Tom Green, Former Provocateur, Is Building Something New Tom Green, Former Provocateur, Is Building Something New

A Y2K-era phenomenon most famous for his MTV prank show and surreal brand of comedy, Green pioneered ideas that thrive today.

“We probably won’t fall through,” Tom Green said as he stepped out onto an expansive frozen lake that sits along his bucolic 150-acre farm in the hinterlands of Ontario, periodically stamping his foot to be sure. I followed his lead, bundled in a polar-rated Baffin snowsuit he’d wisely insisted I wear for this expedition.

A few decades ago, this easily could have been a setup. He was, after all, a guy who became superstar famous for audacious pranks that captured the bubbling, cheeky rebellion of Y2K-era youth. But that absurdity was kept at bay that frigid Tuesday in early January. Green, 53, is not quite the same troublemaker who crawled around on the street, interviewing unsuspecting passers-by with a “piece of poo on a microphone,” as he did in one of his most memorable bits.

He’s since moved on from those high jinks, even as similar content has proliferated across screens. Social media has made it so exceedingly easy for everyone to try to stand out from the pack, Green said. “To a certain extent, it’s lost its impact.”

Other antics from his greatest-hits reel that made him an unlikely face of MTV include the time he swam in public water fountains in full scuba gear, collecting change; painted his parents’ house plaid; airbrushed a pornographic scene on his father’s car; covertly hung a work of art in a gallery only to later deface it in front of bewildered visitors; suckled at the teat of a cow.

These days, suckling is out and nuzzling is in. “I love Fanny,” he said later, cozying up to a mule that is one of the many animals I saw him gently tending to as he found joy in the little details of farm life. The chickens, for instance, had been laying more eggs than he could keep up with so he’d been lining some up on a nearby fence for the crows to enjoy.