Spending a decade on different incarnations of "Saved by the Bell" was a blessing and a curse for Dustin Diamond when he started his career in stand-up comedy.
On one hand, the Saturday morning sitcom gave Diamond, 34, instant recognition. Twentysomethings around the world grew up watching Diamond's character, Samuel "Screech" Powers, get into mischief at Bayside High.
Even today, the show lives on in syndication, with multiple airings a day in Tucson on TBS.
On the other hand, Diamond, who considers himself a dirty comic, often felt restricted on stage.
"If I didn't mention Screech, people felt cheated," he said in a phone interview last week from his home in Wisconsin. "If I dwelled on it, people thought I was using it as a crutch."
Diamond, who performs four sets this weekend at Laffs Comedy Caffé, believes he has found a happy medium.
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"I hit them over the head with it right off the bat, but then move on to other things," he explained.
Diamond spends 47 weeks of the year out on the road. It is his main source of income, aside from the occasional celeb reality series on VH1.
How did you end up in stand-up?
"It actually started on accident. I brought a girl to the movies in Brea, Calif., and there was an improv next to the theater. I had never done stand-up or been in a comedy club before, but I had worked with the comic on the marquee, so we went inside.
"We caught his set and afterward he came over and said to me, 'You'd be good at this. You have a good stage presence, delivery, timing.
"He brought me up on stage for a few minutes. There was no plan, no material. I was nervous. We back-and-forthed for a little bit, went off the cuff and got some laughs.
"It was three minutes or so but I really enjoyed that feeling. The stage fright is like energy. It drives you. Here I am, 10 years later, still doing it."
Who are some of your comedic influences?
"I grew up watching guys like (George) Carlin and (Sam) Kinison, (Andrew) Dice Clay and Richard Pryor. When I was a kid, 'Raw' and 'Delirious' had just come out. My parents would put me to bed, then watch the dirty comedy shows. I would crack my door and sneak down my hallway and listen a bit.
"I liked that in-your-face approach, putting the audience on an emotional roller-coaster ride."
What kind of stuff do you talk about?
"I'm not a very topical guy. Sometimes if something is blatant, I'll talk about it. I don't do politics. I like stuff that is timeless. I will touch on childhood memories and things like that. 'Who out there is feeling old, too?' "
