Kevin Nealon (Atlanta Improv November 12-14) talks golf, comedy with kids, SNL

In the meantime, the 61 year old is a regular presence on TV, courtesy of Xarelto, a blood-thinning medicine. Starting in the spring, he's been seen yukking it up on the golf course with golf legend Arnold Palmer and race-car driver Brian Vickers. (Basketball player Chris Bosh joined the crew in September.) All of them have had blood clots in the past.

"Surprisingly, people come to me, they tell me how much they love me in those ads," Nealon said in a recent interview. He appreciated that Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes Xarelto, allowed them to use comedy. "I was able to write some funny things and put it in there."

As a person who loves golf, Nealon was tickled to hang out with 86-year-old Palmer.

"We became friends," Nealon said. "He's a very nice guy. I was very lucky to cross paths with him."

They shot one commercial in Palmer's hometown of Latrobe, Penn. "There's an airport and a hotel named after him," he said. "He has a drink called the Arnold Palmer. So I joked in the ad that I should have a Kevin Nealon."

What would be in it? "I'm still trying to figure that out but it probably would include a couple of Pop Rocks."

Nealon was, of course, part of the 40th anniversary shindig for "Saturday Night Live" earlier this year. "It was like a wax museum," he mused. "Everywhere you looked, there were celebrities. Hey, there's Keith Richards or Eddie Murphy or Diane Sawyer. Every eclectic mix you could think of. It was epic."

Nealon was also pranked by Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. "He used my phone to take a picture of us," he said. "Then a half hour later, I needed to text somebody and found out my entire phone was now in Chinese. I didn't know how to get out of it. I couldn't even make a call. Eventually, I see Peyton in the ballroom. He says, 'How's your phone?' I said, 'I got 10 new Chinese Twitter followers!' "

Nealon recently posted a selfie on Instagram with comic Dave Chappelle and new "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah. They were at the same hotel about to attend the Mark Twain prize ceremony for Murphy in D.C..

"We ended up walking around town for awhile," he said. "Chappelle is very down to earth, really gracious with his fans. Same with Trevor. I think both appreciate where they're at, grateful for what they have."

Nealon last year hosted a web series "Laugh Lessons" where big-name comics such as Wanda Sykes, George Lopez and Sarah Silverman try to "teach" six to eight year olds about comedy. It was on AOL, of all places, with an assist from his friend Ellen DeGeneres. (Nealon does some comedy set pieces for DeGeneres' talk show on occasion.)

Combined, the two raided their comedy contact lists and had no trouble nabbing the likes of Adam Sandler, Chelsea Handler and Dana Carvey.

One of Nealon's favorite "lessons" is Silverman teaching kids about the "courtesy laugh," when people laugh just to keep things from getting super awkward.

Handler also brought the awkward out big time by teaching "sarcasm."

George Lopez? He just has a natural touch with kids:

He isn't sure if comedy can be "trained" per se. "I think some comics are naturally funny," he said. "Others are good at delivering funny material. I think it's the same with kids. They're born funny or not."

For Nealon himself, he said being funny "came easy to me. I didn't have to work at it. I just enjoyed the notion of making people laugh." He realized he could do that around age 7 or 8 when he was making faces while getting his picture taken at a boardwalk souvenir store that would end up being a T-shirt. (Yes, that was a thing back in the day.) That's when he noticed people outside laughing because a TV screen outside was showing what he was doing. "That was my first accidental way of being funny," he said.

From there, Nealon began watching comics. He'd highlight names of comics in TV Guide and watch them. "I was so impressed people could stand on stage with no tools and talk and make people laugh and they get paid for it!" he said. So he went out and made a living himself doing it.

Over the past couple of years since "Weeds" ended, he has sold comedic pilots but they didn't make it to air. He's currently writing a film, "a dark romantic comedy that's edgy. We'll do some crowdsourcing to raise funds. It's a small indie thing. This way, we can do what we want and cast it the way we want. I want creative control."

COMEDY PREVIEW

Kevin Nealon

7:45 p.m. Thursday, November 12, $30

7:45 p.m., 10:15 p.m. Friday, November 13, $35

7:45 p.m., 10:15 p.m. Saturday, November 14, $35

Atlanta Improv

56 E Andrews Dr NW Atlanta

(678) 244-3612