Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Apple Valley News Now
EXCLUSIVE: Tim Allen talks comedy, cars and how he keeps creating timeless content
By Monique Ledesma,
2024-08-23
KENNEWICK, Wash. - You've seen his work on shows like "Home Improvement", "Last Man Standing", "The Santa Claus", the "Toy Story" movie series, "Galaxy Quest" and even joyriding in "Wild Hogs". There are so many pieces of work where you've seen comedian and actor Tim Allen. His work is timeless, spanning generations and connecting the young and the old with his truth in comedy.
He's coming to Kennewick's Toyota Center on September 13 for a night of stand-up comedy and he's got a new show set to premier in January on ABC. Apple Valley News Now's Monique Ledesma got the chance to sit down with Allen and ask about cars, comedy and how he keeps coming up with material.
Monique Ledesma : Talk to me a little bit about your upcoming stand-up that you're going to be doing over here in Kennewick at the Toyota Center.
Tim Allen : I've not been to this particular venue. I always love the theaters I play. Literally, I'm more interested in lighting and sound and everything. So this theater was allegedly really beautiful. And I said, so I've played around the state, but I have not played in in this particular venue. I'm more excited about that. I'm kind of geeky about that way. It's like when I do movies, I love the sets and all that stuff. So I'm kind of geeked about this. I've been on doing stand up on the road for more than 30 years. I just hate saying it like that. My first gig became a very big deal. I was doing big concerts and then did a Showtime special, "Men Are Pigs" and that story got sold. The first part of my show got sold to ABC, and that was a show called "Home Improvement". Stand-up has been the source of my joy for so many years.
ML: Let's talk about "Shifting Gears", your new TV show series that is coming to ABC. Can you give me any teasers? What can people expect to see?
TA: It'll be about cars, which I love. It'll be about a father-daughter relationship. She's [Kat Dennings] so much fun to work with. It's an amazing dynamic. I'm blessed to have been part of this, and I didn't have casting. They said, 'this is what we'd like.' I said, 'yeah, brilliant.' So it's a different Tim Allen than you're used to. It's more my stand-up, which you'll see more of this. We're here for a short time, especially as you get to be my age, you start looking at my kids, and I can't believe I've done this. With the show, we'll be dealing with an aging guy - and it's a widower and a creative guy, crotchety, funny, and now he's got a whole new world with two grandchildren that are going to stay at his house for a while, and a daughter that he has to repair a relationship with. "Restoration" is really what what I wanted to call it.
ML: What keeps your drive going? What keeps you motivated and your momentum going through the ups and the downs, and maybe just the steady times?
TA: I've had a difficult spiritual journey in my life, because my father was taken from me when I was a young boy, and I had a very difficult time dealing with it because I'm already the church-going family. Why would God take my dad? So I've had this long process of trying to understand religion, and as it's come around, every time I get to a dark point in my life, humor shows up, and I've said to myself, even though I'm not perfect with my spirituality, it is a gift of humor, which means in all the horror of people suffering somewhere, underneath, there is a sense of humor in this world. That's what keeps me going. I love making people laugh. I love it. I've been doing stand-up, even through the movies and the fame and all that. I've been doing stand-up more than anything else. I still do stand-up. I'm in concerts all the time, local comedy clubs. I do that because I love making people do what Richard Pryor did to me. They lose themselves for a moment. It is so human. And so, connective, that it's literally a gift.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0