Canadian native Tom Green is hands down one of the funniest comedians on the scene today. He first introduced the world to his funny character in his early teens at a local comedy club in Ontario, Canada called Yuk Yuk’s.

He studied broadcasting in school to learn all the ins and outs of producing, editing, and writing comedy skits in hopes of one day working in the television industry. His many years of determination and passion eventually lead to his side-bursting comedy show, rightfully called “The Tom Green Show” being picked up by MTV. The country-boy packed his bags, gathered his dreams of one day making it big and headed to the city to conquer cracking people up.

For a few years, having to focus his creativity on the success of his show in Los Angeles and New York, Tom Green was taken away from stand-up comedy routines. However blammo! The mighty force of comedy kept calling him back onto the stage and he simply couldn’t resist making people laugh face-to-face. I am sure I do not stand alone in saying, “Thank you Tom Green...The world would be enormously drab without you and your comedian awesomeness!”

Recently, Tom Green has been touring all over the country and has even gone abroad to perform for the troops in Afghanistan. He has been working towards creating his own comedy network on TV, a stand-up tour DVD, and many other secret projects that will have you laughing until you turn blue in the face.

Times Square caught up with him to share some laughs while on his way to New York where he will be performing at Carolines on Broadway on January 26^th to 29^th.

Times Square (TS): You’re a pretty funny guy to say the least. You have even pulled many pranks on your parents! What drew you to comedy?

Tom Green (TG): I’ve just always enjoyed a good laugh. I was hyper-active child and I figured that I would only be able to translate that energy into something ridiculous. So when I was a kid I was always pranking my parents and one day I started filming it. 

TS: Do you remember your first show at Yuk Yuk’s in Canada? Tell me about that.

TG: Oh yeah, I was 15 years old. I wrote some jokes, went down and got up on stage. Did quite well the first time, stuck to it and started going back and got some encouraging feedback from a lot of people there at the comedy club. So it kept me focused on it and that was 25 years ago...

TS: I’m glad you stuck with it. So did you have any comedian idols growing up?

TG: Yeah absolutely. I really looked up to some of the touring comics, guys like Harley Williams, Norm McDonald. I was also a big fan of television shows like CTV Saturday Night Live and especially David Letterman.

TS: Oh yes. You actually guest hosted the show with him. Seeing you guys together was absolutely hilarious and one of the best shows by far!

TG: Yeah it was really an amazing experience!

TS: I bet. How do you get inspired to write your stand-up material?

TG: Usually it comes from just observing things...thinking of things that makes me or the people I am with laugh. And when something appears ridiculous or strange to me I’ll usually jot it down in a note to myself in my cell phone. And then I put them together in comedy to make people realize what kind of crazy world we are living in...

TS: Aside from stand-up you’ve also done films. What inspired you to do acting, writing, and directing?

TG: I took broadcasting in school so I could learn how to edit videos and I started my show on Rogers cable...I did that for many years before it got picked up by MTV. So I was writing, shooting, and editing all of these comedy bits that I had done. When my show took off on MTV, I was given the opportunity to do a movie, took it, and had a great time doing it. But it was already a part of what I was doing when I was doing my show.

TS: Indeed, I absolutely love “Freddy Got Fingered.” What made you decide to go completely opposite to the Hollywood norm?

TG: I wanted to make a really crazy movie. Some say it’s the craziest movie ever made. That’s what I set out to do. It would have been really impossible for me to give it over to someone else to direct it cause they would have softened the edges off of it. So I just did it...We were looking for a way to make a movie that smashed the conventional Hollywood comedy into a billion tiny little pieces.

TS: Haha. Go Tom! Another one of my all time favourite moments is you as ‘Barry Manilow’ in Road Trip when you put a live mouse in your mouth. Was that part of the original screenplay or did you add that?

TG: That was a lot of fun too. That was the first real movie part that I ever had. No actually that was not part of the original script. It’s just something that I improvised on set...everyone kinda freaked out, and the gross-out comedy genre was born! Haha.

TS: Over your career so far you’ve had some great ups and downs. What keeps you going?

TG: I always tell myself to never quit. I think that’s something everybody should do. If you have something you are trying to accomplish in your life you’re always going to get to places where you wanna quit...where you wanna throw your hands up and give up, but as soon as you quit it’s basically a guarantee that what you’re trying to do is not going to happen.    

TS: You have an upcoming show at Carolines. How would you describe the Tom Green Comedy experience?

TG: This is the first weekend that I’ve done at Carolines; I’ve played in New York a few times... [Expect] Ridiculous laughs, a great time. We’re going to celebrate life and party at Carolines! It’s going to be an outrageous night; we’re going to have a lot of fun. A very high energy show; come prepared to laugh harder than you’ve ever laughed at any comedy show in your entire life. So come out and buckle up your seatbelt and come prepared to party!

TS: Thanks Tom! It has been a wonderful time speaking with you. I wish you all the best for the show!

Photo Credit: Linsday Ralph

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