Craig Ferguson hopes to return as a late night talk show host after making his Spokane debut

The rumor mill has been buzzing that Craig Ferguson is thinking about returning to the talk show ranks. Ferguson, who was a refreshingly amusing, quirky and unpredictable host of “The Late Late Show” from 2005 to 2014, has confirmed that he is considering coming back for a chat program.

“I have meetings next week in Los Angeles for a show,” Ferguson said, calling from New England while on vacation with his family. “I’m considering doing a show but I just don’t want to do one every day. I like doing a talk show, but not enough to do it every single day.”

Ferguson, who will perform Sunday at Northern Quest Resort and Casino, isn’t the only former host who has had the itch to return but refuses full-time status. Jon Stewart has come back to “The Daily Show,” but will only host Monday nights until the presidential election is over in November.

Ferguson, 61, left his high profile gig at CBS, which followed his pal David Letterman’s talk show, due to burnout.

“I had enough,” Ferguson said. “I enjoyed it, but it was all-consuming.”

Some entertainers, such as Jay Leno, who worked 17-hour days when he hosted “The Tonight Show” and did stand-up on the road almost every weekend, revel in the avalanche of work.

“Some people are all about it,” Ferguson said. “I’m very good friends with Jay. We do gigs together sometimes and he talks about how much work there was with our talk shows. Jay was much more professional than I was and spent more hours working on things every day.

“The tough part for me is all the time spent away from your family. Talk shows just take over your life. I’m grateful for the show, but I had to step away from it.”

The solace for Ferguson is that he has immersed himself in stand-up over the last decade. The lighthearted Scot has no gatekeeper, so he can deliver his own material and make his own schedule.

“That’s the best part of going on the road,” Ferguson said. “It’s all on me.”

Ferguson looks forward to making his Spokane debut.

“Even though I’m coming in for the first time, I must say that Spokane is my favorite city in the United States,” Ferguson joked.

Ferguson isn’t sure what he’ll riff about when he comes to town.

“I’m not certain of what I’ll talk about, but I know I won’t be talking politics,” Ferguson said. “I made a rule 7 years ago that I wouldn’t talk about politics onstage.

“It’s a stylistic choice. I talked about this with Jim Gaffigan. His stylistic choice is never to cuss. He’ll cuss occasionally offstage but he’s more comfortable not cussing while performing. That’s how I am about politics. I’ll just be there to provide levity when I perform.”

When Ferguson isn’t on the road, he splits time between New York City and Scotland. “I left Los Angeles (in 2018),” Ferguson said. “It’s a one-industry town and I had to get away.”

At times, Ferguson is reminiscent of the late night king Johnny Carson.

“I think that had something to do with the fact that Peter Lassally produced my talk show and he produced Johnny on ‘The Tonight Show’ for 30 years,” Ferguson said. “Peter taught me everything that I needed to know about hosting late night. Peter was my mentor and boss, who was a genius at what he did.”

Ferguson does miss interacting with his guests.

“I had fun with it,” Ferguson said. “I was always happy to see Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher, Betty White and Kristen Bell.”

The late Williams was like a tsunami when he bantered with Ferguson. .

“Robin was just what you say he was but a lot of people don’t know how kind he was,” Ferguson said. “He was the sweetest man.”

Ferguson and Bell pass for close friends, since their conversations were always easy and open.

“I was just talking about that with Kristen on the podcast with (Bell’s husband) Dax (Shepard),” Ferguson said. “The funny thing is that we never hung out socially. But when we were on camera, we could talk about everything for hours.”

Perhaps Ferguson will return to late night television.

“But if I don’t there’s always stand-up, and for that I’m eternally grateful,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson misses the late comedians George Carlin and Joan Rivers.

“George and Joan were philosophers who called people out,” Ferguson said. “I miss them both since they were Titanic figures in comedy. Joan doesn’t get the credit she deserves, but she was an iconoclast.”

Ferguson, who was a drummer in Scottish punk bands during the ‘80s, compares comedy to music.

“Robin Williams used to talk about stand-up being like jazz,” Ferguson said. “I get it since it can be improvisational. Jay (Leno) and I were just talking the other day about the music and comedy connection. Jay said, ‘You start out with your big number, then you go to a ballad.’ Comics think like musicians and that’s not a bad thing.”