.
I haven't seen I'm Dying Up Here but thinking about late 70's Comedy Store I think the stand ups didn't even get paid a nickel back then. Mitzi would say they should be thanking her for giving them the opportunity to be seen and heard in Hollywood. Come to think of it I think in 83, right before I joined the Air Force, the 30 minute CNN Headline News showed the stand up comedians striking in front of The Comedy Store, complaining that they didn't get paid. I saw that clip several dozen times because back then CNN's stories rotated at least once every hour. I guess the comedians won and started getting checks from then on.
Also, I've had friends that actually met Pauly Shore, they all have similar stories. Pauly is an IMPOSSIBLE human being. Just the worst of the worst.