Tom Arnold

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“It’s a luxury and a curse,” says Tom Arnold of his famous name, forever associated with his rocky early-’90s marriage to Roseanne Barr. He can laugh about it now in his stand-up act, since his career has proven surprisingly durable. Say what you will about the guy, but he’s still working on TV, movies, radio…basically anyplace that will have him. And it’s worth remembering he was a successful stand-up, pre-Roseanne, in the ’80s. “I feel good that I’ve survived, period,” says Arnold by phone. “I feel very lucky that for 25 years I’ve been working. That’s crazy. I’ve been on some death lists for 25 years. So many times people said, ‘He’ll never work again.’ It’s weird that some people who work for me now were born in the ’80s. That’s fucking crazy.” What forms the gist of his stage routine these days? “My personal life, as always,” he chuckles. “I talk a lot about relationships. Dr. Phil… has only been married once. What does he know about pain and suffering? Unless you’ve been down that trail, which I’ve been down several times, you’re pretty flip about the information you’re giving. I have such a fear of being abandoned and divorced. Men that have been married before are the best candidates [for remarriage], because they have such a fear of failure.” And does Arnold, now on his fourth marriage, ever dispense such advice to his Hollywood neighbors? He laughs. “A few years ago, Britney Spears lived next door with me, when she was with Kevin Federline. And I tried to talk to her and him about ‘I’ve been down this road before,’ but nobody wants to listen.” BRIAN MILLER
Fri., March 4, 7:30 & 10 p.m.; Sat., March 5, 7:30 & 10 p.m., 2011