A stand-up farewell for DeGeneres?
By Anna Beaty
(Cox News Service 15.03.03)

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Why did Ellen DeGeneres cross the road? To come to Grand Junction and make some sides ache with laughter.

The queen of comedy is appearing Saturday, March 15, at Avalon Theatre as part of her three-month comedy tour, her first stand-up bout in three years.

"This is probably the last time that I will be doing this," DeGeneres said from her home in Los Angeles. "This tour is leading up to the HBO special. I am saying goodbye to stand-up."

DeGeneres' tour started earlier this month in Santa Rosa, Calif., with 35 stops across the country and Canada planned through May. Her two-night appearances in Los Angeles and New York City will be filmed for an HBO special scheduled to air in June.

DeGeneres' vigorous touring schedule will lead the 45-year-old comedian/actress to her newest TV venture, her own daytime talk show.

"I'll be taking (the talk show) to the ends of my career," she said. "I feel that everything that I have done in my career has been leading up to this."

DeGeneres' comedic career began in the early 1980s as an emcee at a comedy club in her hometown of New Orleans. She gained national recognition in 1982 when a recording of her performances won her Showtime's "Funniest Person in America."

This would be the first of many awards DeGeneres would receive over the next two decades, including the Best Female Stand-up at the 1991 American Comedy Awards, the People's Choice Award in 1995 and the Peabody Award in 1997.

In 1989 She turned from comedy to acting on Fox's "Open House," then to ABC's "Laurie Hill" in 1992, followed by "These Friends of Mine," which ran for one season before turning into "Ellen," which DeGeneres starred in and produced.

"Ellen" ran for five seasons, receiving Emmy nominations every year. In 1997 DeGeneres won an Emmy for writing the "Puppy" episode, where her character, Ellen Morgan, and in interviews following, DeGeneres herself, came out as a homosexual to some 46 million viewers.

"Ellen" was canceled the next season, but DeGeneres was far from removed from the spotlight.

Her acting talents landed her roles in movies such as "EDTV," "The Love Letter" and "Mr. Wrong."

DeGeneres is working on four projects for the upcoming year. Her second book, a selection of short essays and stories, is set to be released this fall. Her first book, "My Point -- And I Do Have One," was a New York Times best seller. She is the voice of a fish in the Disney/Pixar animated film "Finding Nemo," due to be released May 30. Her Telepictures/Warner Bros. talk show is scheduled to air in September.

DeGeneres has been working on "Finding Nemo" for three years and is looking forward to the movie's release. The animated character that DeGeneres plays, a fish named Dori, was created to match her personality.

"I have never done anything like this before," DeGeneres said. "I guess it's flattering to have a fish created after you."

DeGeneres is eagerly anticipating her talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." She said that she plans to host a variety of guests from celebrities to everyday people with interesting stories.

"It will be a light, fun show," she said. "It will be different by the way that I see people, the same way that David Letterman is different than Jay Leno. The only thing that differentiates talk shows are the personalities of the host."

DeGeneres said she hopes that her last stand-up tour will send her out of the circuit in style. Her act is not completely scripted. She plans to change it up with each performance.

"Every time you get up on stage it's like jumping out of an airplane," she said. "You jump out and you hope the chute opens."

The theme of her stand-up act is "Here and Now," with topics that affect Americans' lives on a daily basis. DeGeneres explained that this theme was difficult to script because of the uncertainty of war, which she realizes could happen while she's on tour.

"I love our planet, I love life, I love animals and I hope that we can find a way to solve our conflicts without hurting innocent people," she said.

DeGeneres' stand-up tour will take her to metropolises such as Seattle, Chicago and Washington, D.C. She said that she is just as eager to perform for the smaller cities such as Grand Junction.

"I try to stay in the moment and I look forward to every city that I am going to be in," she said. "I lived in a small town and I really like that kind of town."
(Re-printed without permission)