Now performing at the Excalibur, the showroom he shares with male strippers – although not at the same time, mind you – is nothing to get too excited about. A few booths surround the tightly packed narrow tables and banquet chairs that are apparently designed to make you uncomfortable within about three seconds of sitting down in them. Seriously, who still thinks this kind of layout is a good thing?

But that’s okay, you’re not here for the furniture, you’re here to laugh and Louie Anderson does not disappoint.

His stock and trade has always been humor about his weight and he still hits those beats with the kind of timing that only a true master of the craft can muster. On walking the maze of ropes in the airport security lines, with a low mumble “I hope there’s a piece of cheese at the end.” On his inability to move gracefully, “If I could spin (in a circle) the tickets would’ve cost you an additional $30.” Why doesn’t he play craps? “I’m too lazy. If they had a version where you could lay down to throw the dice, then okay.”

Vegas is a good target as well, with everything from the psychology of slot machines (“A woman once told me to cash out my winnings but keep playing because the machine will think I’ve left.”) to the hell he caught for splitting a pair of tens at a blackjack table once.

Getting older is a big part of the routine these days, detailing his battles to try to be healthier by doing things like quitting smoking despite the fact that the people who make those nicotine patches don’t make entire suits of the stuff.

It’s obvious throughout the show that Anderson likes to riff, like a jazz artist who goes in whatever direction he happens to find himself going in. He chats up people in the audience and takes his cues from them, turning “where are you from” and “what do you do for a living” into extended bits about everything from flying to guns and why the simple solution to the war in Iraq is to quite simply build a bunch of Krispy Kreme shops over there (“I know we were going to go blow something up, but the donuts are hot!”).

Anderson comes off as a truly nice guy and the humor is accessible for just about everyone, with nary a hot button topic or “adult” joke in sight. Add in a reasonable ticket price and you have a terrific option for an early evening Vegas show.