A busy life after ‘Raymond’

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

Who: Brad Garrett

When: 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and April 14-15

Where: Mirage's Danny Gans Theatre

Tickets: $66

Information: 791-7111

Since the final episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" ran a year ago in May, Brad Garrett has had little time to ponder life after Raymond.

The 6-foot-8 actor/comedian has appeared on Broadway as Murray the cop in a revision of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple."

On Monday he finished taping a pilot for Fox television.

Next Wednesday he begins filming a movie.

Friday and Saturday he performs his comedy act at the Mirage.

"I'm keeping busy," the entertainer with the familiar deep voice said during a telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles.

He will return to the Mirage April 14-15 for another engagement. April 14 is his 46th birthday.

Although he has been performing for about 25 years, the stand-up comedian became a national name when he joined the cast of "Raymond," the popular series starring Ray Romano that ran for nine seasons.

Garrett portrayed Romano's doofus older brother, Robert, a police officer living in his sibling's shadow.

After the finale, there was talk about Garrett getting a spinoff series and continuing on with Robert, in the mode of "Frasier" - a role actor Kelsey Grammer played for 20 years.

"But we just weren't able to get the creative elements together," Garrett said. "We weren't able to lock it down, and I had to decide if I wanted to play the same character I had been playing for several years."

The discussions never went anywhere, but Garrett did.

"I loved the Robert character," Garrett said. "But I want to play something very different - the polar opposite of who Robert was."

His first venture into another series since "Raymond" ended is " 'Til Death," a romantic comedy about two couples who live next door to each other - a pair of young newlyweds and an older couple who have been married for 20 years.

Joely Fisher will portray Garrett's wife in the series written by the husband and wife team of Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith (who created "The King of Queens," a long-running series on CBS).

"On Fox we can get away with a little more," Garrett said. "Pushing the envelope is always a little fun."

He was intrigued by the script when it was offered to him.

"I wasn't ready to jump back into TV, but I fell in love with it," Garrett said. "It's the closest I've come to playing myself, which I really have never done on TV."

He said he should know the fate of the series in about four weeks.

Meanwhile, he isn't waiting around for the answer as he prepares to begin shooting a film that co-stars Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant.

In "Music and Lyrics By," Garrett plays the manager of Grant, a '90s rock star who is looking for a new career.

"It's not easy fitting it all in, but in my business you've got to take it while you can," he said.

Because of his past successes, he says, he doesn't have to jump into everything that is offered.

"I only pick projects I'm passionate about," he said. "And it's all about the writing. After nine years on 'Raymond' I was spoiled by a great group of writers - I'm writer-oriented."

"The Odd Couple" is a good example.

"It was the first time I was on the legitimate stage," said Garrett, who hopes to return to Broadway someday. "The stage encompasses everything I love - the live audience, acting.

"It changes every night. It's never the same. There really is nothing like live theater. For an actor, it's the most 'in the moment' you can have - there is no second take, no trying it another way. You are live for 2 1/2 hours, and you live with it."

Stand-up comedy was his first love.

"I started when I was 13, performing at bar mitzvahs and things at school, roasting teachers at assemblies," said Garrett, who grew up in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. "That's how I got bit."

His stand-up act involves a lot of improvisation.

"I deal a lot with the audience," Garrett said. "The last part of the show is a Q&A with the audience, and some of the best, most fun stuff happens there."

He says he will always return to stand-up.

"I love going back to stand-up; it keeps everything real," he said.

"It's a humbling endeavor that keeps you on your toes."

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