COMEDY REVIEW : Shore Has the Lust Laugh : The Popularity of His 4-Letter, Uninspired Humor Can’t Be Denied

Pauly Shore began his concert at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night with an extended promo for his upcoming movie, “Encino Man.” There he was, goofing off on the makeshift screen, acting like a wise guy from a low-rent “Wayne’s World.”

There was something a little desperate in this hype job, an attitude that stresses getting while the getting is good. Who knows how long Shore’s popularity will last, whether he has any pop staying power or is just an MTV-energized flash in the pan? Whatever happens, “the Weasel,” as he likes to call himself, is rolling now.

Shore’s fans didn’t even seem to mind the blatant advertising. They cackled joyously at the trailer, apparently eager for the day when Shore and his flick will hit the theaters. Judging by the university crowd and his one-hour show, Shore’s audience is in the 15- to 21-year-old range--adolescent girls who dream about sex and the boys who dream about having sex with them.

One thing you can say about Shore--he understands youthful lust. The irreverential, mildly suggestive dufus style he brings to MTV’s “Totally Pauly,” where he provides impromptu silliness on this and that between the videos, is turned up to heavy-metal volume in a live setting.

Very little of his stand-up routine, delivered in a trademark Valley Guy meets Surf Dude by way of Hollywood Party Animal cool-speak, are printable in a family newspaper. Shore was loudly scatological and adamantly genital-oriented, just the stuff youngsters love to titter over.

There was his 15-minute rumination on masturbation (he thinks it’s “buff,” or cool, man), his and his mother’s appreciation of pornography (he even dated a “fresh,” or great-looking, porn star for a while), the frustration of young men looking for bedmates and premature ejaculation (“nugs,” or girls, just hate that).

It was all pretty dopey stuff, without the brilliance that makes humor more than merely personal reflections on mundane goings-on. Shore would be perfectly dismissible if not for his popularity, which is greatly based on a shared experience with his fans--experience that’s something of a secret from the older folks. Look at it this way--Pauly Shore, the spokesman for his generation. That should make all the squares nervous.

Actually, despite all the four-letter words and rutting imagery, Shore is pretty harmless. In fact, he even took pains to be a conscientious role model on the key fronts of drugs and intimacy. “Just Say No to Drugs” is a perfect mind-set, Shore offered, then pointed out that love and sex is better than just sex, and that safe sex is the only smart sex.

Condoms, he said, should be as mandatory in the age of AIDS as, well, a teen’s daily dose of MTV.