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The traumatic moment for a then 14-year-old Carrey, who was yanked from the stage of a Toronto Yuk Yuk's comedy club, is one of numerous riveting tales in a new biography, The Joker Is Wild (Viking, $32), by Canadian journalist Martin Knelman.
Carrey's childhood and early years as a comic are not only fascinating, but provide insight into the man behind The Mask, believes Knelman.
Carrey had anything but an idyllic childhood.
His family was poor, all of them working in a factory when the comedian was 15. Eight months of homelessness followed - the Carreys lived in a van.
At 16, he dropped out of Grade 10. The difficult upbringing contributed to Carrey's comic genius.
"I think you have to understand that childhood in detail before you can really understand where he's coming from. I think that kind of comedy he does comes out of a certain kind of desperation created by what he went through," Knelman said yesterday during a visit to Edmonton.
Like most celebrities, the actor didn't want to collaborate on the book, which was fine with Knelman, who knew it would likely result in loss of content control.
Besides, Carrey's earlier candid conversations with media - a sharp contrast to his current reluctance to talk about his personal life - provided ample information for Knelman, who also penned Laughing on the Outside: The Life of John Candy.
Knelman turned to Carrey's former managers who were spurned after they were no longer useful, a teacher, comics and friends from his past.
He also revisits past interviews by those involved with Carrey to portray different aspects of the actor, who was born in a hamlet outside of Toronto.
"It's a biographer's dream. There aren't any boring parts to the story," Knelman said.
Carrey employed a range of comedy approaches during his stand-up career, including his lauded impressions and a rambling free association.
You'll be happy to know after his humiliating Yuk-Yuk's bust, Carrey returned to the same stage a couple of years later and was a huge hit.
The years during which Carrey teetered on success, found it, became washed up as a young adult and then returned as a formidable comic force are detailed.
So are his struggles to deal with his family.
As a young adult, Carrey brought his parents to live with him in L.A. and then sent them back to Canada. His parents have since died.
A TV gig with In Living Color was a launch into stardom for a man who has proven his diverse acting ability.
Carrey, whose latest film, Man on the Moon, opens Dec. 22, has portrayed varied roles including a stalker in The Cable Guy, a timid and flamboyant wild man in The Mask and the wacky detective Ace Ventura.
He is our nation's biggest star.
"In terms of a widely popular, famous, big money movie star, yeah. There's nobody close," Knelman said.
Carrey's story is far from over, believes Knelman.
"There's going to be a lot more interesting chapters. I may have to do updates."