Anderson delights in making audiences laugh

There have been great television moms — June Cleaver, Carol Brady, Claire Huxtable, Rosanne Conner.

But it’s safe to say there’s never been anyone like Christine Baskets, the mom in the FX series “Baskets.” She is played by comedian Louie Anderson, the longtime stand-up, former game show host and all-around nice guy who’s found a calling playing a not-so-nice woman. He won an Emmy for best supporting actor last year and is up for the award again this season.

“I just love that it’s a brand-new character. It’s something completely odd, but people have said to me, ‘My new favorite TV mom is Christine,’” said Anderson, who appears for a two-night gig at Blue Note Hawaii starting Friday.

Anderson has been doing stand-up for nearly 40 years, making his first appearance on national TV in the mid-1980s. Family — particularly the dynamic between his saintly mother, abusive father and their 11 children — provided fodder for his routine for decades.

It wasn’t a stretch to hit the nuance of a woman well past her prime who takes in her two adult twins (Zach Galifianakis in a dual role as a down-on-his-luck rodeo clown and the dean of a low-budget storefront university).

“It’s pure fun to be able to bring my mom back to life and to honor her in a sense, along with my sisters,” Anderson said. “It has been a giant service to my heart, to be honest. I always felt my mom was talented and funny and could have been anything, so it’s almost like, ‘Hey, Mom, you’ve got a chance to really shine here. You made me look so good, I hope I’m making you look good.’”

Christine displays a passive-aggressive attitude with her family, but she’s aggressively passive in the face of deals at Costco; if it’s on sale, she’ll take it. Of course, Anderson doesn’t play the character precisely as his mom.

Anderson said his mother, who died in 1990, would “scold me about, ‘I’m not exactly like that.’ She would have to make that very clear. But (Christine) is a lot like my mom in the sense of being so very protective over her brood.

“I hope I’m honoring her, but you know parents, they’re never happy over your portrayal.”

He grew up in Minnesota, hoping to fly low under the radar as a social worker while also harboring hope for a stand-up career. His self-deprecating humor about his weight — it’s been in the 500-pound range at times — and dysfunctional family got immediate laughs, and it remains a staple of his routine.

And while he’s had success as a writer (three books), producer (of the two-time Emmy-winning animated show “Life With Louie”), game show host (“Family Feud”) and prime-time star, stand-up remains his first true love.

“I’m not in the bracket where you make so much money that you do it because, ‘Wow, look at how much money I’m making,’” he said. “I love doing it, and I get something out of it. As soon as I stop getting something out of it, I’ll stop doing it. It brings me great joy to bring others great joy.”

For his appearances here he’ll have some comments to make — doesn’t everyone these days — about politics, but for the most part he’ll stick to what he knows best.

“I’m not politically adept at those ‘skewer’ jokes,” said Anderson, who said he thinks his stand-up is better than ever. “My biggest target has always been me, and people really enjoy that.”

“I talk about all the F-words – food, father, family, being over 50. Lately, I’ve been talking more from my heart and really trying to make people forget their troubles.”

THE WEEK AHEAD AT BLUE NOTE

>> On Aug. 20, vocalist Freda Payne appears for “A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th Birthday.” Payne has been a jazz and soul stalwart for decades, having performed as a child with Duke Ellington and producing 18 albums over the years. Her bright, clear vocals were featured in her signature hit “Band of Gold,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1970. Shows are at 6:30 and 9 p.m.; $12.75-$35.

>> Aug. 22 through Aug. 27, the award-winning cappella group Take 6 takes the stage. The smooth-singing sextet has won 10 Grammys and other top honors in gospel music throughout a career that began in the 1980s on a college campus in Alabama. More recently they were the first American group to perform in Cuba after diplomatic relations were restored, and released a new album, “Believe,” in 2016. Shows are at 6:30 and 9 p.m.; $29.75-$55.

Tickets and details at bluenotehawaii.com or 777-4890.