COMEDY : Shandling Squeezes In Practice for Grammys

In late 1990, Garry Shandling was discussing the difference in his live stand-up routine earlier that night at the San Diego Improv, as compared to his character on “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,� which had just finished a four-year run on Showtime and the Fox Network.

On stage that December night, Shandling was energetic and alive (albeit working from notes) and animatedly explaining to the audience how sensitive he was when he took his dog in to be neutered. (“Can you just trim his nails and work your way up slowly?�) On his TV show, however, he seemed to be a man desperately seeking sleep.

“That’s because most of the time I had just finished reworking that week’s script and had just jumped in front of the camera,� he explained then, adding that the perfectionist in him spent 15 hours a day on the show, which didn’t leave much energy for on-camera antics.

Apparently, filling his days to capacity has become a habit.

These days, you can find Shandling, 44, dabbling in movies, getting ready to star in the third season of HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show,� preparing to host the Grammys and appearing in Irvine tonight and Friday for four shows.

No wonder he turned down a reported $20-million NBC offer to take David Letterman’s late-night spot when Letterman bolted to CBS last year. Shandling wouldn’t have had time to cash the check, much less do the show justice, which is why he says he rejected it.

He recently finished filming a remake of 1957’s “An Affair to Remember,� in which the comic plays a lead role as lawyer and confidant to Warren Beatty’s character. He has also signed to do “The Night Before Christmas,� a collaboration of Nora Ephron and Steve Martin.

As for the 36th annual “Grammy Awards,� this will be Shandling’s fourth time as host. The show airs March 1 on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York. The Grammys are also why local fans will have a chance to see him in person. He’ll be working out Grammy gags.

Over at HBO, Shandling is gearing up for a two-year contract to do 35 more episodes of “The Larry Sanders Show,� which he co-created and co-writes. It debuted in the summer of 1992.

In its short life, the talk-show takeoff--which brings the audience behind the scenes to see Shandling’s stressing over ratings, guests, competition and personal misfortunes--has already picked up eight Emmy nominations and four Cable Ace Awards, including best comedy series and best writing. The idea for the show sprang from Shandling’s frequent stints as a guest host of “The Tonight Show.� He realized the backstage workings were ripe fodder for spoofing.

A few months ago, in a rare non-career move, Shandling took some time to uproot from Sherman Oaks to Brentwood, into a walled-in villa with four bedrooms, 8,000 square feet, a basketball court and a rock-and-boulder swimming pool on about two acres.

For someone who used to ask, “How’s my hair?� all the time, that’s a pretty fair answer.

Who: Garry Shandling, with Kathleen Madigan.

When: Today, Feb. 17, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 18, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.

Where: Irvine Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to the Jamboree Road exit and head south. Turn left onto Campus Drive. The Improv is in the Irvine Marketplace shopping center, across from the UC Irvine campus.

Wherewithal: $20.

Where to call: (714) 854-5455.