Louie Anderson is coming back home to Minnesota next month where he'll visit his family and spend some time in small towns.
Anderson is performing at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Montevideo American Legion. The show is part of a four-day Minnesota tour, which will take the comedian to Dassel, New Hope and Chisholm.
"I go to cities people would not normally see me in," Anderson said.
The Minnesota-born comedian has had a full plate lately with his ongoing act in Las Vegas and a project called "Stand Up Boot Camp," started last year with fellow comedian Kyle Cease. The program is for those who want to develop their act and get better as a comedian. Anderson recently returned from Florida.
"We were doing a three-day course down there," Anderson said.
Anderson said "Stand Up Boot Camp" helps aspiring comics with stage fright and how to take a conversation and transport it to the stage.
"Take it to the stage and have the audience fill in the details," Anderson said.
He said the program has given him a chance to use a "new part of his brain" in teaching.
"'Stand Up Boot Camp takes a lot of work," Anderson said.
And he's been impressed with the talent he's seen, including Minnesota, which is a "sophisticated area for developing comedy," he said.
"You just see somebody and it's 'this guy's got it' or 'this girl's got it,'" Anderson said.
Anderson's also proving that he still "got it." The new Louie Anderson Theater recently opened at the Palace Station in Las Vegas and Anderson is set to start headlining the venue five nights a week beginning Sept. 7. To get ready for the debut, Anderson said he does a walkthrough of his act.
"I'll do it without an audience for myself and those working with me," Anderson said.
Basically, he said, it's so he gets used to the venue's stage.
"So I get my feel for the new place," Anderson said. "There's a lot of things you notice right away."
"I'm really excited, it's going to be a lot of fun," he added.
He's also working on a new book, which he calls the "fourth installment."
"It's more about turning 50 and what goes along with that," said the 57-year-old comedian.
Anderson also recently shot a new show for the Showtime channel titled "Louie Anderson Presents." He said it's like the time Rodney Dangerfield presented him 25 years ago on HBO, and the show will feature new comics, including three from "Stand Up Boot Camp."
"It's a nice full circle," Anderson said.
Anderson said he's looking forward to coming back to Minnesota later this month and hopefully audiences will see that he still enjoys performing.
"I'm having more fun on stage," Anderson said.