Brad Garrett finds new material in his audience

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 | 7:38 a.m.

When: 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: Mirage's Danny Gans Theatre

Rating (out of five stars): **** 1/2

First of all, erase from your mind the image of Robert Barone, the giant, dense son on "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Brad Garrett onstage is nothing like the character he portrayed in the long-running TV series.

He isn't slow-witted or morose or insecure, but an intelligent comedian who spends much of the evening heckling his fans.

Perhaps that's because at 6 feet 8 inches tall, he's probably too large for fans to heckle him.

One group that drew some of his zingers had flown in from Minneapolis on Champion Air.

"Champion? What's that?" he said.

A charter airline, he was told.

"Well, if you need a jump start when I'm flying out on United, just wave," Garrett said.

One of his favorite targets was one of the Minneapolis residents who dressed in shorts, prompting Garrett to wonder how much thought the man had put into dressing for the show.

He also found a fan who was marketing a new brand of vodka - Vegas Vodka.

"You're going to go broke," Garrett said.

Not all of his humor was politically correct. And not all of it came at the expense of fans. He had plenty of material, ranging from Las Vegas to national affairs.

About gambling in the casino: "Last night I made a killing - I shot a dealer."

About buffets: "Do you really need a waffle with a fajita? Can you just pick one country to eat at?"

On Middle Easterners complaining about racial profiling at U.S. airports: "Listen, Aladdin, it isn't racial profiling - it's called an educated guess. You guys are the ones blowing this (expletive) up."

Garrett's humor also was sometimes self-effacing, including jokes about his size.

The last portion of the show is a question and answer period, with sometimes hilarious results, followed by outtakes from "Everybody Loves Raymond." The outtakes alone are almost worth the price of admission.

Fans of his former TV series should take this opportunity to see the jolly giant in an entirely different light. You won't be disappointed.

As an added bonus, Kenny Rankin, whose singing career has spanned more than three decades, opens for Garrett.