Q+A: DENNIS MILLER

Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

Who: Dennis Miller.

When: 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday

Where: MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre

Tickets: $79; 891-7777

On the bus with Tom and Ronnie

Comedian Dennis Miller, always full of sardonic humor, loves taking pot-shots at the left wing of the American eagle.

He must be doing something right.

He's becoming a regular at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater, where he performs Thursday through Monday. The Saturday and Sunday shows were sold out more than a week before his arrival.

"This is my third five-day set at the MGM this year," the 52-year-old Miller said. "If they want to give me 20 sets a year, I'd do it. I love to work."

He also loves to vacation, as he revealed during a recent interview.

Q How did you spend your summer vacation?

It was a great summer, and it didn't involve work. My friend Tom Hanks and I took a baseball trip in a rented tour bus. We went to six different cities in six nights and saw six different games - 12 different teams. It was Tom's idea. He called me and said, "It's my 50th birthday and I've always wanted to do a baseball tour," and I said, "I'll meet you in Baltimore my friend." That's where we started - we hooked up; got on the bus with other friends (director) Ronnie Howard and his brother-in-law and a couple of other people.

It was really Americana. We felt like the Lewis & Clark of baseball. It was great. We ate every bad sandwich you can eat.

Tom got most of the attention wherever we went; you're like in his wake. People know me, but you quickly realize Tom has become our Jimmy Stewart. He's a much-beloved guy, and you know what? It's completely deserved. He's as solid as you think he is. He's one of the biggest stars in the world, and he doesn't act on it in any way, shape or form except to entertain people. He's nice, and unguarded in a lot of ways. He's good people and I think fans sense that about him.

We're thinking of doing it again next year. We had such a blast. We're thinking more of a Midwest one: St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and down to Dallas. This year it was just the East Coast.

What was your most exotic trip?

I went to Africa for two weeks on a safari, and I also spent 10 days in the Himalayas in the kingdom of Bhutan. I wanted to walk up the mountains to those monasteries hanging off the cliffs. I went to this one where I climbed up 10,000 feet and I saw these six little kids and this one teacher who was like the "Kung Fu" guy. He's laying the wisdom on them and I'm looking around at the kids, and I'm thinking this has to be a tough gig for a kid. Then this one 6-year-old kid looks up at me and he flashes a smile on me and he's got wax vampire teeth in, and I think, "You can take the kid to the end of the world, and he's still a kid."

And I saw a tip jar in the monastery. I thought, "Wow, commerce is an all-pervasive industry." This jar was stuffed with dollar bills. I felt like I was in a piano bar.

What's on America's mind?

Immigration and the war, but you aren't going to change anyone's mind about the war.

As far as immigration, I don't have anything against the Mexican people - just sign the guest book on the way in. You know, they've got better security at the Borders bookstore than at our actual borders. Seven cameras are on you as you look at a copy of Maxim, yet you can come across the border and nobody says a word.

If anybody tells you that fortifying a border is a racist endeavor they're full of (expletive deleted). Borders are there for a reason.

It's getting to the point where even if you find people who are here illegally, you can't send them back.

What's your next gig?

I've started doing commentaries again, once a week on Fox. I'll be their Lewis Black or Andy Rooney. I'll be on "Hannity & Colmes."