It’s Miller lite time in Las Vegas again.
 And it’s the pause that refreshes for anyone who has a thirst for a satisfying evening filled to the brim with the weird language, unique verbal style and the jokes and delivery one has come to expect from this top name comedian who has survived the taste test in the comedy marketplace over the last 25 years.
Dennis Miller’s cup runneth over with his self-written humor, which is designed to fulfill his stated desire is to make people “laugh their asses off.” In fact, while his TV gigs such as his 9-year stint on HBO and a year-and-a-half on CNBC, were more political humor, his stand-up act is more about getting laughs. It may even be easier now that he doesn’t have “Amnesia” anymore – although luckily, in this case, that was merely the name of an NBC-TV game show he hosted earlier this year that only lasted eight weeks before it was cancelled last month.
“My standup act is a killer,” says Miller, the veteran of eight one-hour solo HBO stand-up comedy specials who will be appearing at the Orleans May 16-18. “It’s all new. I turn out a new act once a year, which is more than most -- some comedians still start out with the McCarthy hearings. I’ll have chunks in there about current events but I probably won’t get into it until 35 or 40 minutes into my show, which is an hour and 10 minutes long.
“Jokes come to me during the day and I’ll tell them to the little tape recorder I carry around with me,” he continues. “I check the recorder once a week, usually finding about 40 or 50 funnies on there. Probably about 30 of them are so embarrassing that I think, why did I waste this digital space on them? I’ll prune down the 10 that are left and get them down to five really good ones. Then there has to be some sort of an overview of the act and where to drop the jokes in. After 25 years, I’m Pavlov’s dog – I know what will probably work and what people have come to expect from me.”
Yes, his stage act aside, Miler is a prime example of the fact that there IS life after television. A little over a year ago, the comic hit the airwaves again – this time on syndicated radio. His show on Westwood One, aptly named “Dennis Miller,” is currently on 161 stations across the country. Miller tapes it live three hours each morning and calls the show a potpourri in which he discusses “everything under the sun” -- from movies to pop culture, politics and events of the day -- has guests, and takes listeners’ phone calls, up to 30 calls a day.
“With HBO, it was simply a matter of I had been there nine years, was their longest running show next to their longest, longest running football show, and they wanted to do something new,” Miller explains. “We parted amicably. I got fired from CNBC. I guess that’s what happens when people don’t watch – it’s the law of the jungle. One of the dilemmas was that it was a comedy, variety, political show at night – on the stock market channel. Overall, I take the Jackson Pollack approach to life – throw it all against the wall and see what sticks.”
“I love stand-up but being a stand-up comedian is like being the Marlboro Man – you’re alone on the road,” he adds. “I like the repeating nature of community that I have with my radio show. I feel like I’m in Gertrude Stein’s anti-room. All in all, I have a pretty eclectic curriculum. I have an adventuresome side and I don’t mind trying new things. I call this period of my life 54 because that’s my age.”
Another factor in his attitude about life, having come up during what he calls “the golden era of comedy,” is that, early on, Miller met his peers such as Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno and Bill Maher. He notes that Leno’s work ethic is on his “hard drive,” telling him to quit whining, not take it all too seriously and to “work his ass off.” Wisdom tells him that it is what it is, no more or no less. While he says that he’s a little cranky, less as he gets older, he is grateful for what he’s been given, which is infinitely more than he ever expected. He feels that he has gotten the motherlode – a 25-year career -- which so few get.
“Like Lawrence Olivier said, ‘Memorize your lines and don’t bump into the furniture’” Miller maintains. “Still, you shouldn’t expect your career to be everything. Otherwise you’re missing the boat. I have a wife I’ve been married to for 20 years that I adore and two teenaged boys and I love to travel. I’ve been to Africa and I’ve seen the Himalayas and would like to see more of the world. I don’t feel the need in my career to plant a flag on the summit. I’m happy to get to Sixth Base Camp and boil water with the Schirpas”
In tandem with that, Miller believes in giving back and has become the National Spokesperson for USA Cares, a Kentucky-based nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to military families in need. Continuing into their sixth year of noteworthy accomplishments, USA Cares has received requests from over 10,000 Service Members and their families and has responded with millions of dollars in organizational and outside resources. In partnership with The Homeowners Preservation Foundation, USA Cares has also saved hundreds of military homes from foreclosure across the Nation.
“I am honored to help our servicemen and women,” Miller says. “They are our warriors and they deserve to be celebrated.”
Insofar as the future is concerned, Miller quips that the next thing he wants to try is Kabuki theater.
“I actually hope that this radio show is my last job,” he sums up. “I just want to sit on the porch and have the local kids pull my finger. I want my next job to be the crazy old man down the street on the porch.”
About the “head” on that Miller lite…….
| |
ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
|
|
|
It’s All In the Game
