Norm is awesome. I was a huge fan of his when I was growing up, and still am. He always supported my web show and is one of the great stand up comics ever. Go see him live if you ever get a chance.
When I talk about my cancer on stage, doing standup, it is a cathartic experience. And it is important to be honest and talk about things that matter, even dark and scary things. The special that we shot about my cancer helped a lot of people. Early detection is the key to survival. So if you ever feel sick, or that something may be wrong with your body. Go to the doctor, don't be afraid. It could save your life.
I suppose I am most proud of the fact that I am still here working in comedy and doing what I love. In life there are a lot of forces that can try to bring you down, but if you stick to your vision and keep at it, you will find success.
There is room for everyone to do what they want or be inspired. I was inspired by David Letterman, Candid Camera, and Saturday Night Live. I try to move forward and not worry too much when I see somebody doing one of my bits. I take it as a compliment.
I love how much people love Freddy Got Fingered. I think that movie made me realize how much the media gets the story wrong. Everywhere I go people tell me how much they love that movie. Lobby your congressman!! Freddy Got Fingered rules.
MTV did me the biggest solid ever by picking up my show from public access TV and putting us on the air. So I love MTV. As far as currently, I don't really watch much TV. I think it is more for younger people. I'm 42 years old now and am more into old school talk shows and the news.
We shot video for many many years. When I would edit the videos and see myself cracking up it ruined the bit. So I got good at keeping a straight face. Practice.
I have no regrets about any of the comedy on MTV. You have to keep in mind that we were always challenging ourselves to come up with something completely ridiculous. Love it all.
My parents were never informed of anything. They were never paid to do the show. They never shot promos for the network. They were just living their lives and we would show up and prank them. This was before anyone had seen anything like this on TV so it was a much different reaction from people watching back then. People freaked out!
The tricky part about answering this, is that it is a bit of both. It was totally not set up. And was I mad, yes and no. I was mad that he wrecked my desk, but I was happy that he gave me an excuse to get mad at my guest on TV. I am always nice to my guests. But I love it when things go wrong on television. So I was kind of playing the character of the angry TV host. Because it is funny watching somebody get mad. People don't understand what happened there and give me some grief about it, saying that I should have just let him cut the desk and smiled. But the thing is, that would not have been nearly as funny.
The funny thing about the sandwich bit, is it is only getting recognized now on Youtube. It was basically a throwaway bit that many people never saw until now. We actually used to do that when we were kids. Skating and hungry we would get three meals for the price of one by simply piling on tomatoes and pickles forever. Watch all the old bits on tomgreen.com
Tom Green