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TORONTO -- In case you didn't know, late night talk show host Craig Ferguson has a bit of an accent, a Scottish brogue that comes to the fore from time to time.
Ferguson, performing to a near capacity crowd of college kids, their parents and those in the golden years at Toronto's Massey Hall Saturday night, spent a fair amount of his 90-minute routine having a go at accents, including that of fellow Scot and screen legend Sean Connery.
Citing Connery's roles as a Russian (The Hunt For Red October), a Chicago police officer (The Untouchables) and as a Spaniard (Highlander), Ferguson described Connery's accent as "a steadily worsening speech impediment" and informing the amused audience there was no region in Scotland with that dialect.
Ferguson also mimicked his mother's high-pitched tone that immediately recalled Terry Jones and Eric Idle portraying elderly women. "Apparently my mother used to do Monty Python," he quipped, laughing at himself following the attempt.
For the most part, Ferguson's monologue style on his CBS program isn't what you see on stage. Whether tossing the microphone stand upon his entrance or pacing the stage, the performer can be a bundle of energy at times.
A good example of this was during his take on Tom Cruise who he dubbed the "beacon of lunacy." Aping Cruise's crazed facial expressions when laughing, Ferguson took Cruise to task for his opposition to actress Brooke Shields using anti-depressants to alleviate her post-partum depression back in 2005.
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"Tom, you're a man talking about post-partum depression. Shush," Ferguson said, calling the star "12 feet of a crazy in a 4-foot man." "Depression is a symptom of depression. It's not like you have depression and your ass falls off. It's like telling someone with one leg, 'That crutch is masking the symptoms of your one-legged-ness.'"
And unlike his nightly monologues where politics play a role, the topic only came up when Ferguson mentioned avoiding getting his picture with President Bush when he hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner last February.
But Ferguson, wearing a black dress shirt and jeans, considered Oprah to be so powerful and influential she deserved country status. "Oprah is the world's last superpower," he said. "If she wanted Uranium 235 she could get it. 'In fact we have Uranium 235 for everyone in the audience!'"
Although touching a bit on Hollywood, free porn previews at San Francisco's Clift Hotel, plastic surgery and paparazzi, the comedian managed to get a good shot in on Paris Hilton, describing her as a "tram steamer." "It's a cheap shot but she's a cheap broad," he quipped.
Having the crowd laughing throughout and rarely missing the mark, Ferguson's biggest hit, aside from mentioning '70s-era pregnancy videos ("It looks like a midget fighting his way out of the forest."), was going off on a tangent concerning how well endowed he was.
With the crowd howling and Ferguson thankfully opting to run with it, he apparently believes he's quite blessed. "If I was 25 feet tall I'd be alright," he said before complaining how he had to store it underneath him or in an overhead compartment when flying.
Leaving to a standing ovation, most realize Ferguson has big shoes to fill once Letterman decides to call it a career. Fortunately his timing, delivery and salt-of-the-earth style will make the transition that much smoother.
Sun Rating: 4 out of 5