Dennis Miller comes to the Paramount

When it comes to snarky comedy, Dennis Miller wrote the book. From the "Weekend Update" desk at "Saturday Night Live" to his "Miller Time" rants on "The O'Reilly Factor," Miller has shot more barbs out of his mouth than Katniss with her bow in the last two "Hunger Games" films combined. He even does it while maintaining a Rat Pack-like cool.

Miller, who brings his stand-up show to the Paramount Thursday, spoke with Newsday about turning 60, mixing politics with jokes and why he's tickled by Dana Carvey's impression of him.

Not reaching 60 is worse. You take it where you can get it, baby.

I guess I'm a little older, my fans would say wiser and my detractors would say stupider. It's either wisdom or early onset dementia. It all depends on what prism you're viewing it from.

It's my monkey trick, man. I have a reasonably deep draw and a nice retrieval system. I don't know where it comes from.

Oh no, I was the one who said he should do it on-screen because he used to do it in the office. I said, "If I write something for 'Weekend Update' will you come up and do it?" I felt if you ridiculed yourself, it freed you to ridicule others. I always said Dana is the single funniest person who has ever been on "SNL," so I was flattered by it.

When I do my show I'm trying to get laughs, not make political points. But you do become known as a topical comedian. I consider myself a pragmatist. Socially I'm very liberal. I'm for gay marriage and all that stuff. I just want to kill the bad guys and keep half my money. I guess that's made me conservative.

I did the best I could for six years. But my favorite would be Norm MacDonald. Norm saying, "Here's the fake news" was one of the funniest throwaways I've ever heard.

If that's who's going to run against each other then they better shoot that debate in IMAX. That's like the pantsuit vs. the track suit -- Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

I try to be ethical in my approach to them. I try not to be flippant unless I feel that somebody, in my eyes at least, deserves to be hammered and then let the chips fall.

I wouldn't take them. It's not because I hate the man. I find him boring. The whole thing about Obama I never got. I'll pass, he doesn't interest me.

When I'm on the radio nobody's looking at me. I can be as non-ruffled as the kid on "Weekend Update." There's something to be said about not flinching, and on the radio I don't flinch.

There's camaraderie in trench warfare. At "SNL" you're in the belly of the beast. You're in gladiator school there. You run into somebody else who's been to gladiator school there's a shorthand between you.

I don't swear when I'm out on the road with Bill. I'm Esther Williams water skiing behind the cigarette boat and he's the cigarette boat. They show up to see him and part of them me but I wouldn't do anything to offend his audience.

Nah, it's too boring. You sit in a trailer for 16 hours a day and then you're in a sword fight with Corey Feldman at three in the morning. Check!