The Craig Ferguson Story
My first experience with Craig Ferguson was his role as sleazy, egotistical boss Nigel Wick in The Drew Carey Show back in the late 1990s. I also recall, shortly after being exposed to Ferguson on the show, seeing him as his usual, entertaining self as Crawford in The Big Tease and as Matthew in the critically well-received British comedy Saving Grace. Ferguson, as many of you know, has gone on to bigger and better things, fronting The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. His style, as the tonight show frontman, is, much like his other acting and screenwriting credits: hilarious.
To call Ferguson a versatile artist would be an understatement. He has shown the ability to take part in horror comedies, such as Modern Vampires, he lent The Drew Carey Show some of its best humour (which helped to keep the show afloat for so long), but he also varies his tonight show format between cold openings and discussions with Geoff Peterson, his skeleton robot sidekick. He has even contributed to notable television series such as Futurama, Family Guy, American Dad! and Red Dwarf. Ferguson has been married three times, has gone from alcoholism to sobriety, from emotional depths to creative highs, and has successfully made the shift from Scotland to the US. He is, in short, a man that does not fear changes or challenges, which is admirable.
What is also admirable about Ferguson, however, is that he deviates from the usual formality we find in other tonight show formats, such as David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's sets. Whilst the latter two have their own unique, brilliant brand of presentation - Letterman as dry and O'Brien as manic - it must be said that Ferguson's interactivity with the crowd is a lot more engaging and rough around the edges. He prances around on-set without pretension, his tie loose and arm tattoo showing, all of which creates a warm environment onscreen.
Ferguson has been in the tonight show scene since the mid 2000s and on small and large screens since the late 1980s. Whether we first fell in love with him in Red Dwarf, The Drew Carey Show, Saving Grace or even The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, one can safely say that Ferguson is an entertainer that performs his artistry on the edge of political correctness.