'Weeds' Star Releases New DVD

Brad Gillman - Standard-Examiner

It's amazing that after a 30-year career, Kevin Nealon just recently had a major career first -- a comedy special.

"Now Hear Me Out," an hour of the jokes that made him a "Saturday Night Live" star and TV actor, debuted on Showtime and is now on DVD.

"I think in a way it kind of validates you as a stand-up (comedian)," Nealon said in a phone interview in advance of his appearance tonight at Ogden's Wiseguys. "I have been doing stand-up for a long time, but some people don't know that I do stand-up. So I thought this way it would make me more accessible to people."

Some comedians today point to a special as a crowning moment in their careers. But for Nealon, his shining moment occurred in August of 1984.

"I think doing 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson was definitely the crowning moment for my career," Nealon said. "There weren't a lot of talk shows back then and Carson was such a charming talk show host.

"It was like passing the bar exam for a lawyer."

The genesis of his career started way back at the time the teenage Nealon began reading Parade magazine's "My Favorite Jokes." The section featured a different comedian every week, with several jokes from the comics.

"So I would kind of memorize the jokes in the back of that magazine and personalize them and tell them at little neighborhood parties to a circle of friends," Nealon said. "I think I kind of learned about writing jokes from reading those jokes so much." Nealon's material was a hit, and his friends encouraged him to move to New York City in pursuit of a comedy career. But the clubs of the Big Apple were intimidating. "The audiences were brash and the comics seemed tough and callous," Nealon said. "And I thought, this is too much for me and I am more laid-back -- and I thought California would be the place for me. So I packed up the truck and moved to Hollywood."

The 'SNL' gig

Nealon said that success is defined by the person seeking it. The thrill he got every time he performed was enough to call it a successful career. But combined with the thrill of performing was meeting great friends. Nealon's comedy buddies and roommates cracked open the door to his greatest career move.

Dana Carvey, his roommate, and Jan Hooks, his thengirlfriend, caught the attention of Lorne Michaels, who created "Saturday Night Live."

"It was impossible to get an audition. You had to be really connected and have a really high-powered agent or have a good word-of-mouth about you," Nealon said. "And I was sort of living vicariously through them. I was excited for them, not even thinking that I will be on there."

But when a spot opened on the show, Carvey and Hooks recommended Nealon. Michaels asked him to send some stand-up material and Nealon soon found himself in the mix for the last spot against Kevin Pollak and Jim Carrey.

"But ultimately, they had impressionists already," Nealon said. "They had Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey and some others. They thought I worked better in the mix."

Although he initially started as a writer with occasional appearances in 1986, he became a full-time cast member the next year. In his nine-year history on "SNL," he brought viewers Subliminal Man, Hans and Franz, and was an anchor on the cult classic "Weekend Update."

About Doug Wilson

Nealon formatted his comedy routine with his parents in mind. He never wanted them to show up to a show and be disappointed with foul jokes.

"I grew up in a house where nobody swore, nobody talked about difficult issues and I always had a clean stand-up act -- to this day, it's still pretty clean," Nealon said.

That all changed recently with his character Doug Wilson in Showtime's "Weeds."

Doug Wilson is a lazy, crude former city council member whose career was ruined by his love of marijuana.

"I am not that type of person anyway -- a gruff kind of crass guy. So it was a change for me. It was stepping out a little bit and taking a risk," Nealon said.

Next up for him is costarring with Nick Swarsdon in "Born to Be A Star," which opens in theaters next April. That's also the same time period when "Weeds" will start production on potentially its final season.

Nealon will then have to transform from a clean-cut comic into a popular pothead once again.

But for his sake, don't tell his parents to tune into the show.

While the show is "exciting to do," Nealon said, "To this day I won't let my parents watch."

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