U.S. Open (Golf) Fan Guide 2015

28
1 1 5 T H U . S . O P E N C H A M B E R S B A Y
‘I’m a stand-up comedian’
Friday, June 12, 2015 • Thenewstribune.com/Entertainment
One-time ‘SNL’ anchor
Dennis Miller a political
commentator, too; act
showcases his
observational humor
BY CRAIG SAILOR
Staff writer
Former “Saturday Night Live” performer
Dennis Miller has led a varied and distinctly
different career compared to many of the
show’s alumni.
Though the acerbic Miller resists being
called a conservative, he appears regularly
on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly
Factor” with Bill O’Reilly and has delivered
his opinions on his own radio and TV talk
shows.
Miller even spent a short time as a color
commentator on Monday Night Football.
Along with occasional stand-up
appearances with Kevin Nealon and Dana
Carvey, he also tours with O’Reilly on their
“Don’t Be a Pinhead!” tour.
The newspaper caught up with Miller
from his Santa Barbara, California, base.
Q: How do you describe yourself?
A: I’m a stand-up comedian.
Q: So, not a political commentator?
A: Yeah, sure. That too.
Q: Everything I read about you
describes you as conservative in the
liberal world of entertainment.
A: I think of myself as a pragmatist.
Q: On these tours with Dana and Kevin,
what’s the crowd like compared to the
PHIL KLEIN AP file, 2011
Dennis Miller says as he get older, he likes to travel more. His tour with Dana Carvey and Kevin
Nealon is occasional, and he also tours with Fox political commentator Bill O’Reilly.
audience at the Pinhead tour?
A: Don’t notice any difference.
Q: Are you in between radio shows at
the moment?
A: No, I’ve quit the radio. I’ve quit
practically everything except that I go out
with Dana and Kevin once in a while, and I
do Bill and we go out once in a while. As I
get older, I’d like to travel more.
Q: Out of all the comics you could be
working with, why Kevin and Dana?
A: We were on “Saturday Night Live”
together. We’re dear old friends.
Q: Many consider you the best
Weekend Update anchor of that show. Is
that a career highlight?
A: That’s a very priviliged seat that I was
lucky to have.
Q: In the show here in Tacoma, what
will you entertain audiences with?
A: I do mostly observational humor and
I do mix in one of the facets of life I
observe: politics — sort of the ludicrous
nature of modern life.
Q: What are your current rants?
A: I think I’ll share them on the stage
that night. One of the core topics is that the
country is tense right now and oddly
enough in its open-mindedness, very
close-minded. Eggshells are the new
Linoleum.
Q: Are you saying people are afraid to
speak out or that they get jumped on
when they do?
A: Times are pretty intense in this
country. I think a lot of people sort of lay in
the woods waiting for people to say things.
Q: Did you watch the Super Bowl?
A: The Super Bowl was the one game in
the playoffs I watched and I did enjoy it. I’m
weaning myself off football and returning to
baseball and hockey.
Q: Tom Brady and Deflategate — what’s
your take on that?
A: The overanalysis of the peripherals in
football is one of the reasons that I’ve quit
watching it — stopping plays and analyzing
them like the Warren Commission. I don’t
care what they inflate the balls at. I don’t
understand why this has turned into the
new Dreyfus affair. I would give (the ball) to
each quarterback and say, “Here, we have
an entertainment on Sunday. It’s hugely
popular. We’d like to make it better. What
do you like to throw the ball at?” And have
each person say, “Well, it feels good here.”
That would be OK with me.
Craig Sailor: 253-597-8541
craig.sailor@thenewstribune.com
@crsailor
CARVEY
From 26
Q: It’s disappointing that Church Lady
didn’t get a movie.
A: I think part of the reason Wayne and
Garth blew up is because they seemed real.
Q: How does your comedy style differ
from Kevin and Dennis?
A: I appreciate great writers. Kevin and
Dennis are brilliant with words. I’m going
for abstraction and doing stuff that makes
me laugh. I’ve got some new stuff that I’m
trying.
Q: Speaking of great writing, you had
some very talented but at the time
unknown comedy writers working with
you on “The Dana Carvey Show”: Steve
Carrell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Robert
Smigel, Charlie Kaufman. It seems like
your show was too talented to fail. What
happened?
A: I’m very proud of it. It was very well
intentioned and we were welcomed by ABC.
But then ABC was bought by Disney, and I
think the sensibility of the show escaped
them. The stuff we were doing was abstract.
But I think if we had the amount of venues
that we have now, it would have succeeded.
Q: You mean online, cable, etc.?
A: Yes. Show business is unrecognizable
to any human being compared to what it
once was. There are a lot of things I have in
development. Kevin and I are developing
Franz and Hans into an animated series.
(He briefly channels George Bush) There’s a
thousand points of light. There are
thousands of venues now. There are so
many shows I’ve never seen it’s
unbelievable. Have you seen the show
“Justified” on FX?
Q: I try to watch everything at least
once.
A: Well, I never did. But I had a guy
almost take a swing at me. I said, “OK, I’ll
binge watch it.” Give me a break.