Larry Miller is your classic character actor — the guy you've seen in a hundred movies and TV shows but have no clue what his name is.
The fact his name is so generic doesn't help matters.
But the Larry Miller resumé is impressive. His credits include "Pretty Woman," "Seinfeld," "The Nutty Professor," "Boston Legal," "Best in Show" and "Law & Order."
In fact, he's been so busy acting and writing, he's hardly had time in recent years to indulge in what got him into the Hollywood game in the first place: standup comedy.
But the itch needed to be scratched. This year, he's back cracking jokes on a stage again, going to old haunts such as Atlanta's seminal Punchline Comedy Club, where he was a headliner in the 1980s and '90s.
"He's a class act, the gentleman of comedy," said Punchline co-owner Chris DiPetta. Though it's been ages since Miller has done the Punchline, DiPetta has warm memories of the past when "we would tip a few back in the day. Many a good time."
Miller said he's done work both at clubs and private events in Atlanta at least 50 times, much of that time at the Punchline. "It's always been a wonderful comedy room," Miller said. "It rings like a bell. A good performing room is like an inside of a violin. It absorbs a lot of notes and good music."
The show itself, he said, will be half new material, half classics: "There's a piece I used to do called the five levels of drinking. It's a signature piece. Some folks come to hear that and it's very flattering. I'll be doing that for sure."
And while he won't talk politics, he will discuss what he calls the "great themes of life: loneliness, break ups, wants, needs." He doesn't curse but considers what he does "edgy."
"You wouldn't call the poetry of Yates edgeless because it doesn't have four-letter words," Miller said.
Unlike some comics who harbor a darkness inside, Miller admits being a "happy guy." "I'm not skipping around drooling," he said. "I have the same doubts and bad moods that anybody has. But I'm lucky because performing for me has not been a way to work out problems. Performing is simply the greatest pleasure in the world.
His Atlanta connections aren't isolated to the Punchline. He is working on an animated TV series with Adam Corolla via Atlanta-based studio Radical Axis.
"Atlanta keeps coming up in my life," he mused. "Nothing is coincidental. It isn't just lip service."
COMEDY
Larry Miller performs at 8 and 10 Friday night at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday at The Punchline, 280 Hilderbrand Drive, Sandy Springs. Admission is $25. 404-252-5233 www.punchline.com
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