Tom Green’s comedy was inspired by Letterman

TORONTO — When Canadian comedy star Tom Green was 15, he used to put on a pair of khaki grey pants, Adidas sneakers and his dad’s blazer before going to the Yuk Yuk’s standup club in Ottawa to perform.

He was “basically trying to be David Letterman,” Green says, noting the late night talk show host who retires Wednesday was his “hero” and the reason he wanted to try comedy.

“When I started my show on Rogers cable, with the desk and going out in the street and doing pranks, a lot of it was just from growing up watching Letterman yell out of his office building in Rockefeller Center with a megaphone and doing all the on-the-street stuff,” says Green, who was born in Pembroke, Ont. “That was really inspiring to me.” Green finally got to meet his hero after The Tom Green Show was picked up by MTV and he was booked as a guest on Late Show with David Letterman.

“It was the first moment I realized that my life was about to change,” Green says.

He appeared as a guest a few more times, then came the ultimate opportunity: a chance to guest-host Late Show with David Letterman June 13, 2003. Letterman rarely took a break from hosting duties but was unable to work on that day.

Green got the call to step in on just 24 hours’ notice and wrote his monologue on the plane from Los Angeles to New York.

“I just remember how surreal it was being backstage … and (when) I walked out and did that monologue. It was really an out-of-body experience, almost.”

Green bantered onstage with Canadian bandleader Paul Shaffer before sitting at the desk to interview actress Jolene Blalock and New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens. The Devils had just beaten the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs, so Green and Stevens donned jerseys and did some stickhandling onstage.

“Scott Stevens, who’s known to be a bruiser and an enforcer in the league, basically bodychecked me and threw me across the room and took the puck away,” Green recalls with a laugh.

As a gift for hosting, Green got a Late Show varsity jacket, a bottle of Dom Pérignon and a note from Letterman.

“He said, ‘Thank you for doing the show, Tom. You did a great job. Thank you. Dave,’ ” says Green, who still has the note and jacket.