Tom Arnold remembers his father as a serious man who rarely laughed.
“The only time we ever heard him laugh — I mean, like, belly laugh — was when there was a Bob Hope special on,” Arnold said. “I thought, ‘Whatever that Bob Hope guy does, that’s what I’m gonna do.’”
So in 1989, when he appeared on a Bob Hope special, it was a full-circle moment for him, especially because his father was alive to see it.
“He got to see his son standing next to Bob Hope on TV. That’s about as magical as it gets,” Arnold said. “I figured that was the peak of my career. That’s not how it worked out.”
Even after a career that has spanned more than four decades and included dozens of movie and television appearances, Arnold still has a few things to say. The comedian brings his singular brand of humor to Loonees Comedy Corner as his “My Crazy X-Wife” tour swings through Colorado Springs for two shows on Thursday and Friday.
“Colorado has always been, to me, a mecca of comedy,” Arnold told The Gazette. “The people here get my sense of humor. Also, two of my ex-wives are from Colorado.”
No topic is off-limits in Arnold’s stand-up shows, including his tumultuous love life.
He has been married and divorced four times, most famously to comedian Roseanne Barr, whom he met while doing stand-up in Minneapolis. The pair married in 1990, and their partnership helped launch Arnold’s Hollywood career. They divorced in 1994.
In that same year, Arnold appeared as the sidekick to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the blockbuster action-comedy “True Lies.”
Since then, he has appeared in more than 75 movies, including “Nine Months,” “McHale’s Navy,” “Soul Plane” and “Airplane 2025.” He appears in Schwarzenegger’s Netflix series, “FUBAR.”
But he has always returned to stand-up comedy.
“It’s where I got my start, and I love doing it,” Arnold said. “It takes a different kind of person to do stand-up. You have to be a little crazy, you have to be willing to work for nothing, to live on the road, to sleep on people’s couches. But I’ve always thought it was great fun.”
Arnold’s “My Crazy X-Wife” tour will hit 40 cities with more than 80 shows in 2025. The show, he cautions, will feature “strong language, crazy stories and bad marriages.”
“About half of (my show) is about being a single, older dad with two young kids,” he said.
“The other half will be about my crazy and interesting Hollywood stories, and my unusual situations — crazy things that were in the news at the time. As long as it’s funny, you can talk about anything.”
Life on the road doesn’t get easier as he gets older, said Arnold, 66. But he doesn’t plan to retire from the stand-up game anytime soon.
“Stand-up comedians, whether they die at 30, or live to be 100, they never stop working,” he said.
“I love doing this, so I’ll keep doing it as long as people will pay to see me. Also, I’ve got four ex-wives and two small kids, so I need the money.”
If you go
What: Tom Arnold, “My Crazy X-Wife” tour
When: 7 p.m., Fri.- Sat.
Where: Loonees Comedy Corner, 1305 N. Academy Boulevard
Price: $26.97-$43.74; 719-591-0707, looneescc.com
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source gazette.com ’
