Riding the current

Friday, March 7, 2003 | 3:29 a.m.

David Brenner isn't afraid to take a chance.

The popular stand-up comic dared to perform at the Golden Nugget two years ago even as he said executives were about to turn its showroom into a buffet.

He was so confident of his success that he moved to Las Vegas.

After 9-11, when entertainers were canceling engagements left and right, Brenner went on the road and worked steadily every weekend.

Now he is at the Suncoast, where for the month of March he will work only on weeknights, another daring move for the man who once put his flourishing career on hold to fight a lengthy court battle to gain custody of his son.

Speaking by telephone from Houston, where he had a weekend gig, Brenner recently talked about why he is experimenting with performing in Las Vegas Mondays through Thursdays?

Las Vegas Sun: Why did you strike this deal with the Suncoast?

David Brenner: For one thing I'm worn out. I've performed every weekend since 9-11. I did three weekend gigs at the Suncoast and sold it out every show. It was great. I like the showroom, it's your showroom throwback -- not like with the folding chairs. It seats 450 or 480 people; the sound is great; the stage is just the right level. It reminds me of the Sands and the Desert Inn.

But it's often dark through the week, and I thought what a shame for such a great room. Something this beautiful, this great, this perfect shouldn't go to waste so I came up with this idea that I thought would work. Why not let me go in there and do Mondays through Thursdays.

Sun: Is this a long-term arrangement?

DB: Not yet. I want to try it out for a few weeks.

Sun: You've had your heart set on a showroom on the Strip. Are you going to be satisfied with being so far from there?

DB: Yes. If it works, and I'm hoping that it will -- I'm like 10 minutes from my house. I would love to turn this into a long-range deal, and maybe then I would just go out on the road one or two weekends a month instead of every weekend.

I could do it, say, for 40 or 44 weeks and when I'm not there I could bring in top-named comedians to work it. It could become a great show.

If I'm successful I would bring new people into the hotel, and make the showroom a very active place.

Sun: Even without the Suncoast deal, you seem to be extremely busy. Is stand-up comedy experiencing a resurgence after so many years of decline?

DB: I think there is, especially of clever comedy. There will always be a place for the urban comedian, the energized comedian who has no punch line but does a lot of screaming. Comedy, like dance, changes. Some of the comedians today scream and curse a lot and talk about taboo subjects. There is a lot of physical comedy, of hooping and hollering. That's always going to be here, it's a trend that will stay. But there are those comedians who are clever and make us laugh.

Sun: You are one of those comedians. Has your act changed at all in the last 30 years?

DB: My act is 90 minutes of totally current events. That doesn't mean all of it is the heavy, dark-clouded stuff. A lot of it is the light stuff. But my act changes according to the news. I'm great working with the audience. I don't ask anyone where they are from -- I don't care where they are from or what they do. I'm great at fielding questions. That's my forte.

I came up with that idea at the end of a Joan Rivers show when I performed with her. We would sit on stools the last 15 minutes and say "Let's talk." People call out questions and I banter with them. It adds a new element every night. The questions and the answers are always different.

Sun: What do you do when you aren't performing?

DB: I found time to write a book. I wrote most of it while I was on the road, and then on Jan. 2 I went to Aspen, Colo., where I had written my first two books, and finished it. I wrote 16 to 18 hours a day until it was finished. It will be coming out later this year.

Sun: What's it about?

DB: It's called "How to Survive Personal Problems and World Problems Through Laughter." It covers everything from the horror of working a job you hate to terror alerts, to possible war in Iraq to raising children.

Sun: We seem to be on the verge of war. How do you find humor in that?

DB: Just look at the news, the reports. President Bush is angry because Iraq has missiles that can go 700 miles, so we have to attack. Our country is in danger? Come on. Those missiles aren't skimmer rocks. They won't bounce off the water until they hit Rhode Island.

Iraq has no air force -- the planes can't get off the ground. They don't have a navy. Their army would have to march across foreign lands and across the ocean to attack us. How are they going to get here? Are they coming by Greyhound bus?

Then I read the thing where inspectors found 12 empty canisters. I feel sorry for the guy who forgot to clean up.

Sun: Why do you look for humor in such touchy topics?

DB: There is humor in everything, and finding it is like finding a safety valve. If you don't open it, you could explode. Pressure builds up and you can crack. You've got to find the laughter.