Just what in the hell has Tom Green been up to lately, anyway? His show’s no longer on loop on MTV, traumatizing viewers with nonsensical escapades like the cult-skit “The Canterbury Tales.” His short-lived marriage to actress Drew Barrymore has faded into obscurity. Yeah, Green’s been doing those CPAC television commercials, but nobody seems really sure why he’s doing them.
“CPAC, the parliamentary channel, has sponsored the tour, and we’re of course encouraging young people to get out and exercise their right to vote,” Green explained in a recent interview with the Journal. “They’ve provided us with free hats and t-shirts for the tour, too.”
The glory days of Green’s Juno Award-nominated rap troupe Organized Rhyme seem long gone, and dust has collected on their hit song, “Check the O.R.” So why the return to the world of hip-hop, why the resuscitation of a career for an audience base that was about six years old when the “O.R.” was last checked? For starters, Green—or M.C. Bones, as he likes to be called in this arena—has been traversing Canada over the last several months and delivering beat-heavy rhymes in venue after venue. And of course, in customary Tom Green fashion, hedonistic debauchery is featured heavily in his onstage antics.
The album, Prepare for Impact, is Green’s solo debut, and he’s been enjoying himself thoroughly thus far.
“There’s always a lot of enthusiasm from the audience,” Green said. “I’m really enjoying the crowdsurfing myself. I know that sounds kind of pedestrian, but for me it’s one of the more exciting things I’ve ever done in my life. A lot of shows, we spend entire songs just lying on top of the audience.”
For Green, his most recent foray into hip-hop is more of a labour of love than a lucrative endeavour. Hip-hop, like skateboarding, was one of Green’s earliest passions. Organized Rhyme took their craft seriously and toured with
jazz-rappers Dream Warriors before mysteriously disbanding in the early ’90s. By the mid-90s, Green was entering the mainstream media spotlight with the insanity of The Tom Green Show, and by the end of the decade was basking in its glare. Movies like Road Trip and the Green-produced/written/directed gross-out vehicle Freddie Got Fingered cemented Green’s status as a marketable comedian. It was for Freddie that Green hired Mike Simpson—D.J. EZ-Mike, of producing duo The Dust Brothers—to score the film, which evolved into a solid friendship.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, [Mike Simpson’s] been doing this for a long time,” Green noted. “It just didn’t make sense for us not to do some music together. He’s an unbelievable talent, and that’s why it’s so exciting doing these shows, because the music that he’s made is really great in a club.” This friendship rekindled the hip-hop flame, and the pair later decided to cut a record. M.C. Bones and Prepare for Impact were born.
Fourteen years after “Check the O.R.’s” Juno nod, Green faces much greater stakes. Back then he was just an Ottawa teen with a penchant for skateboarding. Now, Green is a millionaire entertainer with a devoted fanbase and a trademarked style of entertainment. His onstage antics-which have included shot—gunning Jagermeister and hurling stuffed animals at the audience, for the fans who fell for the relentless lunacy of The Tom Green Show.
“We prepare scrambled eggs for everyone—Jagermeister eggs,” Green explained. “We like to invite all of the attractive women on the stage when we do ‘The Hooters Song,’ to sit on the couch and drink with us on the stage.”
“Playboy” Jeremy Klein, Green’s buddy and member of the Keepin’ it Real Crew, said they’re enjoying the female presence in their audience.
“We definitely feel like sexual objects to the girls,” Klein said. “Because when girls see guys up on stage, their panties basically dissolve in their pants. [Versus] a Nickelback show, maybe, [where] the panties aren’t dissolving.”
“Yeah, a lot of dissolving panties,” laughs Green.
With a viewing of the music video for the album’s first single, “Teachers Suck,” it’s plain to see that Green has little interest in being taken seriously any time soon.
“There’s a lot of dancing [at our shows],” Green said. “I’ve come up with a few new dance moves that I’m quite proud of that I’ll be demonstrating. We’re just having fun. Wear your dancing shoes and your drinking hat, because this is going to be a good time when we get there.” After all, why would Tom Green adopt a serious persona? Tom Green is still Tom Green—and evidently, that’s still just the way we like him.
“We did a fun little show last time we were in Kingston [last summer], but this one’s going to be off the chain,” Green said. “We had a great show, but this one’s going to be different. [Hopefully] a lot of ladies for ‘Playboy’ Jeremy Klein.”
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Tom Green has proudly introduced the American members of his posse to poutine.
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