Growing Up, for Shore

Since gaining fame as the host of his own early ‘90s MTV video program, “Totally Pauly,” comedian-actor Pauly Shore has practically become synonymous with the stereotype of the zoned-out party dude.

It’s an image that’s been perpetuated by a string of low-budget and low-brow feature films, from 1992’s “Encino Man” to this year’s “Biodome.” In each of these broad, teen-targeted comedies, Shore has played the role of the terminally obnoxious Valley boy.

But after incurring a slew of critical blows, the 28-year-old performer would love nothing more than to prove he’s a more substantive actor and person than his detractors believe. This isn’t going to be an easy task since Shore readily admits that his slang-happy character grew out of his own hedonistic, carefree tendencies.

When he appears at the Coach House tonight for two stand-up shows, no one is going to mistake Shore’s shtick for the cerebral musings of Woody Allen or the social observations of Jerry Seinfeld. Sex, sex and more sex will be on tap when this testosterone-heavy comic starts talking.

“I try to get away from sex,” Shore said during a phone conversation earlier this week. “I honestly try to write smarter stuff, you know what I mean? But it just always seems to go back into that sex thing. I guess that’s what I’m known for, and that’s what people want to hear. But I guess it’s not a bad thing to talk about because it’s so relatable in [terms of] everyday life.”

At the Coach House, Shore’s sex-laden anecdotes and gags won’t just be delivered in monologue form. They’ll also be presented in song. His pals in the alternative band the Extinct, will be along to play opening sets. The group will then join the comic for a handful of humorous numbers written and sung by Shore. One ditty is about being single and sex-obsessed; another song deals with “your girlfriend having sex with other guys behind your back.” Perhaps his most promising venture into musical comedy is something called “Two Thumbs Down,” a playful slap back at two of his most prominent critics, Siskel and Ebert.

“People come down on me all the time,” he said somewhat somberly. “With critics, [their negative opinions] bother me and they don’t bother me. It would be nice to be liked by them. But I guess you can say I haven’t done anything else to prove myself. It makes me work harder to prove myself.”

Shore believes he’ll get the chance to show off his versatility as an actor when he stars in a new Fox sitcom called “Pauly,” which debuts in March. The series concerns the testy relationship between Pauly Sherman and his wealthy father’s new girlfriend. Sparks fly when the young, unsophisticated girlfriend moves in with Pauly and his pop at the latter’s lavish Brentwood digs.

Each of Shore’s five films has turned a profit, a source of pride to the Los Angeles-based performer. Made for less than $10 million, “Encino Man” was his biggest box office hit, grossing $40 million domestically. But each succeeding movie has corralled fewer viewers than the previous. Obviously, the time is right for Shore to make some career adjustments.

Shore says “Pauly” represents a tricky balancing act in that he’ll try to present a more mature and complex character while attempting to appeal to his original fans. Ultimately, he would like to make a Tom Hanks-type leap from escapist comedies to more sophisticated, big-budget movies.

“What happened was this MTV thing took off and they developed all these movies for me with that kind of [obnoxious] character,” he explained. “People sit at home and they see you on TV and they think that’s how you are. Now I have to go on TV and re-create myself. Hopefully, the movie studios will see me acting in this new realm, and they’ll go, ‘This is how he is now. He’s a good actor.’ I am a good actor.”

Shore’s next film, “The Curse of the Inferno,” represents his most serious creative stretch to date. In the independently made film, slated to air on Showtime next spring, he plays a good ol’ boy from Texas. His character and a buddy decide to rob a bank in order to escape the stifling small-town life. Shore calls it a “heist” movie that’s also a sweet love story. Janine Turner plays the film’s romantic interest.

Shore is also writing his autobiography, another move he hopes will broaden his image. He says the book will be a funny but generally serious look at a life lived in and around the limelight. Both of his parents are longtime comedy world figures. His father is comedian Sammy Shore, with whom he sometimes shares comedy club dates; his mother is Mitzi Shore, the owner of the prestigious Comedy Store in Hollywood. Pauly grew up rubbing elbows with stars-in-waiting like Robin Williams and Sam Kinison.

“Everyone seems to be fascinated with my upbringing, so I talk a lot about that,” he said. “I talk about playing Little League in Beverly Hills and having Bob Dylan’s son on my team. Bob Dylan would be sitting in the stands heckling his kid. I talk about dating Charles Bronson’s daughter and making sure she was home by midnight. I write about the different people my mother hired to take care of me like this Thai couple and this homosexual comedian and this lesbian comedian who were married to each other.”

The book will also delve into his romantic relationships, some of which he says will be presented in a “deep and personal” manner. Included will be his thoughts on his involvement with Savannah, the porn actress who committed suicide in 1994.

He hopes the public will come to see a more human and multidimensional Pauly Shore.

“My friends really know I’m together,” he said. “But other people don’t know me. Everyone thinks I’m screwed up on drugs or I’m retarded. That’s fine and dandy. I don’t touch drugs. But the way that I put it is, ‘Well, if you grew up at a comedy club and you lived this crazy life, how would you turn out?’

“I think I’ve done exceptionally well for the hand that I’ve been dealt in my life. I’ve taken what God has given me in terms of my surroundings and turned it into a positive.”

* Pauly Shore and the Extinct appear tonight at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 7 and 9 p.m. $19.50-$21.50. (714) 496-8930.