July 31: Larry Miller

What an exciting weekend this will be, What's So Funny?-wise. It turns out it's also a holiday. Who knew? As it turns out, we have a very special episode of WSF? on Sunday (I always used to love to hate those "very special episodes" of sitcoms back in the day, but this is nothing like that.) The great Larry Miller will be our guest.

Larry Miller may not be a household name but he's one of the best stand-up comics of his generation. He was on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show about 25 times and I probably saw all of them. I used to watch Carson religiously and would pay extra special attention any time a comedian was on. And Miller was one of my favourites. Maybe you're a baby reader and weren't around then. Okay. Fair enough. If you don't know the name, you'll certainly be familiar with the face and voice – he's one of the top character actors around. His first biggish supporting role was in Pretty Woman but you've seen him in the Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind and Best in Show or such mainstream hits as Princess Diaries, The Nutty Professor and Bee Movie. On the tube he's been Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Legal and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Last Sunday night I heard Miller dropped in and did 15 minute sets at the Comedy MIX on Burrard both Friday and Saturday night. I was devastated that I didn't know about it since I'd never seen him live and was such a big and long-time fan. But a little birdie told me he'd also be dropping by on Tuesday and Wednesday. So I went down on Tuesday and finally got to see him. What a treat. And what a prince of a guy. I asked about recording a show with me and he couldn't have been nicer. He said he had time the next afternoon and he welcomed me to his hotel room where we chatted for about 70 minutes. If he didn't have to run and do a conference call, we could have talked for another hour, easy. So this show will run long (now that we have no show immediately following us). My levels, it turns out, were a little lower than his but that's okay because he did the bulk of the talking.

We touched on his appearances on Carson, his days starting out in New York with Jerry Seinfeld, his connection with other comics of any level, and he exhibited a refreshing perspective about life and show business that more people should adhere to. So mark this on your calendar. Chances are you don't have to work Monday morning so you can stay up. We get things started, as usual, at 11 pm on CFRO 102.7 FM, and you can livestream it here. Next Sunday, of course, it'll be available in podcast form.

And while you're at it, check out his blog/clog and his podcast, This Week with Larry Miller.