Pauly Shore confesses that it was “hard” when his career faltered.
The comedian became an overnight star when he joined MTV as a VJ in 1989 and appeared in movies like “Encino Man” and “Son in Law,” but audiences eventually grew tired of his shtick.
“I was sad because at the end of the day, for ten years of my career I was doing movies and MTV and albums and then when my thing wasn’t as popular because it was so big,” he told Page Six.
“I was sad because I just loved making people happy,” the 52-year-old comic continued. “It was hard for me to realize, how I’m not going to be starring in a movie every other year like I was for a while.
“So it was hard but fortunately for me I’m very resilient. I got it from my mom and dad. So when one door shuts, the other door opens.”
Instead, Shore turned to writing and producing his own material, including “Pauly Shore is Dead.”
He can currently be seen in “The Comedy Store,” a five-part documentary on Showtime that chronicles the evolution of the fabled comedy club that his mother Mitzi, won in a divorce settlement from Shore’s father, Sammy.
The club was a launching pad in comedy — Richard Pryor, Freddie Prinze, David Letterman, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and Sam Kinison all performed there.
“My mom’s life began at 40 when she got the club,” Shore explains. “It was her calling to help nurture and develop comedians.”
Mitzi was ill for many years before dying of a neurological disease in 2018 and Pauly was her primary caretaker which he believes contributed to why he never married.
“My wife was my mom,” he confesses. “I really took care of her all the way to the end. My heart and my soul are with my mom and now that she’s passed it’s kind of a new chapter.
“I moved to Las Vegas about four months ago and I’m just trying to go back to the original feeling of me being fun and silly and maybe I’ll attract someone who supports what I’m doing.”