Rob Schneider revels in eliciting laughs with his stand-up routines

Actor, screenwriter, director and, lately, stand-up comedian: Rob Schneider is a Hollywood crossover success story.

After making his mark in virtually all aspects of the entertainment business, Schneider decided to return to his stand-up comedy roots six years ago. Since then, he’s been mining routines on universal topics such as relationships and the reality of growing older, in addition to telling a joke or two about topical issues.

"I’ve kind of done everything else," Schneider said Monday in a phone call from Los Angeles. "Being on TV and being a movie star is fun. But doing stand-up, there is an immediate reaction. I want to do stuff that people laugh at and laugh at hard. I want people to die laughing."

Schneider spent Monday doing interviews in advance of his show at the Hawaii Theatre, while watching his daughter, Miranda, 3. As he talked, Miranda could be heard in the background, entertaining herself by jumping onto pillows from a self-made "ladder" of cushions, as Schneider described it.

Schneider was in a talkative mood, and expanded upon his thoughts on performing while listing some of his favorite comedians in the process (George Carlin and John Cleese).

"If you find joy in your work, that will attract people," Schneider said. "The joy and excitement — that’s what resonates with people who are open to it. … To be an artist, you can’t use a net. It’s a tightrope and as an artist, there is no net."

He doesn’t differentiate between high-brow and low-brow humor, saying that it’s more of a question of whether something is funny.

"I was talking with Eric Idle and John Cleese (of ‘Monty Python’ fame) last month in Florida, and we were saying that sometimes the silly stuff is the funniest stuff," he noted. "If something is silly and funny, and it’s done exceedingly well, you laugh at it.

He added: "There’s a vast history of comedy. It’s my job — to be a historian of comedy."

How one would define the entertainer might say more about a person’s interests than Schneider himself. Perhaps you liked his sketches on the late-night comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live," or maybe you are more of a fan of his commercially successful comedy movies.

Schneider got his most visible break early on in his career as a writer for "SNL" before transitioning to a role in front of the camera on the NBC show. From 1990 to 1994, he became known for "SNL" roles such as the "Copy Guy," "The Sensitive Naked Man" and ‘Tammy." Most were roles that were performed with a subtle, chatty charm characteristic of Schneider. In another person’s hands, the roles could have been obnoxiously over-the-top.

Schneider said it was accidental that he first moved from writing to directing, a switch that was encouraged by "SNL" creator and producer Lorne Michaels.

"There wasn’t enough people and enough time," said Schneider of the fast-paced show. "You had to talk to the director. You had to talk to actors. You had to talk to the costumers. There were too many sketches. Michaels basically taught us how to direct."

Since leaving "SNL," Schneider’s become synonymous with mainstream, screwball comedies such as "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," "Hot Chicks" and "50 First Dates." For many of the movies, he paired up with fellow "SNL" alumnus Adam Sandler. By his own estimate, he and Sandler have teamed up for 19 movies, including their latest comedy, the Western "Ridiculous 6," which will be released on Netflix on Dec. 11.

One of the duo’s most popular movies was "50 First Dates," a vehicle for Sandler that was shot in lush locales around Oahu.

The hardest thing about Schneider’s cameo in "50 First Dates," he said, is that he would have his scripted part nailed down in advance and then Sandler would end up ad-libbing a scene.

"My accent would wander through different islands" in response, he said.

Schneider made the dubious decision to perform his role with a pidgin accent seemingly straight out of a casting department rather than with a credible accent based in Hawaii. Yet Schneider was not unfamiliar with Hawaii people and language; he’s said he patterned the role on a friend.

Schneider, who grew up in California, is of part-Filipino descent.

"I spent a lot of summers in Hawaii," he said. "My grandfather lived there. There’s a lot of Filipinos in Hawaii. I (exaggerated) the pidgin talk. You can’t go too far because then it becomes a different accent, a Jamaican one. Most of the response has been good. A lot of fans tell me that is their favorite movie."

Schneider did meet with some criticism over his role in "50 First Dates" and pleaded his case in a letter to the New York Times in 2005, stating that "Hollywood should give roles to the most talented person irrespective of ethnicity, race or, in my case, ‘looks.’" It’s also not the first time Schneider has reacted to criticism with a penned response. He also took out a full-page ad in Variety magazine to complain about a writer’s negative remarks in the Los Angeles Times the same year, but he has softened his approach since then.

"Criticism don’t influence me," he said. "Comedy is subjective. Criticism has more to do with the critic."

Schneider hasn’t been as visible in recent years on the big screen. "It’s 2016 and you’re not making movies for 50-year-olds," he said, jokingly. "You’re making movies for 14-year-olds and they’re watching superhero movies."

Instead, Schneider’s returned to TV with an autobiographical project called "Real Rob," based upon the disparity in his life between being a star in Hollywood and his role as the person with the least amount of power in his household.

"Real Rob" is scheduled to debut on Netflix on Dec. 1.

"You take a risk in sharing yourself," he said. "It’s based on all stuff that’s actually happened, but has been exaggerated. … I have to entertain other people. Not just me."