Mark McGrath is the lead singer for Sugar Ray, a band that soared to enormous heights during the mid 1990s to early 2000s. The group has slowed down in recent years, but McGrath is still enjoying a high profile thanks to television gigs.
McGrath has become a co-anchor for Extra, appearing most recently last month. He also did a season of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2011 and even did Hollywood Squares back in 2000. More recently though, McGrath appeared on The Office and was just on ABC’s The Neighbors.
Right now, McGrath hosts the popular game show Killer Karaoke, in which competitors have to sing a song while trying to complete dangerous challenges. It starts on TruTV on Feb. 20.
TheCelebrityCafe.com spoke to Mark on Thursday, just hours after it was announced that he'll be starring in Sharknado 2: The Second One.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: I watched the Killer Kareoke episode and it was funny!
Mark McGrath: Did you have fun?
TCC: Oh yeah. It was very different from any other game show I’ve seen.
Mark: That’s for sure. You know, when I first signed on Killer Karaoke... performing, singing, having horrible things done to people...I’ll sign up for that! I kind of went through that a lot in the ‘90s. I’m very familiar with those kind of activities. But I didn’t realize how funny it was going to be.
I was blowing takes left and right because of I was laughing about something I just saw. So, I was wasting takes and the producers are getting mad at me. But it was some of the funniest, guy-busting, like crying laughter I’d ever gone through. I wasn’t actually expecting that as a host. I’d seen the first season and there’s a lot of “Oh my god!” moments, but man, it’s the laughter in Killer Karaoke that I wasn’t counting on. It’s one of the funniest shows on TV without a doubt.
TCC: what’s your favorite game on the show? I liked the Party in Your Pants one.
Mark: Yeah, Party in Your Pants is fun and making up the names of the challenges was just as fun as the challenges, to tell you the truth.
But my favorites - it’s one of the classics, it was there last year - is Leader of the Pack, when they literally let a set of three snarling dogs loose on the contestant, who’s wearing a protective suit, mind you. But these dogs are so powerful. They’re pit bulls and German Shepherds and they’re trained...they’re trained to kill! I hate to say it, but of course the contestants are wearing a protective suit. And to see the power and veracity of these animals as they’re trying to take the contestants down as they’re singing some lovely little melody and try to finish the challenge. That one always gets me. That one puts the fear in me. I can’t believe these guys are doing this because it’s something that I would never do in a million years. And they have to sing, and they have to perform in front of a national audience and they have to remember the lyrics.
The gameplay has been so increased this year. There’s a technical score that people have to pay attention to. There’s a lyrics element to your score. There’s an audience participation score. So, there’s so many things going on, on top of the fact that you’re going to going through one of the most horrible challenges of your life. The gameplay’s been increased to the next level. I think it’s definitely evident in this season.
TCC: As I was watching it and seeing the audience have to vote, I was thinking it would be interesting if this was done live. So do you think there would ever be a point where the show could be done live and having people vote online?
Mark: Boy, that’s such a great idea and I would love to see it, too. Obviously, keep your fingers crossed. I want to do 10 to 20 seasons of Killer Karaoke and as it gets bigger and stronger and more dollars become available at the network, and maybe up the production level... There’s a lot of moving parts in doing a live show, and what makes Killer Karaoke so great are the challenges and it takes awhile to set up the challenges.
Shooting Killer Karaoke in real time would be a Herculean effort on behalf of the crew and the studio and the producers and the contestants. But it could be done. You need to start tapping in the American Idol and The Voice market money and when that happens... But we’re not there yet, Dan, but I got a good feeling about this season and people’s reactions to the first episode. So I think live would be the ultimate way to view and perform Killer Karaoke. We’ll see and keep our fingers crossed.
Interactive Killer Karaoke in a live format with the audience at home participating with an immediate vote count...that would be my dream come true. People are doing like karaoke across America every day and night. Let’s put it on TV. Great idea, Dan.
TCC: Have you ever been impressed by any of the contestants?
Mark: Absolutely. Another thing going into this...you know, Killer Karaoke, people are going to go out and they’re going to sing badly. ... What I think of karaoke, I think of bad performances, I do, but these people here were really good singers. The way the producers vetted out the contestants, there’s not bad singers. Honestly, 90 percent of these singers could sing better than I could and I’ve made a professional career out of singing. So, that tells you the talent level of these contestants.
A lot of them are trying to be musicians or performers or they’re out there slugging it out in Hollywood. So, they figure let’s go on Killer Karaoke and it’s not a bad way to pick up $10,000 for my talent. Little do they know they’re dealing with crocodiles, sharks, all kinds of horrible disgusting elements. We’re not going to try to giveaway $10,000. But no, these people are very, very good performers and singers. That was something I took away too and was surprised at.
TCC: Is there any challenge that you’ve seen the contestants do where you’re just like “I can’t believe that these people are doing it”?
Mark: Yeah... This is almost a cop-out to say this as the host, but every challenge. Some of the things these people have had to step in... Or they’re putting their hands in a box and you know some live thing is in there! ... A lot of it is messing with people’s minds. In one box, you’ll reach in and touch a porcupine and in the next box, you’ll touch a stuffed animal. But you just touched a porcupine, so you don’t know what the hell is in that stuffed animal is and you get a reaction like the person just touched a snake. It’s what makes Killer Karaoke so funny. There’s a lot of false impressions going on and that really taps into the fear factor without necessarily making it real.
So, Leader of the Pack, with the vicious dogs... the handlers are bringing the dogs out and they’re snarling at the mouth and I’m looking at this poor contestant who's about to sing a Marvin Gaye or Katy Perry song and they have no idea what they’re getting into. I know what’s coming and my hat’s off to these contestants. Once you start a challenge... and people get things dumped on them, they go through all these physical demands and you’ve got to stay in your costume or whatever’s dumped on you for the rest of the game! You’re really laying your heart on the line out there. I’m impressed if people can get through the finale. Those two contestants have been through hell and they deserve to be there. I’m impressed with every challenge. Every day I show up and I can’t believe these people are doing this! I think that’s what the viewer is going to get at home with this.
TCC: Like I couldn’t believe that this woman put her bare feet in a pit where there were snakes!
Mark: I would never do that in a million years! Someone got cigarette butts... The producers around got all these disgusting cigarette butts and everything that was in these ashtrays and put them in a bag and put it in one of these containers for a challenge. The contestant pulled that and dumped all the cigarette crap on them! They smelled so bad for the rest of the show. I couldn’t believe we were doing this! It was harmless, but so disgusting! Every challenge has an element like that. That’s why it’s Killer Karaoke and not just a fun little night with your friends karaoke, it’s Killer Karaoke.
TCC: As a lead singer of a band and now transitioning to being a TV personality, you’re always interacting with an audience. Did you find that being a lead singer made that transition easier?
Mark: Without a doubt. Performing in front of people and learning how to sort of controlling an audience has been instrumental in the transition. There are a lot of differences between in hosting and performing. In live [shows], you’re making a lot of grand gestures to get to the last person in the last row of the arena. In hosting, it’s a lot more subtle. There’s less gesticulations and there’s less movements. And as you can tell on the phone, I’m kind of a spaz. So, it’s hard for me to contain myself. A show like Killer Karaoke is great because it’s a free for all. I’m getting dirty and the contestant’s getting dirty. It really let’s me tap into my performance roots.
When you’re hosting something like Extra, it’s a little different animal. All the training I got at Extra and I was there for four years, five days a week and it’s a new show every day. That really helped me get comfortable in front of the cameras. It let me host Don’t Forget The Lyrics and I started to do a little bit of acting and things like that. So, all the hosting opportunities I’ve had have really given me a comfort level as a host. I’m still learning and game shows are different, they’re sort of improvisational. You are the gatekeeper, you have to be the one who has to make the transitions from introducing people to interviews to the gameplay.
That’s something that I’ve learned and hopefully I’m getting better at. These are skills that could hopefully take with me for the rest of my life. Hollywood and in general, life has been very good to me. There’s been a lot of divine intervention in my career and I’m blessed to host a show like Killer Karaoke.
TCC: You’ve recently appeared on The Neighbors and you’re on The Office recently. So when you get these guest spots, are you approached to do them or do you say to their producer you’d like to get an opportunity to be on their show and you just take it?
Mark: I’m approached. I’ve never really reached out to anybody because, my acting skills, let’s face it, I’m working on them! For every transition from Marky Mark to Mark Wahlberg, there’s a Vanilla Ice transition to the littered highway of failed actors. Everyone in music wants to become an actor and vice versa, but they’re two different things. So, I’ve always been very respectful of the acting craft, not to get all James Lipton on you, but I’ve been fortunate enough to get the opportunities. But a lot of them have been walk-on parts. I’ve played myself or I’ve been a member of a band, which I did recently on The Neighbors.
But my most recent acting gig, which I got this week is filming Sharknado 2 of all things, filming in New York.
TCC: I was just going to ask you about that!
Mark: That came out of nowhere! I don’t know if you need to be Marlon Brando to be in Sharknado. So, I literally got the gig on a Monday and they called me and I said I would love to. I’m a big fan of the first movie and the B-movies. I like movies that don’t take themselves so seriously. Sharknado 2... what better movie? It’s part of a cultural phenomenon, just like Killer Karaoke. They go hand-in-hand. I think I’m becoming the purveyor of horror... that’s my new title.
TCC: In Sharknado 2, are you hoping to get a chainsaw? That was one of the best parts of the first one!
Mark: I can’t give away too much, but I will say that I’m Finn’s (Ian Ziering) brother-in-law. [The main characters] are coming to New York to visit and I’m married to his sister and we have a little bit of a cantankerous relationship. We’ll see if I survive or not! Fingers crossed!
TCC: You have to make it to Sharknado 3.
Mark: The Sharknado is coming to Europe! You’re next! [laughs]
TCC: Is anything coming from Sugar Ray anytime soon?
Mark: We just made announcement today for the Under the Sun tour that I put together every summer. A bunch of ‘90s bands, who sold millions of records, get together and play short sets. All the hits in one night and it’s fun if you’re a fan of music from that era. Last year, we had Gin Blossoms, Smash Mouth, Vertical Horizon, Fastball and ourselves. This year we might have the strongest line up we’ve ever had! It’ll be Blues Traveler, Uncle Cracker, Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth.
It’s fun, we all play the hits and we’re all friends. It’s like a summer camp and we’ll go out to the beautiful amphitheaters of America for the summer. That will be what’s up next for Sugar Ray this summer!
TCC: When you do these tours with other bands, is it a lot easier than doing a solo tour with just Sugar Ray?
Mark: Yeah. I love playing the hits. I’m not someone whose contemptuous about their old hits. I’m honored to have at least one song that people still want to hear. We happen to have a couple of them, which we’re very fortunate. So when we go out, there’s power in numbers. It’s like Sugar Ray could never even buy a ticket to a theater, never mind play it, without these bands.... There’s strength in numbers and you forget how many hits these bands had. Getting them all together for one night.. it’s an incredible evening. I’m not pushing a new product down anyone’s faces. If you do not like No. 1 songs from the ‘90s, please don’t come to Under The Sun! [The audiences] want to be there and it provides for a great night!
image courtesy of TruTV