IDS sits down for question and answer session with Jamie Kennedy

The Indiana Daily Student sat down with entertainer Jamie Kennedy to discuss his comedy, what inspires him and how he sees the world. Kennedy, well-known for his roles in “Scream,” “Scream 2,” “Malibu’s Most Wanted” and his hit show “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” is now taking his stand-up across the country on a mission to make people laugh.

Indiana Daily Student: What are you planning for your show? Do you have a set plan?
Jamie Kennedy: I just go and do my stand-up, you know ... I do a show about my life, you know, sexual stuff in it, reflections, characters, you know it’s all about my view on things, and at the end I play a little bit of my movie “Heckler” for about five minutes.

IDS: Where do you find inspiration for some of your comedy?
Kennedy: Life, you know – everyday people crack me up. Things that happen to me, and I tell stories and people are like, “That’s funny, you should do that or tell that story.” ... I’m trying to look at the world.

IDS: What made you want to become an actor? Was there a particular moment that you just decided, “Hey, I want to act,” or something you always wanted to do?
Kennedy: One time I was playing basketball, and it was in the middle of the game, and someone hit me with the ball in the face. Then I went down on the ground and all of the sudden everyone surrounded me and I just started fake crying, and people like really believed it and I was like, “I can’t believe they really bought that.”

And then I started playing again, people were like wigged out, because I just got hurt (or I thought I got hurt) and I started making points. Then they left me alone, and by the time they started guarding me again, I had won the game. I was like, cool man. I didn’t think of a career. I just thought I was pretty good at that.

IDS: Do you have a dream role or dream project you’ve always wanted to do? Maybe something you’ve done or maybe something you’re thinking about for the future that you’d like to do?
Kennedy: I’d like to do some kind of movie based on a bio of somebody. I really like Freddy Mercury’s life.

IDS: Do you have any actors or comedians that you look up to, that kind of inspire you at all?
Kennedy: Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Daniel Day Lewis, Mike Meyers.

IDS: What would you be doing if you weren’t acting?
Kennedy: Probably working in a pizza shop. I used to work in a pizza shop, so I’d probably still be doing it.

IDS: Do you have any advice for aspiring actors or comedians?
Kennedy: Do I have any advice? Yeah. Just do it. Just literally go out and just do it, just really go for it, you know. Don’t think about (it). Don’t analyze it. If you really want to do it, you’ll do it. But that’s the thing – if you really want to do it, you won’t be thinking about. You’ll just be doing it.

IDS: What would you like people to get out of your performance?
Kennedy: Laugh. Just laugh and have a good time. Walk away having a good time, and laugh.

IDS: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Kennedy: Come to the show. It’s a lot of fun ... if you like my old show, “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” you like my Comedy Central special, come out. It’s like a big party ... Par-tay. And tell people they can hit me up, if they want to hit me up on Facebook or www.myspace.com/jamiekennedy.