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Louie Anderson meets the media in the official announcement of “Louie LOL ;)” at Palace Station.
Published Thursday, July 29, 2010 | 12:23 a.m.
Updated Thursday, July 29, 2010 | 12:49 a.m.
Louie Anderson meets the media as he announces "Louie LOL ;)" at Palace Station.
Louie Anderson meets the press during the formal announcement of "Louie LOL ;)" at the Louie Anderson Theater at Palace Station.
Vintage Louie, 1987
For Louie Anderson, it’s a yet-to-be mined vein of comedic gold. It’s a way to connect on a human level with millions of his fans, and those who might be.
More important, it’s a means of adding years to his life and career; the most effective way to improve his health and enhance the quality of his life.
We speak, of course, of weight loss. Potential weight loss, in this instance. Anderson’s potential weight loss, specifically.
The veteran comic and new headliner at Palace Station is, simply, a large man. He is well-aware of his size and often jokes from the stage about his ample weight. On Wednesday afternoon, during a press event to announce his new “Louie Anderson LOL ;)” comedy showcase at the newly renamed Louie Anderson Theater, Anderson noted he was, “Hungry – hungry for food, and hungry for love.”
Even so, months ago, after his fourth-anniversary show at Excalibur, Anderson said he was embarking on a fitness and wellness regiment that would lead to weight loss and better health. “I’d like to get rid of this seventh-grade fat,” is how he put it. He’d already given up cigarettes. How hard could curbing his appetite be?
Really hard. No joke.
“I quit smoking and I’ve been swimming a lot,” he said after Wednesday’s appearance on the showroom stage. “But my eating has been, you know, really stressful. I’m honest about this. It’s difficult for me.”
The 57-year-old Anderson agrees that embracing some sort of formal diet program and showing results in a very public way would inspire millions of people who also struggle with their weight. One example of a Las Vegas entertainer who has “owned” this process is Marie Osmond, who signed on as a spokeswoman for Nutrisystem and frequently opens up about the challenges of losing 50 pounds.
Anderson, too, would make a powerful spokesman for such a program.
“I’ve been approached a few times by different (companies), I would consider it, although I’m really trying to approach it from a less-drastic, more realistic level,” he said. “I’m always going to be Louie Anderson, so do I always have to be on Nutrisystem? Can I be Louie Anderson withoutNutrisystem? Can I still be healthy? I don’t know the answer to that. That’s what I’m working on right now. Smoking is the hardest thing to quit, it is, but you can abstain (from nicotine) completely. You can’t do that with food.”
Anderson says he understands the benefits of health and diet programs, and added that he “shouldn’t use Nutrisystem as the only example’ of such a program.
“I could be talking about anybody, but I think the plan you need is for your life,” he said. “… What I would like to see from all those programs is the percentage of people who succeed.”
Anderson might one day be one of those people. Though he’s past this benchmark, he jokes that “50 isn’t a number, it’s a condition.” And to face that condition, it helps to … be in condition.
More from Louie’s appearance:
• Anderson invoked the name of the late, great Joe Delaney after his formal media session. Delaney, for decades the Sun’s lead entertainment critic, praised Anderson after an appearance at the Desert Inn (also late and great) on Nov. 21, 1981. The consequence of that review was swift – Anderson was signed on to open on tour for the Commodores, boosting his $1,500-per-week stipend to $5,000 per week. I know, somewhere, Joe D. is winking at that memory.
• Tickets to Anderson’s show are $49.95 (a $15-per-ticket discount is offered to hotel guests and those who have valid Nevada ID). They go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at the Palace Station Reward Center or at Station Casinos’ Fiestas hotels. Call 703-547-5300. The 250-seat theater is a joint venture between Anderson and Bonkerz Comedy Productions (owned by Joe Sanfelippo) and Palace Station.
• The show is for all-ages, but some of the comics Anderson name-checked as possible guest headliners are not for the kids: Andrew Dice Clay, for example. Others he mentioned as he recalled a recent party for Comedy Store founder Mitzi Shore’s 80th birthday were: Jim Carrey, Arsenio Hall, Roseanne and Bob Saget. If a comic who specializes in adult material – or who might offend someone in a way that Anderson doesn’t prefer – would he or she be asked to curtail his or her act?
“No,” Anderson said. “It wouldn’t be fair.” He said he might “rate” the shows by informing ticket-holders that the featured comic likes it blue.
“I think you have to tell people, up front, what the show is,” he said. “If they’re coming to see Roseanne, they need to know they might be hearing her say things that the TV Roseanne never said.”
• Anderson said he’d miss the people he worked with at Excalibur, including hotel president Felix Rappaport, and was kind to his former producer, Adam Steck. Anderson spent 4 ½ years as a headliner at the ExCal, but is closing his “Larger Than Life” stand-up show for the Palace Station project. “The hardest part is leaving the people I’d worked with for all that time,” said Anderson, who added that he felt his future at Excalibur was limited when the hotel brought in Kevin Burke’s “Defending the Caveman” comedy show.
Anderson shared the Exalibur showroom with the Australian adult revue, “Thunder From Down Under,” which was not exactly a symbiotic relationship.
“I think (Palace Station) is going to be a better fit for me,” he said. “I think (the Excalibur) will now able to put in a sexy show to go along with their other sexy show, because I know people don’t go, “I’m going to get tickets to ‘Thunder From Down Under,’ andI’m going to get Louie Anderson tickets.’It just doesn’t happen.”
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.
louie, you gotta get off the couch and stop with the sweets and sour cream. buy a pair of walking shoes and get it going. just because half of america is your size doesnt give you an excuse. lose one pound a week and pace yourself.
Louie has always been a big person and he is happy.
Let him live his life as he sees fit. ;-)
He may be happy, but he sure ain't funny. The guy hasn't been funny since his role in Coming to America.
Everyone I know who's met Louie Anderson has told me what a nice guy he is. I saw his Excalibur and it was very funny.
Congratulations on the new location Louie!
Imho as a simple tourist, Louie still got it, watching him remembered me of "The King of Comedy" movie with Robert DeNiro.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085794/
If Louie stuck to my banana-only diet for a week, I'd promise he'd lose ten pounds in a week just eating my fresh banana and drinking some water.
Yes, that's it: the new Banana_Joe's "banana-only" diet, ...always a bummer...:)
Regards
Banana_Joe
I take all my visiting friends to Louie and they always love him! He's still hilarious. Louie is relatable, genuinely nice, and knows how to entertain and be funny without being raunchy. Good luck with your new showroom, Louie!
Louie, Louie, Louie,
dipstick is half right when he recommends you get walking. I quit a 3-pack a day habit with Chantix in a 6 week period and it was.....quite easy. I refer to it as the 6 week acid trip that re-wired my brain. That was 931 days ago and I have walked everyday since. You are now finished with the coffin nails so now it's time to get walking. I know you've got the shoes to do it, just don't use the Converse. (too little arch support) In order for you to keep us laughing longer you will need to shed some lbs. Oh yea, since I've been walking, I have not only lost some weight but I have extended my life as well. You only need 75 minutes a day. Get a pair of Nikes and just do it.
Hey, folks, anyone saying anything against Louie here, will risk a broken nose. To me Louie is a real fun guy, much more than a great comedian, but the reincarnation of the beloved John Candy (R.I.P.), who will also never be forgotten. Louie is always invited to take part in the training lessons at my new martial arts training place.
@Banana_Joe:
What do you mean, Banana_Joe with 'your training place'? This is still my place, buddy. So why don't you keep selling your goddamn banana and stop to monkey around with my business? Of course, Mr. Anderson is always invited to MY training place for some free martial arts lessons or any other fitness training he desires.
Banana_Joe, are you kidding me, here?
I have never in my whole life heard about anything like a banana-only diet, so please stop selling that kind of bs to US, okay?
Why don't you go and sell a vegan diet to the customers, but not only a "diet" consisting of banana, did you get that?
Thank you, Chuck Norris.
@chuck-norris: language, please. thank you.
Hooray, Palace Station! I can't wait to see Louie!!
I would love to go to Las Vegas to see Louie Anderson.Seems like an amazing guy!