 "Photo: CBS")
Craig Ferguson has had more careers than many cats have lives: punk rock drummer, bartender, actor, stand-up comedian, sitcom star, screenwriter, producer, director, talk show host, and with the 2006 publication of Between the Bridge and the River, novelist. It's a dizzying resume and one that most people remain unaware of, recognizing the impish Scottish transplant primarily from "The Drew Carey Show" and his current stint hosting "The Late Late Show" on CBS. Some might dub him a bit of an overachiever, but Ferguson downplays his success. "Dilettante, I think, would probably cover everything," he told Canadian outlet CTV last year. "I'm an immigrant. I do more than one job. It's what we do. I just do what I like to do."
It's a miracle that's he's still around to tackle any of these roles, given the darkness of his early years when he battled alcoholism and thoughts of suicide. Britney Spears' recent struggles inspired him to convert his usual monologue on Feb. 19 into an eloquent yet humorous account of how he found sobriety.
He spoke of waking up above a bar in London on Christmas day in 1992, soaked in urine and feeling hopeless. He made up his mind to hurl himself off a bridge, when fate intervened in the form of a nosy bartender. "He was an Irish fellow, Tommy," Ferguson recalls, "and he said to me, 'Where are you going?' I didn't want to cause a fuss and say, 'Well, I'm going to go to Tower Bridge to swan dive and kill myself,' so I said 'I'm going home.' He said, 'To Scotland?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, "Well, there's no transport, it's Christmas, you can't get a bus, the planes aren't running, you can't go anywhere.' I said, 'Just let me go, Tommy, will you?'
"He said, 'Well, before you go, have a glass of sherry for Christmas morning.' I said, 'Oh, alright, alright.' So he poured me the type of glass of sherry that only an alcoholic would pour you, a venti sherry they would call it in Starbucks, and I had my glass of sherry, and one thing led to another and I forgot to kill myself that day."
A few months later, Ferguson reached out for help and entered rehab. "And it wasn't like the way the rehab is portrayed in the news outlets at the moment, with all the Lindsay Lohans and fabulous people," he notes. "My roommate in rehab was a 65-year-old vicar, a priest from the Church of England. He said, 'Well, the thing is, Craig, the parishioners were complaining that all the Communion wine was going missing.' This is true! 'And also, an old lady said that there was a hobo sleeping in the church graveyard. I had to pretend and go and look for him, but it was me!' "
Sober for 15 years now, Ferguson realizes he must remain ever vigilant. He can laugh easily now, though; he's left the dark days behind him and channeled his experiences into his comedy. When he comes to Denver this weekend, audiences can expect him to speak about anything and everything that strikes him; improvisation is one of his strong suits. As he told CTV about his approach to stand-up, "I have a bunch of subjects that I'll work at but God knows where it's going to end up."
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