Jeremy Piven is set to kick off his Australia and New Zealand stand-up tour next week.
Ahead of the trip, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor sat down with Variety AU/NZ to discuss the upcoming trip, as well as his journey getting into stand-up comedy later in his career, learning from some of the greats and some of his most famous projects like “Entourage” and “Mr Selfridge.”
Variety AU/NZ: This is your first proper tour of Australia and New Zealand, but you did play some special shows here late last year. How was your time here?
Jeremy Piven: It was my first time. I’ve been wanting to go forever. I was lucky enough to perform at the State Theatre in Sydney and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne – just incredible theatres and unbelievable shows.
The people were just so present and ready to laugh and smart, and they got the jokes. I just had the time of my life.
You’ve built a successful career in stand-up comedy, but it came after all the success you’ve had in TV and film. When did your journey in stand-up begin?
It’s interesting because I’ve been on stage since I was eight… a theatre animal my whole life, and I was doing sketch comedy in the ’90s professionally, and obviously film and TV. So there were times when I was thrown up on stage, like when I hosted “Just For Laughs” in Canada almost 20 years ago, and I got a sense. I was too dumb to know how difficult stand-up is.
So they threw me up there and it was the stand-up’s nightmare where I didn’t know they wanted me to do 20 minutes. I didn’t know it was on live TV. I’ve never even looked at it. I don’t wanna see it ’cause it wasn’t stand up, ’cause I wasn’t prepared. I just kind of cobbled together something, but I got a sense of it and I was hooked.
Do you wish you started it earlier or are you happy you got into it when you did?
I don’t mean to be too philosophical, but having regrets, it doesn’t serve us as human beings. I could easily say, ‘Man, I wish I would have done stand-up from the jump’, but it’s like, everything that you are in this life, all your experiences, they make up who you are and they can inform what you then decide to do. You have to believe you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
I think that not giving a shit is a superpower.
Whatever expectation someone brings, it really doesn’t matter to me because I’m gonna put more pressure on myself than you will.
I take it more seriously than you. I’m going to attempt to be the best version of myself every time I get up there. So, I already put enough pressure on myself. Whatever your expectations are, that’s not my concern, but I also love pressure, and I love being counted out. I think it’s really inspiring and it’s fuel, and I welcome it.
Jamie Foxx once said that there aren’t many people “that can flex a muscle like you” in regards to your on-screen work and now comedy. Is it an odd feeling chatting with fellow stand-ups about the craft given how much success you’ve had prior to getting into stand-up comedy?
I don’t find it awkward. I have no problem. I think this is a secret sauce if anyone cares in terms of getting better at something. I have no problem putting my ego aside and just being a student and asking questions. I don’t care what your take on me or my stand-up is. I just wanna learn from you. I will ask as many questions as possible. If they don’t know my stand up, they may respect me as an actor and they see that I’m taking it seriously. So I get to ask a lot of the greats about their journeys.
I ran into [Jerry] Seinfeld recently and I had many questions about his crowd work, because there’s maybe no one better at it than him. And he was able to just give me some insights and that was just an incredible moment for me to just be in class with Seinfeld.
I just admire how he operates, but also how he deals with crowd work. I was able just to kind of ask him a bunch of questions and he was an open book and moments like that are incredible for me. I get to learn from the best. I’m very lucky.
Your most famous role is Ari Gold in “Entourage,” but you had another hit later with “Mr Selfridge” and have been busy ever since. Did you ever care about having that tag on you, given how big the shows were?
I’m honoured and I’m flattered that they, to this day, are missing Ari and “Entourage,” and that there’s a whole new generation. I got guys coming up to me in their late teens and early twenties that binged it over the pandemic and so we have this whole new generation.
I’m doing stand up out there and so I see people in real time that missed the show and it’s incredible, And if there was a reboot, I know there’d be a real hunger for it out there.
That being said, I’ve got to, as you mentioned, play Harry Selfridge, which is a pretty big departure from Ari, and that was incredible. That was sold to 165 countries, which is actually more than “Entourage.” So. that has a very wide reach.
By the way… it’s not my job to think about how others see me, you know what I mean? If they don’t have a reference for my stand-up and however they feel, I just want to get them in the theatre so I can make them laugh. And people say to me after the shows, ‘We didn’t know you were this funny!’ That’s a backhanded compliment, but I love it. I’m honoured.
You mentioned talks of an “Entourage” reboot. Do you think that could ever eventuate?
We really struck a chord with people and one of my favourite forms of acting is Commedia dell’arte which is the oldest form of acting – you invest emotionally as deeply as you possibly can, and you swing for the fences, and that’s how I played Ari Gold. It was an extension of this great form of acting that I really loved.
So, I miss doing that, and I love doing it, and I think people miss watching it. And it could also be a vehicle to comment on everything that we’ve been through and everything we’re currently navigating. It’s seen through the eyes of these characters that we all have a reference for. That could be very fun… all I can tell you is that the audience hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s only grown with this new generation.
JEREMY PIVEN 2025 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TOUR
Thursday, July 31st
SkyCity Theatre, Auckland
Saturday, August 2nd
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Sunday, August 3rd
The Tivoli, Brisbane
Wednesday, August 6th
Astor Theatre, Perth
Friday, August 8th
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Saturday, August 9th
Norwood Concert Hall, Adelaide