Paul Reiser on comedy vs. acting, ‘Mad About You’ reboot

Paul Reiser, known for shows such as “Mad About You,” “My Two Dads,” and “Stranger Things,” is back in the stand-up comedy world and coming to the Moore Theatre for “one show and one joke” this Saturday, Nov. 17, as he told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

“Seattle happens to be a great comedy town,” he said. “It’s a great audience … Seattle’s pretty hip and smart.”

While Reiser is well-known as an actor, his first love is stand-up. As an 18-year-old freshman, Reiser began hanging out in the burgeoning stand-up comedy club scene in New York City.

RELATED: Jeff Ross says audiences fear comedy

“I had an inkling that I wanted to do stand-up, but I didn’t know how,” he laughed.

The early years for a comedian are always cocky, he said.

“When you’re just starting, you’re protected by a layer of stupidity,” he said. “Luckily, you’re so stupid that you think you’re actually alright.”

Looking back at those years as an experienced comedian later on is like nearly driving a car off a cliff in the dark and only realizing it afterwards, Reiser said. Getting to that more experienced point takes many, many years of hard work.

“We all think, ‘If I just do this two or three more times, I’ll have it nailed,'” he chuckled. “No, that’s not how it works at all.”

It was in this era of the late ’70s and early ’80s that comedy clubs especially became a place for scouts on the hunt for the next sitcom stars.

“If you’re a TV executive, at the time, it seems like a no-brainer — if you find somebody who’s got a voice and they already know what they’re doing, you can start there … it’s already halfway done for you,” he said. However, he warned, “it’s not always easy to take what works onstage and make it work on TV.”

Reiser, who said that he grew up idolizing comedians rather than actors, never set out to be on a TV show. But after back-to-back starring roles, first on “My Two Dads” in the late ’80s, and then on “Mad About You” throughout the ’90s, Reiser said his stand-up skills got rusty.

“After ‘Mad About You,’ I was happy to stay home and kind of recharge my batteries a bit,” he said.

Over the years, he kept meaning to go back, but “it was hard to start up again.” When he finally did work up the nerve to go back on the stand-up stage, it took him a year to get his comedy muscles back in shape.

“I went back about five years ago, I just went back into the clubs, and it was exactly like it was when I was 18, I had five minutes — the difference was the audience knew me now, which was good, but also not as good, because they’re going, ‘What’s he doing here with five minutes?'” he remembered.

Fast-forward a few years later, and Reiser is back in the comedy game, traveling around the country giving comedy shows.

However, while doing stand-up in divisive 2018, there is one major area that he stays out of — politics. Reiser’s audiences have told him that they find it “particularly relaxing and refreshing” not to hear about contentious current issues during the comedy show.

He does want to see his stand-up colleagues use discretion and sensitivity when making potentially offensive jokes, though he also wants room for comedians who do cross that line to be able to sincerely apologize without being destroyed by social media.

“The basis of political correctness is, ‘Let’s just be sensitive and thoughtful to other people,’ so I’m for that,” he said. “But I do think that there should be room for someone to … step back and say, ‘I think I said something I shouldn’t have said and I apologize.’ I don’t think the price should necessarily be burning at the stake for the misuse of whatever [word].”

Mad About You

Reiser attributes the success for “Mad About You” — which ran for seven seasons — to the fact that the show encapsulated the ups and downs of romantic relationships in a way that everyone could relate to. He described the feel of the show as a couple who leaves a dinner party all smiles, then goes back to the car and immediately begins arguing.

“What goes on, the little dance between two people in a relationship, is pretty timeless,” he said. “And I think that’s what made it work.”

As for whether “Mad About You” will follow in the footsteps of other ’90s sitcoms such as “Roseanne” and “Full House,” and get a modern-day reboot, Reiser doesn’t know. Originally, he and co-star Helen Hunt were opposed to the idea, but then came around to it.

“We started talking about it when everyone was asking us and thought, ‘It could be fun,'” he said.

However, right after the ball started rolling on the reboot, everything got held up in the legal logistics, Reiser said. Now the future of a potential reboot is up in the air.

“We said yes, but I don’t know that it’s going to happen,” he said.

Tickets

Paul Reiser steps on the Moore’s historic stage at 8 p.m. Saturday. For tickets, visit Seattle Theatre Group.

Follow @NicoleKIROFM