Before talking with stand-up comedian Tom Green, I commissioned friends and fellow comics to assist me in coming up with questions. “Anything, at all!” I proposed. And honestly, there was almost too much to choose from; it's Tom Green for fuck-sake! But I got everything from, “Where the hell is Glenn Humplik these days?” to, “I wonder if Tom thinks the Jackass guys ripped him off. He used to dress up like an old man and fuck with people too!” And then one young lady said, “Ask him if he's mellowed out at all.” Which at the time seemed like a completely reasonable question; who knows, maybe with age, divorce, and testicular cancer, he feels like the days of spontaneous youthful antics are a thing of yesteryear—I could see it.
But these thoughts were quickly dispelled well before I even got a chance to talk to him, thanks to the review section on Ticketmaster's website for his stand-up special set to air this spring on Showtime. The review's “Favorite Moment” section contained a quote from Tom's set, reading, “Forget this, I'm just gonna scream cock at this lady! Cock! Cock! Cock!” Rest assured all is right in the world: Tom is still both unpredictable and hilarious.
Ben E: In terms of things outside of comedy and producing material, what do you do in your down time?
Tom G: I like making music still, and just relaxing… Eating food, hanging out with my girlfriend, traveling around a bit, I do all sorts of different things.
Ben E: So I wanted to get back to the first time you did stand up at the Funny Farm (located inside Atlanta's Andretti Indoor Karting & Games facility) because you opened the first show ever at that location—do you remember your first time there?
Tom G: Yeah, it was fun, I had a great time, and I'm looking forward to coming back!I think I'm pushing buttons with my material no matter where I go, and that's sort of the fun of it.
Ben E: There can't be many comedy clubs in the United States where you can do comedy, and then hit the go-kart track after. What are you most looking forward to about a return to Georgia?
Tom G: Well I'm looking forward to a few things—I'm doing some shows in Carrollton, Georgia, right before Atlanta which is going to be fun—playing at a Rock N' Roll bar there, called Moonshadow. And then I'm playing the Georgia Theater, right after Atlanta, which will be fun. So we're going to have a nice little run in Georgia. But yeah, I've played all sorts of cool places. I've played some really cool places in Iowa—smaller places like that—and I really like playing everywhere, ya know?
Ben E: Do you ever think about manipulating your material based on the regions of the country you're playing even though it's mostly your fans that come out to see your shows?
Tom G: I think I'm pushing buttons with my material no matter where I go, and that's sort of the fun of it. And the people that I attract to my shows are the people that generally want to come out and laugh and hear something that's testing the boundaries of what's normally discussed, or things that we find funny. And I like being in the South because of that—and you know I don't think I've noticed a particularly different reaction when I play in the South. And you know to be honest, I think if anything people have just as much, or more fun with the material and the things I'm talking about.
Ben E: What would you say the demographic of your stand-up shows are? Is it mostly late 20's early 30's folks who were into the things you were doing on MTV, or did the success of your web content since that time attract a younger audience?
Tom G: Well most of the places I'm playing you need to be of drinking age to go. But really I get people in their 20's in their 30's, their 40's, and 50's and 60's—it's really a broad group of people that come to the shows. You know, I've done a lot of different things over the years so I've been able to develop a pretty wide fan base. But yeah, it's mostly people in their 30's, 20's—that age range.
Ben E: As a fellow comic I'm interested in knowing about your writing process. Do you write things out as a monologue, or do you prefer to bring something to the stage that you think is funny and just contextualize it?I really think what measures success with a lot of the great comics throughout history is the fact that they had longevity.
Tom G: You know I sort of do both—I sort of do both of those things. Like when I come up with something I want to talk about I tend to just try and hash it out in my head and on paper—or even sometimes on the computer. And just try and figure exactly which direction I want to go with a certain idea. But then oftentimes I'll just take something on stage and start talking about things and see where it goes and just develop things like that, but yeah I try all sorts of different ways of developing my material. And I try and just keep it as loose as possible. I don't like it to be the same thing every night where I'm just doing a monologue over and over, ya know?
Ben E: You have a stand-up special coming out through Showtime that you recorded at the Wilbur Theater in Boston last year—what are you most excited about with the special preparing to air fairly soon?
Tom G: I'm excited for people who haven't been able get a chance to come see me live be able to see my show on television—and really get it out there that what I'm doing is a really hilarious stand-up comedy show that people gotta come see. So it will be good for people to be able to check it out, and get to see what I'm doing that's all.
Ben E: What's your ultimate stand-up comedy goal? Is this something you're looking at with the notion that you want to be considered as one of the best ever one day, or is this more something that you're enjoying as a way to express yourself creatively now?
Tom G: Well you know, the way I measure success in this business is to be able to continue to do it. And continue to tour and find an audience. You know, I don't like to set sort of… goals like that, because to me it's impossible to measure, you know? How do you really measure that? It's all subjective. There are so many amazing comedians throughout history and some people will say, one person is their favorite, and another person might say another person is their favorite. And you know look, I love challenging myself to make my show better and better each time I get on stage, and I think it's a pretty great show now—people gotta come check it out! But I really think what measures success with a lot of the great comics throughout history is the fact that they had longevity, and that they just sort of didn't come and go and disappear. So I think that's part of it to, so I've decided that… Well, doing comedy in one form or another has been a big part of my life, it has been for my whole adult life, and I just want to keep doing it. And so I guess, I don't really set those kind of goals, because I already kind of feel like, I'm living the dream here, ya know? I'm doing what I love, and having a great time touring the world making a good living and being very successful on stage and off so it's been cool.