How to be the Ultimate Scene Partner: Advice from Comedy and Improv legend Pauly Shore

Meet Pauly Shore, comedian and lifelong performer, best known for his iconic roles in the '90s and his dynamic presence on stage and screen. In addition to his film and stand-up career, Pauly grew up surrounded by the world of improv at The Comedy Store, the legendary club founded by his mother, Mitzi Shore. Today, he continues to bring laughter and spontaneity to audiences while sharing the power of improv as a tool for creativity and connection.

Piper

Do you remember a time when quick thinking helped you out either on stage or in life?

Pauly

Well, yeah. I mean, every day, you know? It’s every day. You gotta always think. So it's you know, I don't know. It just doesn't stop.

When you're on stage, it's a different beat because, you know, obviously you wanna entertain too or have some sort of emotion. So, you know, when you're on stage, you have to think on your feet because you're entertaining. So you gotta entertain. You can't just improvise and not entertain. That takes years.

It takes a lot of time, to be honest.

Piper

You've played so many iconic and quirky characters. How much of that is scripted versus things you've made up on the spot?

Pauly

It's a mix of both. Every scene I've done is always kind of a case-by-case basis. But as a performer, once the camera's rolling, you kinda have to forget about things and just flow.

Spontaneous things can pop up as long as the other actor is listening and you're listening to the other actor. It's kinda like when you play tennis with someone you don’t know, where they will hit the ball. You just gotta kinda flow. Or you're in a dance? You have a dance partner, and you're like, where will this person go? You have to feel the audience, and you have to feel the feeling. So, as an actor in different scenes that I've done in my past, a lot of it is spontaneous, but a lot of it is scripted.

Piper

I completely agree. I like that you mention that you're also not sure what your partner will say. There are other factors at play when you're doing a scene.

Pauly

The thing that I stress most in this space is that acting is listening, and acting is reacting. That’s the biggest thing. Because, like you just said, you don’t know what the other person is gonna do.

So if you're stuck in your head because you're trying to remember the next line or whatever, then it just becomes inauthentic; acting is listening. It's just kind of like a surfer dropping into a wave. The wave dictates where the surfer is gonna go. The surfer doesn't. As a stand-up comic, when you're on stage, the audience tells you where to go. You don't tell the audience where to go. Every audience has a different feeling, so every audience creates a different energy. You have to flow by listening.

Piper

What do you think improv teaches people beyond comedy? Have you seen it help others in surprising ways?

Pauly

Yeah. I think it's important that we all respect each other and how we are because everyone is completely different. You get control freaks; they're very analytical and need to step out of their comfort zone and not be so analytical. And then you get people that are more out of it, spontaneous, and they're not analytical enough. So, I think it's just about being sensitive to how everyone is, and flowing with the vibe. As a comic, everyone is so entitled to their opinion nowadays. Everyone's got a voice. So you kinda have to try to please everyone or just say, "screw them, I'm gonna please my people." And if someone doesn't like me, then that’s their problem. But deep down, we always want to be liked by everyone. 

Piper

Do you have a moment where you've had to balance that kind of situation with other people?

Pauly

Family is very sensitive. That's the hot topic with everyone being sensitive. What do they say? You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. So then you're stuck with your family. I have to figure out how to work with these people. And you gotta be sensitive to how we're all completely different. But you're from the same blood. And then professionally, again, it's a team effort. No one's bigger than anyone, except for the movie itself and the script. We're all like a circus, we're all trying to power through the script as a team. Not, Oh, this person’s the director, or this person’s the star. These people aren’t better. The craft is as important as makeup and hair, and the line producer is as important as the DP. Everyone’s in solidarity, trying to do the best project for the movie.

Piper

Improv has changed a lot since you started. What's one thing you miss about how it used to be, and one thing you think has improved?

Pauly

To be honest, I don't think it’s changed. I think it’s the same. Improv is improv. I think you're either being entertained by watching people improvising or not. Whether it's the 70s, 80s, 90s, or now. Robin Williams was the best. He was the best at improvising. If you watch some of his older stuff, he wouldn’t have material. He would just go and improvise. He was the king. But as a comic, you wanna do both. You wanna stay in the moment, but also have jokes-prepared material. That’s what I’m saying. When the audience controls where you're going, that's when the fun begins.

You can start off with something, and then all of a sudden, someone walks in and sits down right in front of you. You have to respond. You can't just ignore the person. Or if someone yells out, it's almost like on stage: I'm a lion tamer, and the audience is just a bunch of wild lions.