Sunday, May 7, 2000 | 8:21 a.m.
The limelight is Rip Taylor's sunshine.
He basks in its glow, absorbing the healing power of its rays.
When he is on stage he feels no pain, no misery, only the overwhelming desire to entertain his audiences with confetti-throwing, zany prop gags and rapid-fire jokes that may hit a home run one night and strike out the next.
Out of the light, the comedian becomes aware of the aches of a recent fall in a tub that dislocated his shoulder, of a sore throat caused by an overactive air conditioner, of being robbed of $5,000 at a bus stop seven months ago, of allergies and career stresses and, most of all, the loss of his mother earlier this year.
"There's just a dark cloud hanging over me lately," he said recently after completing a show at the Flamingo Las Vegas hotel-casino, where he appears nightly in "The Great Radio City Spectacular" with the Rockettes.
Taylor's shoulder bothered him, a pain exacerbated by heavy costumes he wears in the show.
A feverish sweat moistened his brow, either from the high-octane performance or perhaps the onset of a cold, or maybe it was the pollen in the air.
"I don't mean to complain, I don't miss shows because I'm a big ham, but for the past month I've had terrible luck," Taylor said, his words coming in a distinctive pattern instantly recognizable to his fans.
Despite the complaints, Taylor said, "I'm all positive."
He has a lot to be positive about, having had an enduring career on stage and in television and motion pictures. Recently he completed a grueling 89-day, 39-city tour with Debbie Reynolds in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
Born in Washington D.C., the entertainer, who has been billed as the "Crying Comedian" and the "Confetti-Throwing Comedian," is a graduate of George Washington University.
The crying-comedian label came from Ed Sullivan in 1969. Taylor said Sullivan forgot his name on his first appearance on the show so Taylor pulled a hair from his nose to bring tears to his eyes, which prompted Sullivan to call him the "Crying Comedian."
The confetti-throwing routine came shortly after when he was bombing on "The Merv Griffin Show" and, to change the pace, shredded Griffin's script and ran through the audience tossing the pieces of paper into the air.
His appearance on the Sullivan show led to his first Las Vegas strip engagement with Eleanor Powell in 1969 at the Dunes casino-hotel, which led to shows with headliners such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ann-Margret, Judy Garland and many others.
Taylor is always on the move with concert, nightclub and showroom appearances in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Tahoe, Honolulu and hundreds of other entertainment venues around the world.
He has been with the "Great Radio City Spectacular" since Jan. 12, appearing as the emcee and performing his own act almost 200 times since joining the cast. The show itself celebrated its 3,000th performance April 25.
Las Vegas Sun: You've been at the Flamingo for almost four months now. How much longer do you expect to be with the show?
Rip Taylor: I don't know. They keep holding me over, which is fine. I said for five years that a man should be the emcee of the Rockettes. A woman had been doing it for five or six years and she did it well, but it's not the same show as when a man does it. I'm here from month to month, at least through May, but I think June or July will be it.
Sun: You mentioned you have had an offer to appear on a hit television show.
RT: Yes. To do a segment on "Will and Grace," as Jack's father, but I couldn't get out of my contract with this show and they keep holding me over. The "Will and Grace" producers had two others read for the part, but they said, "We'll save it for you for when you leave (the Rockettes)." But I don't know. They keep holding me over, which is flattering. But the "Will and Grace" thing is very important to me, too.
Sun: Can't you work out a deal with the producers of this show so that you can shoot "Will and Grace"?
RT: They've agreed to release me for a week to do it, but I don't know. "Will and Grace" will be going on hiatus for the summer soon. I don't know if I can work it out. But I love this show, I love doing it. I love the people, they're lovely people to work with.
Sun: Don't you get bored doing the same show every night?
RT: Absolutely not. I change jokes frequently. The audience tonight didn't get some of the clever jokes, so I switched over to the more risque.
Sun: Your type of physical humor seems to be making a comeback.
RT: I have never laid off doing this kind of humor, even through the Mort Sahl and Woody Allen days. There is always a place for it, if you are funny. Now it's coming back. I did it and I'm still doing it, though not as much.
Sun: You travel a lot. Where do you like to perform the most?
RT: Where the gaming people are. That's where the money is.
Sun: Where do you spend most of your time?
RT: I have lived here legally since 1969. But I have a place in L.A. to work and a place in Honolulu for the peace.
Sun: Your mother (Elizabeth Morgan) passed away in January at age 88. How has that affected you?
RT: I haven't been to the cemetery to visit her. I can't take it. It's very hard. I just can't do it. Since she passed on I have a whole new outlook on life. I'm throwing everything away but the hair (his outrageous toupees). All these boxes, I'm getting rid of everything. It doesn't mean anything to me. People say, "Save money for a rainy day." Why? Mother passed. We ain't got next year. We don't know, we ain't got next week. That sure wakes you up. It did me. She passed on Jan. 24. I opened here (at the Flamingo) on the 12th. It's been very hard on me.
Sun: What lies ahead for you?
RT: I want to be the road company (version of) Gale Gordon (the late actor who made a career of playing comedic supporting roles), like in "Lucy" ("The Lucy Show" with Lucille Ball). Gale Gordon got in, got the money and the laughs and got out. He was never the lead, he was Gale Gordon, the second lead. He was brilliant. I could do the same with "Will and Grace." Can you imagine? I would be just as outrageous as (the character) Karen, the girl in the dark clothes.
But wherever I go, I have an act and I'm going to make people laugh.
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