Tim Allen taking his return to stand-up comedy seriously

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Tim Allen and The Walt Disney Company have a lot to thank each other for. But Girls Scouts on the front row?

Maybe not one of them.

Explaining Allen’s recent return to stand-up comedy — including his bid for a major presence in Las Vegas — must include the story of why he gave it up in the first place.

After the second season of "Home Improvement" locked the sitcom as one of the biggest of the ’90s, the comedian-turned-actor says it was harder to make time for his original career.

"And to be totally honest, I had a little difficulty with the material choices," he adds. "Home Improvement" was based on Allen’s manly brand of stand-up, but it was sanded down for prime time.

Suddenly he was a TV dad, and "those two worlds collided," he says. "I started having complaints from wonderful families who didn’t have any idea."

"I did a big concert right after that second year, and the whole front row was Girl Scouts." He had planned to swear from the very first joke but realized, "Good Lord, I can’t say this. It, like, tripped me up. The rhythm was off.

"I don’t think kids should come to my show, because it’s not appropriate. But if they’re there, I’m not gonna talk about my balls."

Even though the "Toy Story" and "Santa Clause" franchises followed, children haven’t been as much of an issue since Allen edged back into stand-up this year. Now 57, Allen says he is "like that weird uncle who shows kids how to do arm farts."

Parents still may not want kids to hear Buzz Lightyear cuss. "I’m not as raunchy, but it’s close. If you’re bringing an 8-year-old to a comedy show, you gotta be mindful I’m gonna drop the F-bomb. But generally, where I’ve been lately, there’s no kids."

Las Vegas hasn’t seen Allen since a Caesars Palace run in 1993. But today’s show at The Mirage is "something I’m not taking lightly."

"My show will develop into something," he promises, teasing that "my endgame is a little more of a surprise." He cites Martin Short’s Broadway vehicle "Fame Becomes Me" as one precedent for adding production value to stand-up. Today’s set includes "some visual stuff, a little bit, just as an indication of where I’m going."

Allen is a ramblin’ man on the phone, talking in long stretches like a jazz saxophonist on a riff. He explains his return to the live stage first by explaining the independent movie he directed last year, "Crazy on the Outside."

The extended life of a small movie is "very long-range, and you want to own the negative. And if you want to own the negative, you’ve got to do it outside the studio system." And if you want to do it yourself, you have to "go guerrilla."

So he ended up doing eight concerts for Target, which in turn had an exclusive retail window for the DVD.

Allen says those shows made him realize he missed getting laughs from an audience larger than a movie crew (though he loves that challenge, too: "Every day it’s the same crew, but new jokes.")

"I forgot I had that skill. It’s like you’re training people at a racetrack and realize you still know how to drive a race car really good.

"I want to go in and be live again and resurrect that feeling again. It’s kind of a selfish thing, I guess."

And he is more relaxed now. "The money isn’t the primary reason. And if it isn’t the primary reason, it’s for the love of it, and it mitigates the fear and anxiety the stage causes in me. I still get stage fright, and it’s uncomfortable."

In his club days, Allen opened Rodney’s Place at the Tropicana in 1989. (The Rodney Dangerfield-branded room is now run by his ’80s contemporary Brad Garrett.)

"The stand-up I’ve been doing for the last year now is not where I was (then)," Allen says. "That I sold to ABC and that became ‘Home Improvement.’ It seems like I’m doing oldies but goodies when I start doing a little of the old material."

But he is quick to add, "I’m a pragmatist also. … Some older crowds want Tim the Tool Man to appear. I’m an agreeable guy, so I still do some stuff about Sears and tools, because it’s a part of my life. I’m a car guy, and I love that men can be handy."

Allen says he and Vegas share a common philosophy along those crowd-pleasing lines. "Vegas is very practical. You sell tickets, and they’ll do whatever you want."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.