I was stood up by Pauly Shore. "How embarrassing," my friend exclaimed. "I know," I replied.
A scheduled interview with the comedian didn't happen because Shore did not answer his phone. Not funny. But the next day, there's a measure of success as I get through to The Palazzo in Las Vegas.
He sleepily answers. When I ask if this is "Pauly", the first thing he says is, "Porleee" mocking my accent.
Shore's just made a very South African film and I want to know why. Adopted is a mockumentary that pokes fun at the adoption trend by celebs in Africa. Note "Africa", never South Africa, something that's bound to p*ss people off considering that 99 percent of the film was shot here.
"Yeah, I did that on purpose. It just sounds cooler. Africa-nzzzzz," he says. I resist the urge to say, "Weas-zellll," referring to the character Shore created in the '90s.
The idea started in July 2007, when Shore was contacted to host a comedy show here. "I'm an opportunist and thought if I'm going there anyway, I want to make a film. I thought the idea of me in South Africa would be a really funny fish-out-of-water situation."
Director behind many comedy festivals in SA, Sam Hendrikse climbed on board as executive producer. The film is, in a sense, a road movie, with Shore visiting various areas trying to find a child.
Handling a subject that is a political hot potato is no easy feat, and Shore was required to exercise sensitivity in his interactions.
"All the interactions with locals are real. Only the kids weren't orphans, but they hadn't acted before, so in a way they were playing themselves."
Shore is politically incorrect for most of the film, but, he says: "I'm not worried about offending anyone. It's a comedy and I think people should know that I'm just f***ing around."
Shore also exposes the stereo-types many Americans hold about our country and about adoption.
The film is also purely South African in that all the music is local, from Kaptein Kaptein by the Radio Kalahari Orkes to Farryl Purkiss and Nibs van der Spuy.
"Honestly, the music was one of the favourite parts about the film," he says.
About encountering difficulties, he says: "Not really. I think mostly just my cameramen were starting to freak out because of some of the places we were filming at. They thought we were going to be killed."
About the future: "I want to come back and maybe set up another stand-up tour," he says.
"The thing I learnt, that many Americans don't realise, is that people there don't want their kids to be adopted, they just require money for education facilities and development."
This might be the most intelligent, or ridiculous, thing Shore has ever created.