Billy Crystal brings his stand-up act to Van Wezel this evening

He’s had as long and varied career as just about anyone in show business. From his star-making role in “Soap,” in which he played the first openly gay character on an American TV series, to his years on “Saturday Night Live” to his starring roles in the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” and the buddy comedy “City Slickers,” and his Tony Award winning one-man Broadway show, Billy Crystal has done it all. He even hosted the Academy Awards and an extremely short-lived talk show.

So he’ll have a lot of stories to tell when he comes to Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall for Thrusday for “Spend the Night With Billy Crystal,” and evening of stand-up comedy and story-telling.

Crystal describes the show as “loose, unpredictable and intimate.”

“There’s stand up, and ‘sit down’ which gives me great freedom to tell stories, show film clips and talk about my life and career and the world as I see it,” Crystal said.

Opening the show is Bonnie Hunt, who’s also had a varied career. She’s hosted an eponymous talk show and starred in a couple of sitcoms, appeared in a whole lot of hit movies, including “Rain Man,” “Beethoven,” “Jerry Maguire,” “The Green Mile” and “Cheaper by the Dozen.”

Details: 8 p.m. Jan. 26, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets still available are in the $166-$176 price range. 941-953-3368, vanwezel.org.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Billy Crystal brings his stand-up act to Van Wezel this evening."