Las Vegas Weekly

August 12, 2010 · 6:58 PM

Tim Allen’s road to The Mirage debut paved with obstacles and success

By Robin Leach

Tim Allen is the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films.

Photo: Disney/Pixar

For the past 15 years, Tim Allen has been known as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story blockbusters. His clean-cut image won him many fans in the Santa Clause films, and his hit TV comedy Home Improvement ran on ABC from 1991-99.

Tim heads into Las Vegas from his home in Los Angeles for a one-night solo standup at The Mirage tomorrow, but the actor and comedian is hoping it will lead to his own show on The Strip.

He was surprised to learn when I talked with him that he’s going up against Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour and that they are both headlining on the same night at rival MGM Resorts properties. He has a plan, but first he doesn’t want people to come see him expecting a family-friendly show like his movies and TV series.

During our interview, he also candidly admitted that parts of his early personal life were a mess with a drug and drunken-riving record, plus a busted marriage. He admits that a lot of his early troubles stemmed from the tragic death of his father when a drunk driver crashed into him.

He told me candidly that he’d basically reached rock bottom when one of his friends dared him to take part in a Detroit comedy club tryout. That not only changed his life back in 1975 but also started his career as a top comedy star.

Robin Leach: First obvious question is Home Improvement, which is of course the link almost everyone has when they hear your name. Or Santa Clause. Do they figure into what you are doing on this national solo standup tour?

Tim Allen: None of that figures in … I did a show … a year ago … I said, “A lot of you paid money to see me, and how many of you remember that I toured in arenas at one point?” And I would get about a little over half would know I was a comedian, and I would ask what on Earth did the other part of the room come here to see. What did you think you were going to pay money to see? Me dressed up like Santa Clause or talk like Buzz Lightyear.

They like the persona, or whatever work I have done. It hit somewhere in them, and that’s how long it has been since I did a big concert tour. And part of me said it is permissible to resurrect that because it took years of my early life. … I did a few big concerts for charity … and I liked it and went back to the clubs again for the last 18 months and developed as much as I could without doing all oldies.

Photo: ABC

ABC's Home Improvement.

I am not Santa Clause, and I do stories about being Santa Clause, and I do a few stories about being Buzz Lightyear, but it’s really where I came from, which is more of a Lenny Bruce. He was my mentor and guide when I was a kid. I loved Lenny Bruce and then Richard Pryor -- certainly not a family-oriented comedian. I do drop the F bomb now and then, and I do talk about sex a little bit, but I am not here to shock people.

It is certainly a dichotomy. I am a conflicted guy in that way. I am a family-oriented guy and actor because I have done family films, and I am good at it because I know what is appropriate for children. Because in my comedy, it’s all inappropriate for children. I know exactly what kids shouldn’t see, which is pretty much me.

RL: So do you vamp it up for Las Vegas since this is your first year ever or in ages?

TA: No, I used to do Caesars Palace and Tropicana for a while. I did big concerts for Caesars, and, no, I don’t really change it too much because this is really Middle America. Although you can never tell with Las Vegas. If I attract locals, then it is very much like Los Angeles or New York. You get the locals and the people that are not really casino guests. If you get casino guests, then you know it’s a very different show.

It’s a matter of adapting to your audience, so I am not sure what it is going to be at The Mirage. We came in about six months ago, and I looked at a lot of venues because the idea for me is to get off the road. I have a newborn and a 20-year-old and a family here in Los Angeles. I have always thought how cool it would be to do a show on Broadway. I love Broadway, I love big shows, I am a producer and a director, and I love lighting. … I love Jersey Boys. I love Broadway and how it transitions into Las Vegas, and it’s a very different feel. It suits me, and it is also close to me.

So the idea would be if The Mirage likes me and I like The Mirage and I like Las Vegas, maybe I can design a show. … I am an artist from way back, and I love lighting, the staging. I love big finishes. … Martin Short did a one-man show on Broadway. He sings and dances, and I do none of those things. Can I do those, I don’t know. Would I stretch myself just for fun? You bet I would.

RL: Well, you could do anything in Vegas.

TA: You can do anything in Vegas, and that’s why I like it. I have to see how it fits for all of us.

RL: So is it safe to say this is a test run for both you and The Mirage? And we might see a lot of you?

Photo: Courtesy

Tim Allen in Santa Clause 3.

TA: Yeah, I would like to, I would like to call home there and put up a set there and design a show for Las Vegas where I feel at home there. Then I could fly in and out of Los Angeles and use my skills as a film and television director and my skills as a comedian and have some fun with it. That’s the idea, and of course it’s contingent on many things. I want The Mirage to be comfortable, and it's also the availability of rooms. You know the drill.

RL: Going back over your life, do you find it fascinating to think that if you never bet on that dare, this would never have been your life?

TA: You bet. … I had gotten in a lot of trouble with the law back in the day during college. I was an absolute a-hole. I was a lost kid, lost my father, lost my direction. If it had not been for a series of things, I call them God shots, where I had a moment where I had no other options and was at the bottom of an emotional drop, I decided to be positive rather than negative. I decided to be a service of people rather than a negative, do things than rather have things done to me. It sounds simple, but it was not a simple process for me. I am a very hard learner.

RL: I think it was a very up-and-down childhood, to put it mildly.

TA: Yeah, it is how I reacted to it. I was self-serving, selfish and resentful, and I learned to get away from it and do other things. Constantly battle demons, character traits, and I have come through it, and I am a very grateful guy. There are certain things I do I can’t believe. I have some of the automobiles that I use to dream about and make models of over and over. Now I have a garage of two or three cars I have always wanted. I can buy a digital camera, I am gadget freak. And I am thankful for the health of my family and, more than that, I can sit up there still when I am doing these concerts, and I just love it.

RL: I just want to throw a couple names at you and see what comedic response I might get. Your competition here this weekend is Lady Gaga.

TA: What? Who? Wait a second, is she doing comedy now?

RL: I think her whole act is comedy.

Justin M. Bowen

Pop phenomenon Lady Gaga returns to Las Vegas on Aug. 13 for a concert at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

TA: Son of a … I got Lady Gaga doing comedy? She is going to have tutus on her breasts, and, well, I am going to do a pole dance then.

RL: And then on the other end of the spectrum, speaking of a family show, Bob Saget comes into town with the filthiest one-liners of all. (He is at The Orleans on Saturday and Sunday.)

TA: Oh, Jesus, I hope I can get a crowd. Do we have enough people for this?

RL: Yes, we do.

TA: Good lord, Lady Gaga and Bob Saget?!

RL: That’s one end of the spectrum to the other you’re facing!

TA: Man, I am dead. I am hosed.

RL: No, you are not.

TA: Oh, man, I got Lady Gaga doing standup. I am definitely doing that pole dance.

RL: Do you think you have to adapt in any way in Vegas? You coming in here, your approach, your fears or anything?

Photo: Courtesy

Tim Allen, John Travolta and Ray Liotta at the premiere of Wild Hogs.

TA: Don’t know yet. The way we structured this was one night. Had I thought about it more, I would have rather had three nights so you can make adjustments. I will have no opportunity, which is a handicap. Most other shows that I did this year at casinos and larger venues, I would do two shows. So I would do the first show and be like, “Oh, I get it,” then I would start and stop here. I am playing without a net.

RL: Which means you will be the funniest you have ever been.

TA: Or I will be screaming and shooting myself in the foot. I am a pessimistic guy because I said I don’t have the luxury of the second show, which I should have done. Had I thought about it again, I would have gone with The Mirage’s idea. They liked two shows. … I should have thought about it, but we have one show, and that’s what we are going to do. I am going to come in there and do a bang-up job.

We have done really well so far; it’s a really funny show. … It is definitely not Buzz Lightyear and Santa. I love Bob Saget, but it ain’t no Bob Saget, either, or any Lady Gaga you put out there.

RL: It’s going to worry you now, isn’t it?

TA: Well, I don’t know, to be honest with you. My nieces were visiting me in California, and one of her songs came on, and before they could say anything, I said, “I like that, whatever that was.” They said it was the new Lady Gaga song. … She is the new Madonna.

Tim stars at Terry Fator Theater at The Mirage tomorrow night -- Friday the 13th!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

Share This