Mitzi’s name may sound familiar to many, she’s (not-funny) comedian Pauly Shore’s mother. For those who follow comedy (like me), she’s more famous as being the owner of The Comedy Store, a venue which made the careers of David Letterman, Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld and Sam Kinnison, just to name a few.
Her ownership of the LA landmark was more happenstance too. Mitzi was given The Comedy Store in a divorce as her ex-husband figured it would lower his alimony and child-support payments (they had four kids, Pauly being the youngest). I have a suspicion her ex also figured Mitzi would drive it into the ground. Nope. It flourished and eventually the audience often had producers, agents and what-have-you in the wings, looking to book them on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, sitcoms, SNL, HBO/Showtime, etc. This brought out Mitzi’s dark sides too. One was her micromanaging of the comedians down to how long their sets were and two, not paying anyone until Paul Mooney led a strike against her. Mitzi’s lame-ass excuse was her giving the hungry newbies “opportunity.” Sounds like the bullshit I heard with my internships. Well, competition in LA appeared by the Eighties so she capitulated on paying but never on the kibitzing, such as telling Marc Maron to wear a scarf, he sounded like an angry poet.
Despite her shortcomings, thanks Mitzi. Thanks for giving many funny and talented people the chance to start and hone their acts. May The Comedy Store continue.