Friday, May 19, 2000DeGeneres stands up just for laughs
By Chris Varias
Enquirer contributorEllen DeGeneres put the gay issue on the table at the get-go. Then she brushed it aside with interpretive dance and proceeded with an hour of stand-up.
“Since I came out a few years ago, my life has been very interesting,” she deadpanned to begin her Wednesday night show at the Taft Theatre. “But I don't want to talk about it. I thought it would best be explained through interpretive dance.”
What followed was basically goofy — Ms. DeGeneres blooming like a flower, Ms. DeGeneres making like a ballerina, set to mood lighting and moody music.
But part of “the dance” was interpretable. She ran in place with her back to the crowd, occasionally glancing over her shoulder with mock-horrified looks.
The world, or the entertainment media, has been hard on Ms. DeGeneres' heels since she became one of Hollywood's highest-profile stars to “out” herself.
She expressed a measure of disdain for this exaggerated attention, and she seems to figure her old gig might provide relief. “It was time for me to get back to stand-up comedy,” she said.
So she's on the road, testing out new material for an upcoming HBO special. Her timing's ready, and her new bits, while not certifiably uproarious, are pretty funny — heavy on observational humor and everyday anecdotes that morph into absurd theater-of-the-mind through non-sequitur leaps and bounds.
The crowd enjoyed it, laughing at everything and applauding those few brief moments Ms. DeGeneres became serious. She came out to a standing-O and left to one, too.
And there was more than the hour of stand-up. She returned for an encore, which was really a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the audience. It was filmed for a forthcoming documentary directed by actress Anne Heche, Ms. DeGeneres' partner, who came out for a couple of bows to the crowd's delight.
During the session, a young woman who described herself as Ms. DeGeneres “biggest fan” said she disapproved of the comic's lifestyle (Welcome to Cincinnati, Ms. DeGeneres.)
The crowd shouted the woman down, but Ms. DeGeneres spoke calmly to her and diffused the situation, meriting applause.
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