Pauly Shore broke out big as an actor/comedian and MTV veejay in the late 1980s with a public persona known at “The Weasel.” The Weasel was a caricature of a stereotypical young Southern California male with minimal career ambitions. He spoke in a patois of surfer and skateboarder slang spiced with the regional speaking style popularly known as Valley speak — “Valspeak” for short — of the type parodied by Moon Unit Zappa in her father’s 1982 hit, “Valley Girl.”

Like Sam Kinison in his screaming misogynist phase, and the politically incorrect, leather-jacketed Andrew Dice Clay, The Weasel was a character millions of young Americans could relate to.

A quarter-century later, Shore wants you to know that he’ll always be The Weasel — at least at heart.

“That’s who I am, but the older I get, the less I act like that,” Shore explained last week on a call from his home in Los Angeles, taking time off from working on an upcoming project. (Fans can follow him on Twitter and Snapchat; his handle on both of them is “Pauly Shore.”)

Shore was in Hawaii last year to shoot a “Hawaii Five-0” episode with Jaleel White and Kevin Farley, but for that performance he was in actor mode. He returns for a night of stand-up comedy Saturday at the Crossroads at Hawaiian Brian’s.

For the record, Shore is a youthful 48.

He emphasizes that The Weasel was not a character.

“It’s not like Pee-wee Herman — Paul Reubens, who put on a whole outfit and acted like that. I dressed like that, I walked like that, I talked like that,” he said. “But the older you get, what happens, obviously, is your interests change. The Weasel is a party guy who likes to get laid and have a good time, and is very childish or selfish, or just like, ‘Hey, bro.’ That’s cool when you’re in your 20s, but when you get into your 40s and 50s, your interests change.

“After my shows now, it’s not ‘Let’s go to a bar and get (drunk)’ or ‘I want to get laid.’ When you’re younger that’s just the way we are, whether you’re The Weasel or not, but as you get older things change.”

Another example of change, Shore said, is that political issues have become interesting for him.

“I think what happens is the older you get, the more interested you get in those type of things,” he said. “I’m interested for a lot of reasons. First and foremost it’s hilarious. I’m very entertained by these knuckleheads. And, secondly, I’m concerned about our world and how we’re going to leave it to the next generation.”

Most high-profile comedians who’re expressing opinions on politics this year seem to have a knee-jerk antipathy to presidential candidate Donald Trump. Shore is not a Trump fan, but his take on the controversial billionaire is more nuanced.

“I appreciate that people appreciate him, but I think he doesn’t have the experience. The thing is, if he had been governor for a while somewhere or mayor somewhere, if he’d been dancing in that world, maybe I’d think, ‘Hmmm, maybe this could be cool,’ But to go from being a real estate mogul to being in charge of nukes, he’s just not right for the position.”

Despite that, Shore says, “I like Donald Trump. I think he’s hilarious and I like his family. They seem really nice.”

Shore didn’t comment on whether Hillary Clinton is right for the position of being “in charge of nukes.” He did note that Clinton “has a whole audience out there that doesn’t like her” and that many members of that anti-Clinton “audience” are Pauly Shore fans. As for the 15 primary candidates Trump beat on his way to the Republican nomination, Shore said dismissively that “they just don’t connect with people” the way that Trump does.

Shore grew up so thoroughly immersed in comedy that it would have been surprising if he had not become an entertainer. His father, Sammy Shore, was a stand-up comic; Sammy Shore and a business partner opened The Comedy Store in 1972. His mother, Mitzi Shore, got possession of the club as part of the divorce settlement a year later and built it into one of the nation’s top venues for stand-up comedy.

Shore grew up with comedians like Sam Kinison, Richard Pryor and Robin Williams literally “in the house” and doing some heavy-duty partying at the after-show parties Mitzi threw in the family home. He remembers getting up and going downstairs to tell everyone that he needed to get some sleep before he went to school in the morning.

“She got divorced when she was 40 and started the second part of her life then, dating comedians … and not really being a mom,” Shore says, looking back with understanding eyes. “It’s not like she neglected me; the comedians took care of me. She was around as much as she could for someone who was starting a business.”

The business boomed. Stand-up was huge in the 1980s — for a while there was even a franchised Comedy Store club in Waikiki. The list of “names” who performed at the Los Angeles store in the 1980s is a who’s who of American comedians. Shore was there watching them — at the club and afterward, at his mother’s parties.

“I grew up around all these knuckleheads at the Comedy Store, and I really learned what not to do through watching them. They were my biggest teachers, and they didn’t have to teach me, they just had to be,” he said.

He started doing stand-up while he was still in high school, and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1986. He thanks Kinison for taking him out into the American heartland.

“I grew up in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood; I grew up at the Comedy Store and on the Strip,” Shore recalled. “Then Sam Kinison took me under his wing. He took this Beverly Hills spoiled little bitch, Sam and his brother, Bill, and they took me out to America. Ever since then I’ve just kinda been addicted to going out to small towns.”

Shore added that although L.A. will always his home, he enjoys performing for folks in small towns across America.

“I wouldn’t want to live in a small town, but I like to pass through there, ’cause it’s funny and people are very sweet and genuine. There’s an honesty to them. What you see is what you get — and a lot of them are my fans. Ever since the late ’80s or early ’90s, I’ve been popping out to America,” he said.

It’s been a while since Shore popped out here to do comedy, so he’s long overdue. The show is also a welcome hana hou for promoter Greg Azus, the guy who made Pipeline Cafe a center for celebrity stand-up comedy in Honolulu. Pipeline is gone, but Azus occasionally presents comedy in other venues.

“Greg’s always been cool,” Shore says. “I’m excited to be coming to Hawaii.”