The Big O (No, Not That One)
After appearing at the Pageant in St. Louis on Tuesday evening, Craig Ferguson heads for cattle country as his Live Comedy Tour makes a stop at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, Nebraska.
Craig has been tweeting from the road, sending pictures and thoughts along the way, including a retweet of his opening act this week, comedian Ted Alexandro, who got a picture of the tour bus they’re riding:
“@tedalexandro:”home”for the week. Sex,drugs & rock-n-roll or naps,multi-vitamins &quiet reading? http://pic.twitter.com/LXHWDOf6†Snacks & bedazzling
From the bus window, Craig captured the moment of crossing the Mississippi River:
http://twitpic.com/8bajwg Arriving St Louis.
He also offered his take on the cover art from Michael Ian Black’s new book:
Just seen the cover of the @michaelianblack book. I’m kicking myself for not having him do the cover of my book. Amazing bench pose work.
And in response to his Twitter friend @badastronomer (astronomer Phil Plait), who was talking about the solar winds that have been creating the recent northern lights and messing with electronic communications the past few days, Craig replied:
“@BadAstronomer: RT @shiftyphil: What effect will the coronal mass ejection have on @GeoffTheRobot?†He’ll probably break out in innuendo
Meanwhile, pictures and stories are rolling in from Craig’s tour, including one from St. Louis native @HMSFox, who sent us a picture of the poster for Craig’s show at The Pageant on Tuesday evening.  We haven’t heard from anyone who attended the show in Biloxi. But the RSA’s @shananigan93 was in the audience in Birmingham and sent us this account:
Birmingham in ‘Bama
[stextbox id=”custom”]
Hi! I was lucky to attend Craig’s show in Birmingham! I barely passed the age requirement to enter the club and it was my first time seeing Craig so I was pretty stoked (to say the least).
We had fantastic seats, right in front by the stage entrance, which came in handy later. Rory Scovel did in fact open for Craig. He was great! Then Craig came on stage.
I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t smiling. One thing that the Alabama crowd really loved was when Craig mumbled “Roll Tide” (the motto of the Alabama Crimson Tide) in his Southern accent. He said he wanted to get a flag that said “Roll Tide” when he cussed on the LLS.
A very nice lady at our table happened to bring a rather larger-than-life-size styrofoam cutout of Craig’s head. She said she wanted to draw his attention and well, it worked. She had it laying on the table and during the show he finally looked down and said, “What is that? Give it to me!” He showed everyone in the crowd and asked, “Why do you even have this?!” He then gives it back to her and told her to put it somewhere he couldn’t see it.
At the end of the show, Craig was asked to sign something and did, which encouraged more people to come to the stage. Trying to leave, he said he had to get to Nashville. At that point, I was standing at the stage where he would leave with my copy of American On Purpose and a Sharpie, hoping he would look down and see me. He did! I actually thought he was going to tell me he had to go but to my surprise he said, “Okay,” grabbed my book and signed it, probably because I was practically begging him with my eyes. I said, “Thank you so much.” He said a kind, “You’re welcome,” and turned to walk away, nearly forgetting he still had my Sharpie. But he remembered and tossed it back to me.
Best night ever. My newly autographed book is now sitting next to my snake mug. I can’t wait to see him again! He was hilarious… of course, I never doubted that he would be! [/stextbox]
Nashville Nights
The following night, the RSA’s @GlitteryGirrll got to see Craig perform at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville. She wrote:
[stextbox id=”custom”]
I was at Nashville show, was hilarious as expected. This was my first experience of Craig live and I LOVED every minute of it.
Ted Alexandro opened for him and did a great job “warming” us up!
Craig entered the stage following an exciting entrance of darkening of the hall and special lighting effects. Of course we gave him a standing ovation.  He brought down the house with local humor about our Southern accents that he jokingly said he can’t seem to understand.
He laughed at some of his own jokes and even said after one he would have to leave it in, so apparently a new joke for the road was created. He was heckled at end of show by audience members by asking him to play the mouth organ before leaving the stage. Instead, he responded by saying he would do an awkward pause, which wasn’t so awkward and wasnt too much of a pause, either. He left stage to another standing ovation.
My seat put me right at eye level with him. I laughed ’til I cried, laughed ’til I squeeked and loved EVERY minute! [/stextbox]
It’s Picture Time!
While at the show in Nashville, the RSA’s @bgrhubarb and @adnamay took some wonderful photos that they’ve graciously shared with us:
[ssg-superb-slideshow=5=600=400=7000=750=0=NO]
Craig and Trace Have Dinner
If you remember, Craig tweeted on Monday that he planned to have dinner with singer Trace Adkins after his Monday night show in Nashville. The RSA’s very talented @VincentWaller72, who directed and wrote on the cult cartoon classic Ren and Stimpy, decided to draw what that dinner may have looked. It looks like Craig might become the meal if he isn’t careful! To see more of Vincent’s great work, check out his blog.
Tonight’s Guests
The Late Late Show is revisiting Paris this week. Tuesday’s show features Kristen Bell, Eddie Izzard and actor Jean Reno (from August 2, 2011). And on Wednesday, Craig visits the Louvre, plays in the pond with Jean-Michel Cousteau and relates the story of cheesemaker Marie-Anne Cantin (from August 3, 2011).
And a final note from CBS, with whom we join in offering our congratulations:
Congratulations Melissa McCarthy from #MikeAndMolly on being nominated for an Academy Award for #Bridesmaids!
January 25th may be Robert Burns‘ birthday but January 26th is Ted Alexandro‘s birthday! He tweeted on Thursday:
And the backstage treats were just the beginning, because as you can see the photo captured by the RSA’s @bgrhubarb, Craig led the audience in Des Moines in song:
