Rip Taylor takes on serious business

Rip Taylor, the veteran comedian known for throwing confetti, wants the world to know he has a serious side – as an actor and a playwright.

That’s why he has written a one-man play about his life, “It Ain’t All Confetti,” with help from the legendary comedy writer Larry Gelbart (“M*A*S*H,” “Tootsie”).

And he wants to perform it in Spokane.

The lavishly mustachioed Taylor is already here as the headliner of “Bottoms Up,” the Vegas-style comedy revue which runs through Saturday at Northern Quest Casino (tickets through TicketsWest outlets: 509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

In that show, he does the comedy shtick which has served him well since he had his big break on “Ed Sullivan” in the early 1960s, when he was known as the “Crying Comedian.”

He jokes about his toupee and tosses off confetti and one-liners in equal profusion. But there’s more to him than that zany act.

“I’ve created such a monster, that people really don’t take me seriously,” said Taylor, interviewed in the lobby of the Davenport Hotel. “I’m always fighting it. Always.”

So he wrote a one-man show about his life as a “survivor,” and performed it at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Then his friend Gelbart, an Emmy- and Tony-winner, helped him to revise it. It’s about Taylor’s life, beginning with his childhood in Washington, D.C.

Here’s his quick synopsis:

“I was a busboy in the U.S. Capitol,” he said. “There was a vacancy in the page pool and I became page in the U.S. Senate. Got drafted in the Army. I was on a troop ship and I said, ‘I don’t want to get killed, let’s put on a show!’

“Stayed two years, worked in nightclubs, came back, worked strip joints, strip joints to Catskills, Catskills to ‘Ed Sullivan,’ ‘Ed Sullivan’ to Vegas. Vegas, Vegas, Vegas and then into legitimate theater.”

By the latter, he meant roles in “Sugar Babies” on Broadway and “Oliver!” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” on national tour.

One of his goals during his two weeks in Spokane: To read his play to the directors of local theaters and book a date for an upcoming tour.

If that happens, Taylor may return without confetti, but with “Confetti.”

Behrens update

What is CenterStage artistic director Tim Behrens doing, now that the venue has closed its doors for good?

“I’m going back on the road with the Pat McManus shows,” said Behrens, referring to his popular one-man comedy shows written by local author McManus.

Behrens said he already has surpassed performance number 1,000 and is well on the way to the second thousand. He’ll do a tour of Minnesota this month.

These touring shows are popular and lucrative – a welcome switch from the increasingly tough local theater struggles.

Julia as Sarah?

While listening to vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech on Wednesday, her voice kept reminding me of someone I know.

And then it hit me: Her speaking voice is a dead ringer for Julia Sweeney’s.

Who knows? Maybe Sweeney can open up a lucrative new sideline as a Palin impersonator.

Maybe she could even go back to “Saturday Night Live” and do some election skits, assuming that Sweeney would ever want to revisit that part of her life. She was an “SNL” cast member from 1990 to 1994.

By the way, you may have noticed Sweeney’s wedding announcement in The Spokesman-Review on Aug. 28. She married Michael Blum on May 3 in Los Angeles. Blum is a scientist who taught at Harvard and now manufactures scientific equipment.

Happy Birthday, Harold

Please join Spotlight in congratulating beloved Inland Northwest artist Harold Balazs on his 80th birthday.

The event will be celebrated with a by-invitation-only party on Friday at the Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University. That also will be a launch party for a new book about Balazs’ art and life.

‘Hole in the Sky’

Local playwright Reed McColm’s play about 9-11, “Hole in the Sky,” will be performed in a reading stage format as part of Ignite Community Theatre’s Booklight Reader’s Theatre.

It’s about the people trapped in the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Performance times are Thursday and Saturday, 7 p.m., in the Teleconference Room of the Foley Library on the Gonzaga campus; and Sept. 14, 2 p.m. at the Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. All performances are free.