Comedian Offers ‘Cocktails’ At Theatre

By STEVEN J. FERRARI

Comedian Larry Miller

Larry Miller is no stranger to performing. In addition to his more than 100 movie and TV appearances, the comedian frequently travels the country doing a stand-up routine. This weekend, Miller comes to the Queens Theatre for “Cocktails With Larry Miller: Little League, Adultery & Other Bad Ideas,” a special performance that he says “brings together everything I love about show business.”

“I love acting. I love writing. I work steadily,” Miller said. “This is going to be different. This will be the thing that holds up the beam of my house for the rest of my life.”

Shifting away from a traditional stand-up comedy routine, Miller said he came up with the idea for “Cocktails” and brought the idea to Pat Hazell, a writer and producer who has worked on “Seinfeld” and the movie “Waiting…”. Hazell serves as the producer and director for “Cocktails,” which Miller has taken on tour for the last two years. The one-man show will feature more than a traditional comedy set.

“A good one-man show is as different from stand-up as a flute is from a trumpet,” Miller said.

The incorporation of music into the show, he said, came from someone outside of show business.

“My mother used to say, ‘Why don’t you bring music into your act.’ Now I have,” he said.

Miller said he plays piano during the show. It’s not the only instrument he’s played during previous incarnations of “Cocktails,” however.

“There were a couple of shows where I played a cello,” he said. “But it’s hard to bring it around with me.”

The use of different musical instruments is just one example of the adjustments to the show made regularly, Miller said. While the two performances on Feb. 4 – a matinee at 5 p.m. and an evening performance at 8 p.m. – will be “fundamentally the same,” the comedian said the show is different from his first performance two years ago.

Miller, who grew up in Valley Stream, said the show at the Queens Theatre would run about 90 minutes without an intermission.

“About 90 minutes feels good to me,” he said. “Some people can go three or four hours, but I think that’s too much.”

As he continues to do “Cocktails,” the show will continue to change, he said, because he writes every day and new ideas are always coming to him.

“Two years ago, it was different than it is now,” he said. “In another year, there might be a lot more music, there might be other changes, you just never know.”

Miller said he has other roles coming up – including the film “General Education,” which also stars comedian Janeane Garafalo – but he is very interested in continuing to tour with “Cocktails.”

“I hope to get other parts, I hope to win awards, but this show is the main gift I have,” he said. “I want everything else I do wrapped around it.”

Tickets to “Cocktails With Larry Miller,” 5 and 8 p.m. Feb. 4 at Queens Theatre, start at $44 and are available at www.queenstheatre.org. For information on Miller, visit www.larrymillerhumor.com.

Reach Managing Editor Steven J. Ferrari at sferrari@queenstribune.com or call (718) 357-7400, Ext. 122.