Just Being Honest

After stepping down from his decade-long run hosting CBS’s The Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson brought his loose, conversational energy to New York’s Town Hall for a set that feels like an uncensored extension of his late-night monologues. The Scottish-American comic thrives on self-deprecation and dirty storytelling, trading the constraints of network television for a set heavy on bodily humor and rock-and-roll history. His centerpiece is a lengthy, detailed account of his time following the Rolling Stones on tour, where he paints Mick Jagger as an easily bruised ego with tiny hands and Keith Richards as a terrifying force of nature. He happily makes himself the butt of his own jokes, whether recounting a confusing proposition in a New York gay bar or describing the indignities of a medical colon check while heavily medicated. The performance earned a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album, validating his decision to return to the road immediately after leaving television.