Musical improv master Wayne Brady is happy to report his show in Vegas, "Making it Up," is as strong as ever. And, they say these are dire
times! Not for the people who like to laugh!
"I've been doing the
show in Vegas for the last two years, so you can pretty much say it's
going well. You don't stick around if something is sucking," notes the
multi-talent who rose to fame on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
"It's wonderful to be able to do a different show every
night because it's an improvisational musical piece. It's definitely
one of the more unique shows out there," he says about his musical
variety show, which is entirely improvised based on audience
suggestions. "It's a nightly challenge to me, but at least I never get
bored."
The hard-working entertainer is also keeping busy this summer
with his "A Long Time Coming" music tour, and is gearing up for all-new
episodes of his Fox show, "Don't Forget the Lyrics," which returns to
the lineup May 22.
"We got a lot of celebrity guests that came on for
charity, like Meat Loaf, who was a blast. We also had 'Baba Booey'
from the 'Howard Stern Show,'" he says. "The show has really caught on
like wildfire across the country and even around the world. I've been
on tour in Europe doing concerts and they've got the show there and
then Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, so we're doing something
right."
THE INSIDE TRACK: "I'm getting ready to put an album
out in May," Nick Lachey tells us of his latest project "Coming Up for
Air." "I'm going out on the road visiting a lot of radio stations
right now doing promos for it."
While his style of music remains the
same, Lachey says there are definitely some differences with this album
because he's been in a different emotional state. "You approach each
album with a different perspective. It depends on where you're at in
your life," he notes. "I think the last one was very specific to a
particular time in my life. This one is a little more broad. It's a
little more upbeat.
"I think, musically, it's more programmed in terms of
the production. There's a little less live instrumentation," he adds.
"I don't think it's a huge departure from my last album, but every
album differs depending on where you're at when you're writing them."
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: Laurel Holloman, who has spent the
last five years on "The L Word," tells us she's trying to be smart
about her next big project, but it's hard being away from home when
you're a mom.
"My baby is still a year old. I want to be with her all
the time, but I'm out there looking for the right thing. We'll see what
happens," says Holloman, who adopted her daughter Nala Belle in March
of last year. "I think when you're on a series for a long time, it
might need to die down for a little while. I think it's easy to get
worried about what's going to come up and then you take the wrong thing
so I'm trying to be smart."
Luckily for Holloman, she feels like
she's grown as an actress since starting the Showtime series and she
hopes to take what she's learned to her next role.
"It taught me to be
really loose and to work at a different speed because I had come from
film. I fought really hard to arc my character and not have her be too
repetitive. You saw her go from hiding behind somebody's identity to
coming into her own," she notes of her character Tina. "I also learned
that if you really fall in love with your character, really fight hard
for what you believe would be a good arc. I think I'll definitely take
that do any other job."
BLOODY GOOD SHOW: William Sanderson,
who plays the sheriff of a town inhabited by vampires on HBO's "True
Blood," admits, "I don't know how much longer I'll survive. To be
honest, there's not much on Bud in the books," he says, referring to
his character, Bud Dearborne, and the Southern Vampire Mysteries by
Charlaine Harris, from which "Blood" is being drawn. (No pun
intended.) The show returns to the tube for its second season in June.
Notes Sanderson, "I'm too timid to ask, 'Am I getting killed off?'
One producer I'd worked with before on 'Deadwood' told me, though, 'Not
before the eleventh episode,' because he was directing that
one.'"
The veteran character actor, remembered by TV fans as Larry of
"Newhart's" Larry, Darryl & Darryl -- and for film roles including the
Toymaker in "Bladerunner" -- says he's having a blast working on the
series that stars Anna Paquin. Some days, he admits of his
decades-younger cast mates, "If you're shooting 'til 4 or 5 a.m., you
think they may be joking when they talk about going home and making
dinner or playing with their kids. But, they're not. I worry about
them sapping their energy."
All that youthful vigor can be
intimidating, he acknowledges, "but I'm not intimidated by anyone when
it comes to talent. Not to sound conceited. Don't ever get your
talent mixed up with your salary -- I hope I never forget that."
With
reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster