Brian Regan brings the funny

Comedian does things his way

IF YOU GOWhat: Brian ReganWhen: 7:30 p.m. today, Feb. 28Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.Admission: $38.50Phone: 423-642-TIXSWebsite: www.ChattanoogaOnStage.com

photo Brian Regan

Watching the online episode of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" featuring Brian Regan and Jerry Seinfeld is not recommended if one of the stars is due to call at any minute for a telephone interview.

As luck would have, Regan does indeed call just as he is on camera asking Jerry Seinfeld about having to explain to guests how to jiggle the handle on his toilet.

"I wonder what is the highest echelon that has ever been expressed?" Regan asks Seinfeld. "Um, excuse me, Queen Elizabeth, you're gonna need to jiggle the handle."

The line is delivered just as the phone rings, which makes just saying hello tough through the laughter.

"Oh, yeah, that was fun," Regan says of doing the scene. "He [Seinfeld] had the idea to do this series, and he picked nine or 10 people he wanted to do them with, and to be picked as one of them was an honor. He could have picked anyone, I suppose."

Other guests in the series include Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks together, Alec Guinness, Ricky Gervais and former "Seinfeld" co-star Michael Richards.

Regan will do his stand-up routine tonight, Feb. 28, at the Tivoli Theatre. He says the show will follow his usual style, which is to deliver whatever he thinks is funny. He tells stories of his childhood as well as things that might have happened to him yesterday.

It's worked for him a couple of decades, so he has no plans to change. Unlike many comics, he doesn't see himself starring in a sitcom.

"No, not really, in terms of creating my own thing. Not a conventional sitcom anyway," he says. "I have ideas for shows, but they are all one-minute ideas. I don't have the attention span to think beyond that. I'd just have a funny scene in an elevator and move on."

Regan says he has always done things his own way -- not so much because he is a maverick, but it is the only way he knows how to operate.

He remembers meeting Rodney Dangerfield at the legend's club in New York. He was one of five or six comics swapping stories in the Green Room when the man who never got any respect came up and asked each what his "hook" was.

"He asked me, and I said I didn't have a hook," Regan says. "I remember he was quite intrigued.

"I don't want to be tied into a single thing. It becomes a world of its own. I always tried to figure out my own way and not follow someone else's path."

Contact staff writer Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.

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