02/05/2004: 
That's Entertainment?
Tom Green Goes To Iraq
or, Iraqi would you like some sausage?
from CanWest News Service
A serious and sombre Tom Green said his recent USO tour to Iraq and Africa to entertain U.S. troops was an eye-opening experience that gave him a new perspective on his life and his comedy.
Green, whose father was a captain in the Canadian army stationed at Petawawa, Ont., volunteered to go overseas and said he was struck by the youthful faces of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and by the abject poverty he witnessed in parts of east Africa.
The Ottawa comic was accompanied by his sidekick, Glenn Humplik, and they stopped off in Iraq and four other countries last month as part of a USO tour.
"The decision to go over there and do this is almost a byproduct of wanting to broaden some of the things I'm doing comedically," said Green, 32, in an interview this week from Los Angeles. He said he flew in a Black Hawk helicopter, told jokes to the troops from atop a U.S. tank, got a haircut from one of the soldiers and even spoke to some Iraqis.
[...]
He said he was particularly moved by seeing young starving children in Djibouti, Africa, when he was driving through the countryside away from the American base. He said out of nowhere about 50 kids started running toward his army convoy and begged him and the other officers for water.
"We ended up driving back to the base and getting water for these kids. It was an intense kind of poverty that I had never seen before.
More
HEADLINE: Trip to Iraq gives Green 'new perspective' on lifeSOURCE: CanWest News Service
BYLINE: Tony Lofaro
DATELINE: OTTAWA
BODY:
A serious and sombre Tom Green said his recent USO tour to Iraq and Africa to
entertain U.S. troops was an eye-opening experience that gave him a new
perspective on his life and his comedy.
Green, whose father was a captain in the Canadian army stationed at Petawawa,
Ont., volunteered to go overseas and said he was struck by the youthful faces of
U.S. soldiers in Iraq and by the abject poverty he witnessed in parts of east
Africa.
The Ottawa comic was accompanied by his sidekick, Glenn Humplik, and they
stopped off in Iraq and four other countries last month as part of a USO tour.
"The decision to go over there and do this is almost a byproduct of wanting
to broaden some of the things I'm doing comedically," said Green, 32, in an
interview this week from Los Angeles. He said he flew in a Black Hawk
helicopter, told jokes to the troops from atop a U.S. tank, got a haircut from
one of the soldiers and even spoke to some Iraqis.
He said he was particularly moved by seeing young starving children in
Djibouti, Africa, when he was driving through the countryside away from the
American base. He said out of nowhere about 50 kids started running toward his
army convoy and begged him and the other officers for water.
"We ended up driving back to the base and getting water for these kids. It
was an intense kind of poverty that I had never seen before.
"It's surprising when you can get on a plane here in North America, have a
Bloody Mary and a bag of almonds, fall asleep, wake up the next day and then see
people who don't have any food to eat."
He said he enjoyed talking with the U.S. troops in Iraq and he even toured
one of Saddam Hussein's opulent marble-floored palaces, which turned out to be a
maid's quarters.
"These soldiers are just regular young guys. We hung out for two weeks,
drinking beer at some of the bases talking about Jackass, Tony Hawk, or my
movies or TV show. You're not sitting around having a geo-political discussion
about what's going on in the world."
Green has kept a low profile since his MTV talk show was cancelled last
summer.
He skipped a trip back home this past Christmas, the first time he's missed
having Christmas with his family since he settled in Los Angeles. He's working
on several projects, but is reluctant to say much about them until they're
finalized.
