Craig Ferguson heads back to Bass Hall

Sometimes you wish words could talk, because hearing Craig Ferguson talk about Texas -- and Fort Worth, where he'll return Sunday for his first Bass Hall show in three years -- loses a little something in print. You can't hear the lilt of his Scottish accent, which somehow renders his humor sharper and gentler all at once. (Check out our audio clip from this interview, at left.)

For evidence, just go to YouTube and search for "Craig Ferguson Texas." This will bring up several videos from CBS' The Late Late Show in which Ferguson makes comedic observations about the Lone Star State. They are funny enough on the surface but somehow made even more hilarious by his accent and his semi-improvised style, which includes leaning into the camera and fielding an occasional quip from Geoff Pederson, his robot sidekick. Most notable is a clip from March 2 of this year, Texas Independence Day, in which Ferguson devotes more than half his Late Late Show monologue to riffs on Texas culture, including how you can't mention Dallas or Fort Worth without mentioning both cities, or the one that is left out will get mad.

"I'm very clear on that," Ferguson says in a phone interview. "I made that mistake once. But I think that if I was from Texas, from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I'd probably be from Fort Worth. I'm that type of guy."

And he has reasons for looking forward to a return visit.

"Bass Hall, for one, is a fantastic venue," he says. "It's really very beautiful inside, a beautiful place to play. As I recall, there was a pretty fantastic barbecue joint [Riscky's] nearby that I really enjoyed. Also, [Fort Worth is] the first place I went to, pretty much in America, I think, where I saw people wearing cowboy hats riding horses in the street."

Staying spontaneous

Not that barbecue and cowboy culture are Ferguson's only impressions of Texas -- as is clear from that March 2 monologue, he is aware that there is more to the state than its stereotypes. And not that Ferguson is Texas-obsessed. He has a fondness for -- and strong knowledge of -- all of America. He was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in February 2008, not long after that last Bass Hall show.

"I was fascinated with America when I was a kid, so I kind of studied a little bit about it then," says Ferguson, who turns 49 in May.

"And changing your citizenship is a helluva thing, so you probably want to kick the tires a little bit and see what you're getting into," continues the comedian, who grew up in Scotland but has spent more than 15 years living in Los Angeles. "And then I guess it's just interestin'. I'm kind of a history nut, so I like that kind of stuff. I don't really get into stuff that's not enjoyable for me. I guess I'm kind of a hedonist in that regard."

Ferguson says that he may include Texas humor in Sunday's show, but only because he tends to make references about where he is playing. He adds that he doesn't have a script nailed down, and if you've seen his Late Late Show monologues -- which differ from the series of one-liners most late-night hosts use in their acts -- you know that he is a little more free-form. Not all ad-libbed, necessarily, but looser. His stand-up show is similar.

"I kind of know the shape of what I'm going to talk about, and I set out to do a show which was completely clean," says Ferguson, whose stage act isn't always as TV-friendly as The Late Late Show -- and even that show gets its share of bleeps. "But I seem to have gone completely in the opposite direction. It's a pretty dirty show. [Laughs]."

No late-night drama

Late-night TV has seen its share of drama in the past couple of years, first with a writers strike and then with the whole Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien mess on NBC. Ferguson has occasionally weighed in to, say, give friendly support to competition such as NBC's Jimmy Fallon (whose Late Night airs directly opposite The Late Late Show), but mostly, he has stayed above the fray.

"I'm not a late-night talk-show host," Ferguson says, "and [The Late Late Show] is not a late-night talk show. You know, it is by definition, because people come on and talk, and it's broadcast at that time of night, but ... I don't see myself as one of those guys. I'm not. I had a life before the show, and I'll have a life after it. It's something I'm doing right now, but I don't define myself by it. I wouldn't put on a job-application form, 'late-night talk show host.'"

In January, Ferguson's wife, Megan, gave birth to Liam, Ferguson's second son (his first son, Milo, is from a previous marriage). Ferguson says don't worry, though -- despite the appearance of a busy schedule that balances a weeknight show with a stand-up tour, he has plenty of time to be a dad, thanks to his spontaneous approach with his monologues and his guests. He says his schedule is tight sometimes -- but not all the time.

"I don't spend a lot of time preparing that show," he says with a chuckle, adding, "I don't know if you can tell. I don't fill my whole day looking over jokes and poring over celebrities. I came in here a half-hour ago, and I do the show in an hour. I did work on the show very hard in the beginning, but once it got where I wanted it to be and I felt comfortable with it -- I think you can overproduce these things. And I feel like most of them are overproduced.

"So I feel like I have time, and I make time, for my family."

Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872