Mt. Vernon Register-News

Local

March 7, 2010

Dustin Diamond performing stand up in King City

By RORYE O’CONNOR

rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Actor Dustin Diamond, best known for his long-standing role as Samuel “Screech” Powers on Saved By The Bell, will perform a stand up comedy show in the King City this weekend.

Diamond, 33, discovered an interest in stand up comedy in Nov. 1998, he said.

“I was just getting my feet wet then,” he said.

He was attending a comedy show of a friend when the comic pulled him onstage to try his luck with the audience, he said.

“I went up there and had a good time,” he said. “It made me so nervous, that that’s what drew me to it.”

He said in 2000 he decided to try it full time.

“I said I was gonna start paying my dues, and I’ve been doing this ever since,” he said.

Diamond draws inspiration from comics like Eddie Murphy and George Carlin and compares his shows to Adult Swim cartoons on Cartoon Network.

“Coming off a show based on kids, I didn’t want to live in a kids’ world anymore,” he said. “If you can sit and watch an hour of Adult Swim, you’ll love my show.”

Diamond said he’s surprised when audience members assume he’s going to be mean based on his appearance on the reality show “Celebrity Fit Club.”

He emphasized the lack of reality behind the show, describing re-shooting takes from different scenes.

“I’m a real personable guy, so it’s fun to play the bad guy,” he said. “And then to have people so believe that” is a shock to him, he said.

He said his show is often a pleasant surprise to attendees.

“So many people, the young rebellious people, the Goth and emo kids, come to make fun and heckle and laugh at me, instead of with my stuff,” Diamond explained. “They’re coming for the total wrong reasons, but they’re surprised the most when they expect crap, and get something different. They come up and say, ‘I thought you were gonna suck, but it was funny!’”

His comedy draws from the 80s and 90s, he said.

“There are bits of my humor that are generation-based,” he said. “I’m also a fan of what makes people slightly uncomfortable.”

He said the main focus of his comedy revolves around relationships — those with coworkers, pets, family and significant others.

“It’s the tie that binds my comedy act together,” he said.

Diamond said he was looking forward to coming to Mt. Vernon, as he is a fan of the Midwest.

Hailing from northern California, Diamond said moving to Wisconsin several years ago was a surprisingly pleasant culture shock.

“There’s no place I’ve seen more ready to embrace goodness than the Midwest,” he said.

The event is 8 p.m. Friday, March 12 at the Holiday Inn ballroom. Advance tickets are $15.50, and tickets at the door are $20.50.

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