Adam Devine is grateful for his comedy success

To say that actor and comedian Adam Devine is a workaholic is a bit of an understatement — don’t let those vaguely frat-boyish mannerisms fool you.

Prone to dropping lingo such as “excellent,” the occasional swear word and numerous references to beer in his fast-speaking delivery style, Devine is an intelligent, affable life-of-the-party type. (His gravelly voice makes him sound sarcastic without meaning to.)

But the thing with Devine is that he wants to make sure everyone else at the party is having a good time, too.

“Every comic is different,” said Devine in a phone call from Fort Worth, Texas. “Some are observational; some tell stories. I’m the guy at the party telling jokes, sharing stories and we’re all drinking. My type of humor is juvenile mixed with smart stories.”

Devine was hunkered down in Fort Worth to perform after a “travel day from hell,” which included his plane arriving late. Before that, he was giving shows in Japan and Australia (“Those Australians can drink,” he said), and he is coming halfway back for his show here Friday at the Hawaii Theatre.

“I’m ready for my first time performing in Hawaii. I love Hawaii — the people, the food,” said Devine, who loves it here so much he’ll take a few days in the islands after his show “to go into attack mode on the relaxation thing.”

Devine was last in Hawaii for the third and final season of “Adam Devine’s House Party,” which was shot at the Turtle Bay Resort in 2016. Part sitcom and part sketch comedy, the show played to both sides of Devine’s talents as an actor and comedian.

He was also here in 2015 to film several scenes for the movie “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” with co-star Zak Efron, with much of the filming at Turtle Bay. A memorable off-set excursion for Devine and Efron included swimming with tiger sharks on the North Shore. Efron plastered video of swimming with sharks online.

Devine?

“I was busy swimming back to the boat,” he deadpanned.

WORKING STEADILY in the entertainment business for more than 10 years, Devine has built a career out of writing comedy sketches, performing stand-up comedy, acting in both TV and movies and belting out the occasional song or two, courtesy of “Pitch Perfect I” and “Pitch Perfect II,” the comedies about competitive glee club singing.

Devine played the villain, Bumper, and even took home the 2012 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain, but the character is not a reflection of his own personality. He “doesn’t like mean-spirited things for the sake of mean-spiritedness,” he said. “If a character is mean within a movie, that is different, but my humor does not come from a place of mean-spiritedness.

“It’s all so fun,” he said. “‘Pitch Perfect’ was a favorite. I’m not a singer, but I know how to do it.”

Besides “Pitch Perfect,” he is best known for roles in other commercial movies such as “Neighbors” and “The Intern” and as a co-writer and co-creator of TV sketch comedy show “Workaholics,” which aired for seven seasons on Comedy Central. Then there are the guest roles on such shows as “Arrested Development,” “Community” and “Modern Family.” There’s also been vocal work in animated TV shows and movies such as “Sanjay and Craig” and “The LEGO Batman Movie.”

“I get asked a lot about my drive,” said Devine. “Everyone wants to know where it comes from: It’s about the money — no, it’s about getting more skills. This is a fun thing, and if you truly like your job, you want to be good at it.

“I like it all. I like (writing, acting, producing, vocal work and stand-up) individually and I love juggling acting and different things. It gives you energy. After shooting a movie, it’s refreshing to do stand-up when you’re finished and then drink a beer. You do the jokes you want — and drink with friends.”

“Workaholics” was Devine’s biggest break in show business. He wrote and produced comedy material with sketch-group friends Blake Anderson, Anders Holm, and Kyle Newacheck from 2011 through 2017.

“I tend to like characters — ones that are really, really dumb,” Devine said, citing Will Ferrell as one of his favorite comedic actors. “You have to be really smart to play dumb; my favorite is when characters think they are really smart but are not.”

DEVINE GREW UP in Omaha, Neb., but headed to Southern California in the early 2000s intending to get into entertainment. Though he dreamed of heading straight to L.A., his parents suggested otherwise, urging him instead to start off at Orange Coast College.

“They told me that I would be robbed or stabbed right away and they were so right,” said Devine. “I took classes in creative writing and improv. Nothing transferrable.”

Devine developed his interest in stand-up comedy after he was in a major accident when he was 11. He was hit by a cement truck while walking across a street with his bicycle and broke every bone in both legs. He was knocked unconscious and spent two weeks in a coma before waking up. While recuperating from multiple surgeries and relearning how to walk, he watched comedies and talk shows for relief.

He didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes when he returned to school, he said, so it’s especially gratifying to make people laugh now.

“For two years, I sat (and watched) stand-up comedy,” he said. “I overcompensated. I couldn’t play sports and have girls falling for me. Kids are at their absolute worst when they are 14 years old. It’s the perfect storm when you are crippled. Humans are at their absolute worst at that age. But now, they come to see me.”