Netflix to 'Mad About You': Paul Reiser talks career before Naples standup shows

Long before he co-starred in the Netflix hit series "Stranger Things," or on the popular '90s hit sitcom "Mad About You," actor Paul Reiser just wanted to make people laugh.

“When I’ve gone out in the last couple of years, people say 'I didn’t know he did standup,' " Reiser said in a recent interview. "When I started, I was in college. That's as far as my plans went. I just wanted to be a standup."

Reiser, who performs Friday through Saturday at Off The Hook Comedy Club in Naples, doesn't remember visiting Naples, but who knows. He recalled how he once performed standup in Louisville, Kentucky, and commented that was his first visit and a man showed a picture of Reiser performing there decades earlier.

'We're all going through the same things'

Reiser's return to the standup stage looks much more different to him. With a career spanning nearly a half-century, he said he sees everyone from younger fans who are probably fans of the Netflix hit "Stranger Things" where he portrays Dr. Sam Owens to his other Netflix show, "The Kominsky Method" who are much older.

"When I went back a couple years ago, when I went back on the road, it was like getting together with old friends," he said.

“I don’t really change my material. I just do what I do and it’s great to see that everyone is having a great time. And here's the truth: I'm not smart enough to make anything up so I can only tell people what has happened in my house.”

Reiser, who has been married since 1988 to Paula Ravets and they have two children, said his standup does not include politics and is more about his life.

"When you talk about something personal, it’s the most universal," he said. "We’re all going through the same things.”

Reiser also enjoys audience participation.

"One of the nice things I've been doing lately is, toward the end of the show, taking questions from the audience," he said. "That’s been kind of fun. Come with any question you have and, if I can answer it, I will.”

Comedy special, new 'Beverly Hills Cop' are next

Reiser's career has included more than 30 movies, which began with "Diner" in 1982, followed by "Beverly Hills Cop" in 1984 and "Aliens" in 1986.

He will co-star in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley" that's due out in 2024, although Reiser said he cannot discuss it because of the Hollywood writers strike. He also will film a comedy special to air in the next year or so on an undetermined streaming service.

Reiser began the television side of his career with a 1982 appearance in an episode of the NBC show "Remington Steele." Other roles followed, such as Michael Taylor in the 1987-1990 NBC sitcom "My Two Dads."

He received his signature role as Paul Buchman, co-starring opposite Helen Hunt in "Mad About You" that ran from 1992 to 1999.

“That was all I ever wanted to do," he said about standup. "And what happened in the '90s with 'Mad About You,' I just busy with the intention of getting back.”

By the time the show ended, Reiser said, he was ready to stay home and help raise a family with their new baby.

Returning to standup stage

He went to a Los Angeles comedy club to perform standup and learned quickly that, once the audience acknowledges you after "about 15 seconds," you better start doing standup.

“It’s like the muscle atrophies and I had not really performed standup for 20 years, from 1990 to about 2010 or 2011," he said.

Reiser compared the experience to that of an athlete: "If you play basketball and have a few years off, you still know how to do it but you have to get your muscles refiring.”

Comedy, performing especially in more intimate settings with a live audience, remains his favorite, he said. The Naples shows ― his only in Florida for the rest of 2023 ― will help him prepare for his upcoming comedy special, Reiser said.

"It's really the most fun of everything I do," he added. Performing at venues like Off The Hook, "feels like going home. That's where it all started.

“I never felt like an out of work actor because to me acting was always the bonus."

How it all began for Paul Reiser as an actor

Reiser said his acting career began with a mistake. He said he was waiting for a friend who was auditioning for a part in the movie "Diner" so he began walking around.

“I wondered into the wrong office," he explained. "I said, 'I'm not auditioning I'm just waiting on my friend. The next thing I know I’m in Baltimore filming movie.”

In life, Reiser said, our plans don't always pan out the way we expect but that's OK.

"One thing leads to another and you never know," he said. "But you have to follow when a door opens and take a shot."

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What to know about Reiser's shows at Off The Hook

When: 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, and 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30

Where: Off The Hook Comedy Club, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, No. 1100

Cost: $30 general admission, $40 VIP

More: offthehookcomedy.com or 239-389-6901

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram and Threads at @lacrossewriter and on X @NDN_dosborn

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Paul Reiser talks 'Stranger Things,' 'Mad About You' before Naples shows