Comedian Jamie Kennedy bringing his standup act to The Comedy Zone

Jamie Kennedy has been all over the map as a comedian and actor.

His more notable television and movie credits include his sketch TV series, "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," driven by hidden cameras and shock gags; the feature film "Malibu's Most Wanted," where he starred as a rich white kid who aspired to be "gangsta" rapper "B-Rad"; and three installments of "Scream," the horror film spoof in which he played a movie geek who explained the rules for surviving a horror flick.

Kennedy has done dramatic work as well. He appeared in "Ghost Whisperer," a supernatural drama on CBS, and most recently, the medical drama "Heartbeat," which NBC just canceled after its first season.

Of course, audiences also know him for his stand-up comedy.

The man of many comic personas brings his stand-up act to The Comedy Zone this weekend for four shows.

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We caught up with the candid but good-natured Kennedy, 45, in a telephone interview this week from Los Angeles.

If you're up for it, do you want to start with a pop quiz?

[Pause] OK.

What do you, Tina Fey, Todd Rundgren and Jim Croce all have in common?

We're all from Upper Darby [Pa.].

You scored a 100.

Yeah! I got that right!

Is it a tight group? Do you guys have a secret handshake or something?

We have barbecues once a year. Jim brings the roasted corn, Tina the potato salad, and I'm good for some brisket.

You were 18 when you left Upper Darby and went to Hollywood?

Yeah, just the end of my 18th year. I went and came out to Hollywood to pursue my dreams. I shot "Romeo + Juliet" in '96, and "Scream." So it was about six or seven years before I started making a living. That was a good year.

You wrote a book about your early career struggles, "Wannabe: My Hollywood Experiment." What do you recall as the lowest of the low points?

The lowest point, oh man … I can actually tell you this story, but you gotta really believe it. It's in the book. I was doing a lot of odd jobs. I was doing clown parties on the weekend, and I'd dress up as a clown. And I was doing odd catering jobs. And I parked my car [overnight] in a loading zone, because I thought I was going to be able to get up and get it out. In L.A., it's like a big deal - it's 7 a.m. and your car is there, it's gone. And I'll never forget, I went to get my car, and it was being towed. And the window was smashed, and someone has stolen my clown outfit, and I had for some reason left my license in the car, so I was proving to the tow man that it was my car, and he also stepped in dog crap. So it was like a four-fold thing: My car was being towed, it was broken into, someone stole my gear and the person had stepped in dog poo and it was in the car. They took the car, I showed him my license, and he was like, "Yeah, it's too late." And I had no money. I was dead broke. I had no money and some bum is running around in clown shoes with a fake rubber nose. I begged this woman, and she lent me $100, and that was like, $10,000, and then I got the car out. I literally had no money. That was tough.

What makes comedy such a tough career?

Well, it's two parts. You have to be extremely confident to stand up in a room full of people. You have to believe that you deserve to be looked at. And then, you have to be extremely insecure to need to do that. So I can do this, but I need to do it, so there's a definite duality there. And I also say that a lot of comedians don't really want to be funny … but really we're being funny to make what we're saying more digestible to you.

We want to be really blunt, we have to sugarcoat it to make it more digestible. That's the psychology of comedy. People think you're this karaoke machine of joy, and that's not it at all.

Going way back in your career - you were an extra in "Dead Poets Society." Where will audiences see you?

Will you find me? [He feigns suspense.] I will be in the movie theater scene where they're shouting out, "Neil! Neil!" Remember, they're hollering at the car as Ethan Hawke is … I was walking around. You have to really pause it to potentially see me. My back shoulder is in there somewhere.

Did writing and starring in "Malibu's Most Wanted" make the overall experience more rewarding - or nerve-racking?

Oh, very rewarding. I'll never forget, making the movie and having the premiere at Mann's Chinese, and it was so gratifying. Bob Saget was at the premiere, Bryan Cranston, and a couple of the Wayanses. And all the laughter in general, from people who are your peers and known for this, was so great. I remember thinking, "Man, this is a dream come true." … It's hugely gratifying … It wasn't just the writing, it was the whole packaging. So many people got laughs, and I was proud to see that I helped put that all together.

They just announced the cancellation of "Heartbeat" a few days ago. Did you have high hopes for the show?

I'm not that surprised. We were hearing rumors, and our ratings weren't gangbusters. But yes. You have to remember we were the first show to get picked up last year by NBC. Before "Blindspot." And we were going to come on in September, and then our star got pregnant, and we moved the schedule. I know that the show is great, and we had a great cast, and great writers, and a great story, and a great star. ... I think the show was working. I think if we had a little more time, "Grey's Anatomy" is fading, I believe we could have taken that slot. But these things happen.

Do you have a favorite "bad gig" story?

I think one of the hardest gigs I ever played was at a college in the afternoon. And it was like during Greek Week, so they had booths and jugglers, and I was outside. And I was literally in their courtyard, and I had to just start telling jokes and try to get attention. And it was a half hour. I have no desire to do that again.

David Crumpler: (904) 359-4164