By Scott Tady [email protected] | Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2014 4:00 am
NORTH FAYETTE TWP. — Louie Anderson says he will use plenty of “F” words Friday and Saturday in his standup comedy shows at Latitude 360.
“You know, family and food and fat and being over fifty,” said the versatile comic and TV star who will headline the Vegas-style club inside Latitude 360 (formerly Latitude 40) at the Pointe at North Fayette.
“What’s so cool is that I met the owners at my show in Vegas and they invited me to perform at their place and I said I’d love to,” said Anderson, a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show,” “Late Show With David Letterman” and star of his own HBO and Showtime specials.
Anderson’s local standup show will be family friendly, dealing a lot with his childhood experiences born as the 10th of 11 children. Anderson knows he will be helping to kick off the Memorial Day weekend, giving him a good reason to discuss one of his favorite things about the holiday.
“Barbecue,” Anderson said. “And coming from Minnesota, if oftentimes signifies a break, finally, in the terrible weather.”
Anderson said the beautiful riverfront setting of Pittsburgh reminds him of his native St. Paul. He visited here last October, when his award-winning and internationally popular “Life with Louie” animated TV series was honored by the Toonseum, the cartoon museum in the Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
While in town, he also lectured at a creative writing class for Steeltown Entertainment’s Spotlight Series and paid a visit to the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED-TV.
The host of TV game show “Family Feud” from 1999 to 2002 — for which he harbors fond memories — Anderson recently shot a TV pilot for the Food Network where he plays a food judge in a courtroom setting. Food Network is one of his favorite channels.
“It’s like, ‘Hey, what are they doing on there now that I’m never going to cook?’” Anderson said.
He still jokes a lot about his weight and eating habits.
“People are like, ‘Try a kale shake,’ but I’m like, ‘Can you make me a ‘cake shake’?’” Anderson said.
Though since his humbling, brought-to-tears appearance on ABC’s celebrity diving contest “Splash” in early 2013, when he weighed 400 pounds, Anderson has been eating better and exercising more to the point where he hopes to be an inspiration.
He has launched Off The Couch, a Facebook-driven motivational program where people with weight issues help inspire each other to get healthier. The program is starting to catch on, aided by his promotional efforts on TV’s “Dr. Oz.” Anderson intends to lead by example.
“I’ve been swimming a lot and taking better care of myself,” he said.
The biggest sacrifice to his diet?
“Toast,” he said. “And eating after my shows are over.
“I’ve been thinking about putting a big pole on the front of my car so I can’t go to fast-food drive-thrus,” he said.
Latitude 360 has a tempting menu, though if he wants to wind down after this weekend’s performances he can burn off calories bowling, or blow off steam at the video arcade.
“Come out to my show, it’s a lot of fun,” Anderson said. “It’s a completely clean show, so you can bring your whole family.”
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