Ellen DeGeneres’ shows this week in Minneapolis would be a big deal no matter the circumstances. Her stand-up, groundbreaking sitcom and long-running talk show ensured her position as an entertainment icon.
Minnesota comics honor Ellen DeGeneres before she says farewell to stand-up in Minneapolis
The three shows Thursday through Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre are being recorded for a Netflix special.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 13, 2024 at 11:45AM
But the three nights at the Orpheum Theatre are poised to play a memorable role in comedy history. They’re the final shows of the “Ellen’s Last Stand...Up” tour, which sponsor Live Nation has labeled as “the last opportunity for fans to witness a comedy legend in her final curtain call.” Netflix will be recording the performances.
Before DeGeneres can hit the stage, we asked some talented comics with Minnesota ties to weigh in on her legacy:
Mary Mack (Anoka native), “Conan” and voice work on Hulu’s “Solar Opposites”: “I was in elementary school when she was on ‘Star Search.’ I wrote her name down on a piece of paper and pinned it to my bulletin board, where it stayed for 13 years. Nobody knew of her beyond L.A. and New York, but I thought that someday she would be a big star. I should have been a talent agent.”
Pete Lee (studied at University of Minnesota), a regular on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”: “By watching her comedy, I learned that kindness could be funny. In her jokes, she was basically always trying to do the right thing, but mucking it up somehow. I love that technique. One of her first famous bits that she did on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ was when she was on the phone with God. It was hysterical. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t influenced by the great Bob Newhart.”
Elise Cole, who recently released her first album, “Red Hot Dumb Dumbs”: “I remember Ellen from the sitcom, which aired when I was in high school. The episode was so momentous because it was the first time a lead character had said openly on TV, ‘I’m gay.’ And I remember thinking at the time how she could make just two words funny. I didn’t even know she was a stand-up comedian until after that show was over.
What always makes me laugh is that the end of her sentence is never what I think it’s going to be. She’s the master of a midsentence twist. Her timing is so impeccable. One of the first things I learned when I started was get comfortable with silence when you are onstage. In her first appearance on Johnny Carson, that conversation with God, for most of that two minutes she’s not saying anything. And the audience is with her every single second of that bit. Sometimes saying nothing is just as powerful as screaming into the microphone, if not more so.”
K.P. Anderson, producer for “The Soup” and “The Wayne Brady Show”: “Ellen is one of the greatest comic minds of all time. She has the ability to interpret everything from pure everyday mundanity to deeply complicated issues and turn them into comedy gold. She filtered it through her own personal weirdness better than anyone.
Because her onstage persona is so likable, that genius got mistaken for ‘every person’ charm. That might have put people off when she turned out to be just as complex as anyone else with a mind and ambition that reaches for way more than the mundane.”
Pearl Rose, host of “Disco Death Comedy Show” in Minneapolis: “She showed people that a woman could be funny without going super blue. She was doing what [Jerry] Seinfeld did, but I personally think her early stand-up was better. Despite how her reputation has changed over the years, I always tell people that early Ellen stand-up is really good. I found her early specials to be inspiring.”
Maggie Faris (studied at St. Catherine University), named by Curve magazine as one of the Funniest Lesbians in America: “Coming out on television could have ruined her career. Instead, it launched her into a new superstardom after the storm blew over. She has continually made it a better industry for LGBTQ performers like me.
Her stand-up reminds me a lot of Nate Bargatze in the fact that they both can squeeze the most humor out of everyday boring subjects and then squeeze more and more out of it. Just when you think it’s over, they squeeze the funniest part out of it. I get jealous of how easy they both make stand-up look and how it can take me months to write something half as funny. Despite how people feel about Ellen as a person, her stand-up has always been top notch and entertaining. Her final tour will probably not disappoint. Does she have an opener?”
‘Ellen’s Last Stand...Up’
When: 8 p.m. Thu.-Sat.
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
Tickets: $55-$105. hennepinarts.org
St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang has won four Minnesota Book Awards and was recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.
