Jim Breuer To “Crush It” at the Peekskill Paramount Wednesday

While he is best known for his roles as a stoner in “Half Baked” and goat boy on Saturday Night Live, Jim Breuer’s real life roles as a dad, son and father has changed his comedy. Breuer will stop in Peekskill Wednesday night as part of his “Heavy Metal Family Man” tour and joke about caring for his elderly father, raising three kids (“one who is knocking on the teenage door”) and more at the Peekskill’s

Breuer recently published I’m Not High:(But I've Got a Lot of Crazy Stories about Life as a Goat Boy, a Dad, and a Spiritual Warrior). In the memoir, Breuer sheds light on his early struggles, his rise to fame and the many lessons he’s learned along in an extremely funny, yet personal and touching way that fans have never seen before.

The comedian can also be heard on his weekly Sirius/XM Radio show “Fridays With Breuer” and podcast hit, “Podcast Masters.”

Patch asked Breuer a few questions about his progression as a comedian and what audiences can expect to laugh about on Thanksgiving Eve. See the Q&A below.

Q: Have you ever heard of Peekskill before?

A: I have never heard of Peekskill, but its not too far from where I live in Jersey.

Q: What are you up to with this new tour?

A: The new tour is what I am doing now is gearing up for a new special, which will be filmed in April, it is called “Something for Everyone.” It is something I started a couple of years ago when I went the 100 percent family route. It is almost like Brian Regan. He annihilates on stage but completely appropriate.

Q: When did you switch over from the comedy you used to do to what you are doing now?

A: I had the idea pretty much in the early 2000s but I didn’t really commit until 2008.

Q: How has your audience responded to your change in comedy to cleaner material?

A: I am crushing it. I have never been funnier. My audience is expanding at the way a six-year-old kid grows.

Q: Tell me about how you chose to title your book (I’m Not High:But I've Got a Lot of Crazy Stories about Life as a Goat Boy, a Dad, and a Spiritual Warrior) something that blatantly asks people to recognize you as someone different than what they might best know you as.

A: I did not want to name the book that- that was 100 percent the publishers who fought tooth and nail – I wanted to call it “My Life’s Balancing Act” or something like that.

The book…has funny hilarious stories about working in the movie Half Baked, Stand Up and SNL – but it is really about my journey growing up as a kid and keeping families and morals as close as possible while balancing Hollywood on the other side.

Q: Have you come to terms with the name?

A: It’s fine. Because then I thought it was kind of funny, tongue and cheek, because I’ve been saying that (“I’m not high”) my whole life. I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to tell someone that.

Q: What do you hope people get out of your book?

Overall the message is life is short, life is precious, listen to your instinct and your gut and don’t go for the money, go for what’s right.

Q: Is that how you feel you’ve run your career?

A: I think so.

Q: Can you tell me one of those funny stories from Half Baked?

A: I will give you a short one otherwise it would take up 20 paragraphs. It is as simple as Dave Chappell giving me the lead role because, as he put it, “All you gotta do is show up, you don’t need make up. You’re going to knock this out of the park.”

Q: Do you have any funny Thanksgiving Stories?

A: No, but I will have a hilarious one this year.

Q: Why?

A: I will just have a lot of madness showing up. (Breuer said he is having Thanksgiving at his house this year).

Q: Tell me about your material.

A: It is mostly about being married; having three kids, one kid is knocking on the teenage door, having elderly parents, a father that lives with me, who is 88 years old. I will touch a little on SNL but don’t get too much into it. I have a funny story about Will Farrell.

I am going to crush it tomorrow.

Q: Do you keep things like the economy and politics in mind when you are planning your material?

A: What I talk about is what everyone can relate to. I don’t really get into economy, politics or the deadly talking sins.

Q: How have audiences changed over the years from what you can tell?

A: Stuff I usually do is very mom, dad, kid, relationship –that will never end to the end of time. As far as anything else I may touch upon politics to get a feel for the audience- people are done with it all. I will through in a few bits once and while just to throw something out there. I don’t stand on any sides. I think there is definitely a strong feeling that people want a major change but they are not quite sure what it is.

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You can buy Breuer's DVDs, movie and book at the show Wednesday night. To buy tickets visit paramountcenter.org. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$40.

Visit Breuer's Facebook Fan Page here. (While you are on Facebook, like us too!)