RALEIGH, N.C. — Being funny is expected of Jay Mohr.
After all, he’s an accomplished comedian and actor who has entertained audiences for decades on stage, on the big screen and on television.
What I did not expect when Mohr called me Tuesday afternoon for a scheduled interview was his heartfelt offer to help anyone going through a tough time.
After Mohr, who headlines the Raleigh Improv this week, shared details of his battle with panic disorder, he encouraged anyone with similar troubles to ask for help, then gave out his email address, saying, “...straight up, I’ll help you.”
The former featured player and writer for Saturday Night Live known for his incredible impersonation of Christopher Walken (which he jumped into during this interview) is doing five shows at the Raleigh Improv — two each on Friday and Saturday and one on Sunday.
Mohr and I discussed how he got over stage fright, why he prefers comedy clubs to theaters, how he plans to “deliver the party” this week and more.
Enjoy the interview,
follow Mohr on Twitter and don’t forget The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes at the end.
Tony Castleberry: I read somewhere that you suffer from stage fright. Is that true?
Jay Mohr: I used to. Not anymore. I used to have really bad panic disorder when I was on Saturday Night Live. Then I got treated. For anybody reading this, if you have panic attacks, if you have anxiety attacks, if you have depression, the manliest thing you will ever do is say, “I need help.” That’s like knocking out 15 guys in a parking lot. Trust me, nothing will be more manly than just saying, “I need help.” You can email me — coachjj37@gmail.com — and straight up, I’ll help you.
I used to get (stage fright) really bad and after a while, your body and brain just give in and say, “You know, there’s no other way for me to make a living.” If you’re afraid of flying and all you do is get on airplanes, eventually it just loses its power. You’re just like, “You know what? I’m gonna take a nap. Forget all this noise.”
TC: Just doing it over and over again will break you out of that fear, right?
JM: Tony, you know what’s interesting? It was really situational. My old act was easy to do because there was so little of me in it. Then, when I sort of shed my skin and just started talking about myself and sharing terrible things that have happened to me, suddenly it got real personal. Then it was, “What do I do without this snakeskin that I just shed?” Now, they all really see me. It’s really personal but at the same time I realized that if somebody doesn’t laugh at a story I told, it doesn’t matter because it actually happened to me.
If I tell a Christopher Walken story, like when he asked me (Mohr switches into his spot-on Walken impersonation), “Your dog, the Rottweiler, doesn’t have a tail. What happened? Your dog’s tail, where did it go?!? It’s crazy.” [interviewer laughs] If nobody laughs — I mean, they do — but say somebody doesn’t laugh, that’s OK. It still happened to me.
It’s like if you tell a story at a party, you’re not like, “Man, I’m dying in here.” You just tell your stories and move on.
TC: That’s brilliant. I’m gonna approach some of my anxious situations that way. I think that’ll definitely help.
JM: It will help. Look, if you were gonna tell a story at a party, like if something kooky happened to you this morning and me and you go to a party and I go, “Hey, tell them that story.” You’re not gonna go, “Lemme go down the street to another party and try it out first.” [interviewer laughs] You know what I mean? You’re just gonna share your story. If nobody laughs at your story, you’re just gonna go, “Well, that’s what happened” and then you’d probably look at me and go, “Thanks for making me share, you jerk.”
TC: [laughs] Even though I’m sure it feels great to play theaters and bigger rooms, is there a part of you that will always love a comedy club setting?
JM: Oh Tony, it’s more money. Are you kidding me? You play a theater, it’s one show and you have to pay stagehands because there’s a stagehand union. You pay three guys to literally stand backstage and stand next to a curtain cause that’s what their union dictates.
I played the Beacon Theatre in New York City, sold it out. I made less than 10 grand, more than five, but you do a club, you triple that cause it’s five shows. Everybody’s drinking and going nuts the whole time. I’m gonna tell you the truth: When I come to your town, it is a party. We get down. I don’t pick on the audience. My crowd comes to see me specifically. From listening to my podcast, they know what I like so they like what I like already. It’s all appointment listening so I make the appointment to come deliver the party, man. It’s gonna be the best.
TC: When I told people I was gonna be interviewing you, I got so many ticket requests from people, Jay.
JM: No way! Tell them to kiss your a**.
TC: [laughs] Pay me!
JM: That’s right. Give Tony a little something off the top. Give him his Pac-Man tokens.
TC: I’ve been getting them into shows for years. It’s about time I get something on the back end of this deal.
JM: I completely agree with you. Also, I make a percentage of the door so every free ticket comes out of my pocket, you freeloaders! [interviewer laughs] You’ve got money! Maybe don’t get your nails done or your manscaping done this week and go buy a comedy club ticket because nothing better is gonna happen this summer than Jay Mohr, Raleigh Improv, this weekend. I put my name on that, brother.
TC: I believe it. Have you enjoyed previous visits to the South?
JM: I love it. My mom is from Texas. My grandmother was Miss Texas, Miss Cisco, Miss Odessa then Miss Texas. Anytime I go to the South I really dig it.
There’s a lot of different versions of the South. Raleigh is metropolitan. Then you get to the woods of like Arkansas and Louisiana and you go, “Oh my God, people have webbed feet! They live in a treehouse and have a pet gator on the lawn!”
TC: [laughs] I guess the towns kind of start running together after a while but overall, you’ve enjoyed the time you’ve spent here?
JM: Absolutely. The first show I did after getting Saturday Night Live was in North Carolina at Catawba College. I was in a Motel 6 along the highway when I got the call. This was like 1992, pre-cell phones. If somebody calls you in the middle of the day in a Motel 6 in Catawba, North Carolina, that means one of your parents died, you know what I mean? I was like, (pause) “Hello” and my agent and my manager were like, “You got Saturday Night Live.” That night at Catawba College was when I was first introduced as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. So, North Cackalacka, I’ve got love for North Carolina.
Here it is, The Best Tweet I Can Find in Five Minutes:
