Craig Ferguson visited the Houston Improv; the comic is currently traveling the U.S. with his show called “The Fancy Rascal Tour.” The Scottish-born actor started performing stand-up comedy in the 1980s.
“I do not want to mock Gerard Butler he is my friend of 30 years,” joked Ferguson. “He is sensitive. He is nothing like the tough guy roles he usually takes. He is a wimp!”
Getting to see a late-night legend perform was a treat. Ferguson was a prominent public figure since his stint on “The Drew Carey Show” lasting seven seasons. He rose to greater heights as host of the CBS network’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” which he was on from 2005 to 2014.
“The Fancy Rascals Tour” show was well paced and generous; though it felt like less time. Ferguson was onstage for over 90 minutes, a rarity in stand-up. Multiple topics were tackled, specifically sex, health, aging, and substance abuse.
“Aunt Betty, she raised me a bit,” Ferguson reminisced about his childhood.
“She was the first person to put the idea of a place called America in my head. She was a teenage girl when I was a baby.”
“Her favorite was Little Richard and she used to sing Tutti Frutti to me as a lullaby. Years later when Little Richard was on my late-night show, I was surprised he did not have a Scottish accent,” Ferguson continued.
Ferguson got his start in show business through stand-up comedy. Returning to his comedic roots, the star has been on a stand-up world tour. He did call back to the time he was a television host.
“I love Jeff, and people still say to me to this day, ‘Okay Craig, where’s Jeff?’ I always say the same thing: ‘He is with your mom,’” quipped Ferguson.
Jeff Peterson was a robot character who served as a co-host to Ferguson on “The Late Late Show” from an onstage lectern. Just the mere mention of Peterson drew jubilant cheers from the Improv crowd. The former talk show host also mentioned his history of alcoholism.
“I was what science is now calling the blackout drunk. [The science says,] ‘Hey, when you were drinking, how much did you drink?’ One of the major symptoms of blackouts is I do not know. If you remember how much you drink, you are probably not alcoholic.”
Ferguson has remained sober since the mid-90s.
“I know there will be at least half a dozen people out there looking for a loophole…[The scientists] said, ‘if you remember how much you drank, you are not an alcoholic.’ I remember three bottles of tequila!” Ferguson warned.
“Again, it is not hard to figure out if you are an alcoholic or not, a lot of the time you are drunk!” Ferguson also mentioned his struggles with COVID-19.
“The second time I got covid, I got a chalazion on my eye. It sounded adorable, like a leprechaun’s walking stick. In reality, it was swollen and infected-looking, like a baboon’s anus right on my face.”
Life after the talk show kept Ferguson in the public eye in the form of successful game shows, trading one hosting duty for another. As an “Outstanding Game Show Host,” he won two out of the three daytime Emmy nominations for “Celebrity Name Game” which lasted three seasons.
