Weird Al is the great equalizer. Hipsters, hip-hoppers, metalheads — we all memorized the words to "Eat It" and lines from UHF. (Who could forget Conan the Librarian: "Don't you know the Dewey Decimal System?") And now we can sing along again with the master of pop parody when he brings his all-out Alpocalypse tour to Ruth Eckerd Hall on Thursday, Oct. 6.

The performance will include the Lady Gaga-inspired "Perform This Way" and the Miley Cyrus takeoff, "Party in the CIA," along with other favorites, such as the rapid-fire hilarity of "White and Nerdy" (performed from a Segway, just like in the video) and the requisite Top 40 accordion medley, "My Polka Face," which takes on Gaga, Justin Bieber, Ke$ha and Jamie Foxx.

"It's like a traveling circus," Weird Al said of his tour show during a phone interview with CL. "It's just not a rock band playing on stage. There'll be costume changes, film clips — it's a whole multimedia extravaganza."

The 51-year-old performer said that he plans to bust out some "deep cuts" that will please hardcore fans. Enthusiasts of the polka playa can also get a sneak peek of his live show during the hour-long special Weird Al Yankovic Live! The Alpocalypse Tour, premiering on Comedy Central this Saturday. The uncensored and uncut version hits DVD and Blu-ray on Oct. 4. And his new video for "Polka Face" is now available on comedycentral.com.

Alpocalypse is Weird Al's first album in five years. Mayan Calendar rumblings about the end times inspired the timing of the title though he had it in mind for some time. "If the world does end in 2012, I want to make as many CD sales as possible," he said.

With his tour and video, Weird Al is reminding us that he's as relevant as ever. He shrugs off a misunderstanding with Lady Gaga's management (which he detailed in his blog), emphasizing that Lady Gaga herself was totally cool with his send-up of her tune. He also mentioned her comment to Rolling Stone, in which she said getting the Weird Al treatment is a rite of passage.

Alfred Matthew Yankovic began his career as a teenager in Lynwood, Calif., sending homemade tapes of his songs to Dr. Demento, the nationally syndicated radio personality known for playing comedy and novelty music. A straight-A student and valedictorian at 16, Yankovic attended California Polytechnic State University, where he DJ'ed under the name "Weird Al" at the campus radio station because of his offbeat playlists. Demento, amused by Yankovic's accordion-driven ditties, gave him his first airplay.

Weird Al gained a modest cult following and released his first parodies, "My Bologna" (The Knack's "My Sharona") and "Another One Rides the Bus" (Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust).

He began to mock everything from new wave to gangsta rap. "Eat It" (based on Michael Jackson's "Beat It") won a Grammy and became an MTV smash. That and other tunes, some from from 1984's Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D and Dare to be Stupid — "Lost on Jeopardy" and "Like a Surgeon" — launched him to fame. Even Worse (1988) was Yankovic's platinum-selling follow-up, referencing Michael Jackson's Bad album. The video for the title single, "Fat," parodied the famous Martin Scorsese-directed clip, portraying Yankovic as a freakishly obese gangster. It won Weird Al his second Grammy. The next year, he starred in the feature film UHF, which he also co-wrote. Future parodies went on to render the badass wimpy ("Amish Paradise") and make the glamorous mundane ("Trapped in the Drive-Thru").

In his videos, Weird Al has rolled up in a fat suit, worn cornrows, danced like Madonna in a surgical gown and rocked a wide assortment of facial hair. His sight gags (cue to the "Smells Like Nirvana" janitor dunking a doughnut and eating it) are as winning as his pun-tastic plays on words.

He got his own band together in the early '80s and has been with the same musicians since. "I got really lucky early on," Weird Al said. "We all get along great. There is no friction. My drummer [Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz] and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary."

"Two of my band members, my bass player [Steve Jay] and my guitarist [Jim "Kimo" West], are from Tampa," shared Yankovic. "They met at Robiconti's. Is that still there?"

Weird Al talks fondly about his life as a dad and husband: "Missing my family is the worst part of being on tour."

He also maintains his reputation as a nice guy by requesting permission from artists before giving their tunes his signature makeovers — even though he doesn't have to — and is seldom turned down.

There are the spoil-sports, of course. Paul McCartney rejected Al's riff on "Live and Let Die" — "Chicken Pot Pie" — citing his vegetarianism. (Funny thing, Weird Al is a vegetarian, too.) Al also got another renig from James Blunt's recording company Atlantic after his parody of "You're Beautiful," which he changed to "You're Pitiful." (Um, too accurate?)

U2 (big surprise!) also said no from the get-go. Correction from Weird Al's management: "Al did receive U2's okay for a parody and subsequently recorded it — it was a parody of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" which Al re-titled "Cavity Search." It appeared on his 1996 album Bad Hair Day.

But the one stubborn holdout Weird Al keeps courting every three years is that royal fussypants Prince. Will Al never get to "Polka Like It's 1999"?

This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.