Actor, comedian Larry Miller brings one-man show to the Lied

The films "The Princess Diaries," "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Pretty Woman" all feature a female character struggling with day-to-day life who gets the guy in the end. They also have something else in common: Larry Miller.

The established comedic actor started performing in comedy clubs in New York in the 1980s and began acting when he moved to Los Angeles. Miller always dreamt of being an actor, comedian and writer. With his current national tour, he proves he can do all three.

"Cocktails with Larry Miller," a one-man comedy show written and performed by Miller, will take the stage at the Lied Center for Performing Arts this Saturday.

Executive Director Bill Stephan and Artistic Director Ann Chang of the Lied Center attended a national booking convention last year to set up this season's schedule. Miller performed his act at the convention and Stephan was on the hook.

"It was very, very funny," Stephan said. "And we knew that from seeing this performance, this was a show that people here in Nebraska would really enjoy and find entertaining."

Considering the emphasis Miller's comedy places on relationships, Stephan said it was ideal to schedule this performance the weekend before Valentine's Day.

"We thought it was the perfect time for the perfect show," Stephan said.

Miller said he believes everything is a relationship, one of the reasons he chooses to feature the topic so prominently in this performance.

"Number one is the relationship with yourself," Miller said. "If you don't have that, you have nothing."

A lot of the material for "Cocktails with Larry Miller" comes from relationships in his own life. As these evolve, so does his act, which he constantly rewrites.

While on the phone, Miller mentioned a conversation between him and his wife that took place that morning. She wanted him to change his clothes as he dropped off pizzas and baseball equipment for his son and before recording his weekly podcast. Miller said he would oblige, but slipped off without changing.

Although Miller kids in his one-man show about the white lies he tells his wife, he admits there is still truth in them.

"What I'm really saying is ‘I love you and I'm glad we're together, but I'm not going to do what you want,'" he said.

At that moment, he realized this marital quirk was ripe for comedy.

"And right there, that's funny," Miller said. "And so in a sense I just wrote something ... it's endless."

Though Miller is better known for his on-screen acting, he chose to return to the stage with "Cocktails with Larry Miller" because he said he believes all performing can be traced back to people sitting around a campfire telling stories to each other.

"There is nothing more pure than a one-man show," Miller said. "One person telling stories and one person saying, ‘Do you know what I mean?' ... It's very pure and it's very basic and it's getting deeper for me every day in every way. So I hope to be doing that for the rest of my life."

Miller could not say enough about how much he loves to perform for people and how blessed he is to be performing this show for audiences across America.

"All I can tell you is I am going to be happy and fulfilled on that stage at the Lied Center Saturday night as I was on that movie set last week or the next one coming up," Miller said.

allyphillips@dailynebraskan.com

if you go:

"Cocktails with Larry Miller"

when: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

where: Lied Center for Performing Arts

how much: $17.50 (students), $35 (public)