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JAY MOHR
There IS life during TV
Take, for example, the new sitcom “Gary Unmarried,” which premiered on CBS on September 24. It is readily apparent that Gary’s life is undeniably less than perfect – laughably less.
Luckily for all watching, in this case less is Mohr. And the comedian, who spent last week’s episode trying to get his ex-wife married off to her boyfriend, is having a great time channeling his sizable talents into the sitcom arena.
Off the set, however, Jay Mohr is a real standup guy and the difference between the small screen and the real world will be up close and personal for audiences to see when he brings his unique brand of humor to the Orleans October 17-19.
“I am what Gary wishes he could be in a perfect world, what he wishes he could be in the future,” Mohr, who has been happily married to actress Nicky Cox for the past two years, explains. “I was married once before and it was a disaster. I have a six-year-old son. But to me, funny is funny and you don’t have to be divorced with a child to appreciate what’s funny in the sitcom. While the show is a very collaborative effort – we have something called the second take if I come up with an idea -- I look forward to saying what the writers have written. The writing is very funny. This is the job that makes all the jobs I didn’t get irrelevant. I’m a wrestler from New Jersey and suddenly I have my own sitcom.”
“As far as my stage act goes, I’m 38 and I’ve been doing standup since I was 16,” he continues. “I love performing in Las Vegas because everyone is from a different place. You have to find common ground and that is that everyone wants to laugh. I basically tell stories about things that have happened to me – my act is unique to me. I also do impressions of people like Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Norm MacDonald and others. Every impression I do depicts some personal experience I had with that star. There is also a lot of ad-lib in my show depending on what the audience gives me. I have as much fun as they do.”
While on stage he has a green light to say what he wants to say and to be as funny as he can be, Mohr admits that offstage he has trouble “turning it off.” He says that he just keeps going and going and going and that funny things just keep spurting out of his mouth.
 “I wish I could talk half as much,” he admits. “I have felt that about myself my whole life. It’s why I used to get kicked out of classes and it wasn’t funny after a while.”
Conversely, one of the things he enjoys about his real life is the quiet moments with his wife. Once a regular on the now-defunct “Las Vegas” series, Cox is currently spending her time making a home for Mohr and his son and going to the “Gary Unmarried” set with her husband and helping him rehearse his lines.
“I didn’t know I could be happy being so still,” Mohr says about his relationship with Cox. “She bakes muffins and makes French Vanilla coffee and it smells like a home. Before her, it was all about where we were going, who we were going to see there and what we were putting on our bodies. Nicky and I went on vacation in Hawaii and sat in different lounge chairs reading different books. I used to think that people that did that didn’t get along. But we can enjoy being still together. We haven’t been apart more than 48 hours in the past three years.”
Mohr, who guest-starred on “The Ghost Whisperer” before “Gary Unmarried” came along, met Cox on the set of “Las Vegas” when he guest-starred in that series. Ironically, he played a guy who wanted to marry Cox’s character. He reveals that the first time they shot a scene together, he knew that there was something there.
“It was like when you see a deer in the woods and you freeze or walk quietly because you don’t want to do anything to scare it away,” Mohr notes. “You can feel your heart in your chest. You’re aware of every sound you make, and every movement you make because you know at any moment the deer can turn and run into the woods.”
Mohr says that the way that marriage has changed him most is that he has developed a lot more patience. The same thing goes for being a father – not only does he feel that he has become a better person overall but he has learned to be patient and not shout when he gets frustrated or angry. He says that he is also discovering how much fun it is to go to the beach with nothing but his son and find their own world with just some sticks, leaves and shells.
“As a father, it’s your job to love without expecting anything back,” he claims. “And it’s hard. Where Nicky is concerned, all I can say is that you don’t know what kind of love you have in your heart until someone gives it to you. You were going to do XY and Z and then someone comes along and takes something you thought was your ideal and sets it on its ear.”
So goes the difference between Jay Married and “Gary Unmarried,” and real life and TV. For all of you who desire a slice of the latter, you won’t want to miss Mohr at the Orleans this weekend.
“My dog just ran off with my son’s Spiderman underpants,” he informs me before getting off the phone.
You never know from what source Mohr will be gleaning his material. Spandex, perhaps?
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