Dennis Miller Speaks

Comedy legend Dennis Miller reflects on his eclectic career in showbiz

Dennis Miller is comfortable and grateful for where his career in comedy has taken him.

Once again, the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival will feature a healthy mix of comedy legends and newcomers ready to step into the spotlight. This year, one of the legends taking the stage is a comedian who has dabbled in everything from sketch comedy to sportscasting, with plenty of political commentary thrown in.

Dennis Miller broke onto the scene in 1985 when he took over the Weekend Update anchor position on Saturday Night Live. Miller went on to have his own half-hour HBO talk show, stepped in as a color commentator on Monday Night Football in 2000. Now, he appears regularly on Fox News, and his weekly radio program, The Dennis Miller Show. Before his Moontower appearance on Thursday, April 24, he spoke with CultureMap to discuss his lengthy career in showbiz.

CultureMap: How familiar are you with Austin?

Dennis Miller: I’ve come to SXSW three times, so I know it to that degree, and I’ve performed there once before. But, I mostly come to enjoy the music. I couldn’t tell you the exact names of the clubs, but I got to see Kings of Leon, and I saw Wiz Khalifa for the first time at a small place there at SXSW.

CM: And now you’re coming back to perform stand-up, which you don’t do as often. Will your material feature the usual amount of political commentary?

DM: I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a close-minded town or an open-minded town. Most college towns have gotten more close-minded, so if I find that I’ll talk about drive-thru windows, driving and flying — the comedy standards of “What’s with first class?” Sometimes people want to talk current affairs, but usually I’ll find out quickly what kind of crowd I’m dealing with.

CM: Well in terms of politics, Austin is famous for being greatly different from the rest of Texas, but how familiar are you with the rest of the Lone Star State?

DM: I was down recently to perform and I was down their in Dallas, the Big D, for the Final Four, so I dig Texas. It seems like Austin is the most liberal of the bastions there, because I remember being in Dallas and it seemed a little more conservative. But, I would at least hope that Austin hasn’t forgotten the Alamo — I know that’s in San Antonio — but I know that everybody in Texas rallies to speak their mind.

CM: Trying to get a read on a live audience is a major part of stand-up comedy, but how does it compare to your extensive work in front of a camera? Do you have any preferences?

DM: You know I’m kind of a pragmatist about show business. I’ve enjoyed working a lot of scenes. I’m now 60, and I think I’m lucky to be in it. I’ve been fired from jobs, I’ve had long runs in jobs. I don’t put heartbreak over celebration, because I think you’re a lucky person to be a stand-up comedian for 30-35 years. As far as which part of show business that pleases me the most is having a long run. It’s a nice gig. There are shit jobs in the world and this ain’t one of them.

CM: You’ve also had experience moving to online commentary, with your radio show available on air and comments available via social media. How does that experience compare?

DM: I think that the main thing about Twitter is that you can see how fractious things are out there now. I find that many of the people that follow you now are mostly the people that dislike you, which is kind of an interesting schadenfreude-laden concept. It’s people who really like you or don’t like you at all who follow you the most closely. I find that intriguing.

And I used to think of show business as just the people who follow you because they like you, and I think that’s what was the paradigm for show business over the years. But, now I see that your most consistent listeners and followers are people who dislike you, which is an interesting revelation.

CM: With your radio show, do you miss being in front of a camera? That was a large part of your career.

DM: Nah, I’m fine. I like where I’m at. I do the radio show out of my house. I get to go out every now and then to perform on the road. I’m 60 years old now, which you compare to Stephen Colbert who’s 49, which I think is the perfect age to step in to his new role [as host of Late Show]. But, I’m happy where I’m at.

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Dennis Miller performs Thursday, April 24 at the Paramount Theatre for the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival. His radio show is available to listeners online.

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Movie Review

English pop star goes wild in unconventional musical biopic Better Man

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Jonno Davies in Better Man.

English pop star Robbie Williams has been massive in his native United Kingdom for over 30 years, first as a member of the boy band Take That, and then as a solo artist, with all but one of his 12 solo albums hitting No. 1 in the U.K. But somehow he’s never had a significant impact in the United States, which may mean that the new film about his life, Better Man, will be overlooked here as well.

But whether you know Williams or not, the film from writer/director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) is an audacious, highly entertaining treat that throws the standard music biopic on its head. The most daring part of it is that Williams is portrayed not by a series of actors, but in CGI ape form, not unlike the recent Planet of the Apes series. Williams, who does voiceover work for much of the film, says in the fourth-wall breaking movie that he asked for the look because he's felt like a dancing monkey for much of his public-facing life.

And so the film follows Williams from a young age as he grows up with his mother (Kate Mulvany) and grandmother (Alison Steadman) while still idolizing his deadbeat entertainer father (Steve Pemberton). Taking inspiration from his dad, he pursues a singing career with all his heart, joining Take That at the tender age of 16. But like has happened to so many others, the overwhelming fame and his brash personality lead him down some dark roads, especially drugs.

Gracey, with co-writers Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole, hits a lot of the beats present in many music biopics: Early success, trouble adapting to fame, heavy drug use, pain stemming from childhood, and more. And while the story is familiar, the way it’s presented is not, as the usage of the ape visual allows the film to go in many wild directions. Instead of the movie occasionally tipping its hat to Williams’ music, it turns into a full-on musical on several occasions in sequences that are both thrilling and informative for those who are unfamiliar with his work.

Williams is heavily involved in the film, and yet unlike other artists who want to micromanage their reputations, he lets all of his warts show. It’s clear from the start that he is an in-your-face kind of person, and so even though the film often shows him at his worst, he owns up to every bit of his story. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t on his side; he’s mostly portrayed as a cocky showman who’s still likable even when he shouldn’t be.

It’s funny how quickly the ape gimmick goes from “WTF?!” to normal, which is a testament to the motion capture technology team that brought it to life. Thanks to a great physical performance by stand-in Jonno Davies and digital trickery that puts Williams’ eyes on the ape’s face, his interactions with the other characters in the film never feel out of place. If anything, it adds an extra layer of joy onto a story that needs it at times.

Aside from his voiceovers, how much of Williams is “in” the film is unclear, but his irrepressible energy is felt throughout. Pemberton, Mulvany, and Steadman are all fantastic in demonstrating the Williams’ family dynamic. The large cast is full of people who are not familiar to American movie audiences, but they do a uniformly great job of supporting the story.

Williams may not be well-known in the United States, but movie lovers should not let that deter them from seeing this unique take on a music biopic. In fact, it probably helps if you have no distinct concept of the singer, as it allows his wild life story to be told without any preconceived expectations.

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Better Man opens in theaters on January 10.

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Dennis Miller Speaks

Comedy legend Dennis Miller reflects on his eclectic career in showbiz

Movie Review

English pop star goes wild in unconventional musical biopic Better Man

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