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“Seinfeld” star Michael Richards has returned to the comedy stage for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The 76-year-old comedian took the stage Wednesday night for his new tour, “Michael Richards: An Evening of Conversations, Questions and Answers.” The tour marks the first time Richards has participated in a public event since a racist outburst derailed his career in 2006.
Richards spoke candidly about the moment that changed his life and why he chose to turn down jobs for the past 17 years. The comedian was wild and rambunctious at times as he acted out scenes from the TV show that put him on the map, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I was forced to revisit [my backstory] because 19 years ago, I was in a comedy club, and I was a very naughty, naughty man,” he told the crowd. “That night, doing my act, I got interrupted, got heckled, and I really took it in the wrong way. It went really bad, and I said some awful things. Although I was trying to lift it into comedy, believe it or not, playing this idiot who’s a racist, I’m channeling all this goo-gah, which is what I do as a Dionysian most of the time. I don’t really work with an act, I’m very loose on stage, very loosey-goosey. That goosey got me into some trouble.”
‘SEINFELD’ STAR MICHAEL RICHARDS ‘FOUND FAITH’ DURING SELF-IMPOSED HIATUS FOLLOWING RACIST RANT
The “Seinfeld” star stepped out of the spotlight after the 2006 incident at the Laugh Factory, where Richards was filmed yelling racial slurs at a group of hecklers during a stand-up set.
The extended break lasted 17 years, according to Richards.
“I thought I would just back off and step into myself apart from show business, apart from the acting, apart from always being moved through character,” he said according to the outlet. “How about being moved through myself? I took an exodus and I spent many, many years just looking very, very closely at mood, feeling, thought, dialoguing with mood, feeling and thought, paying attention to my dreams.”
The “Trial and Error” star noted he “took lots of calls” from people who wanted to offer him a route back into acting, but he chose not to take anything.
“Something else wanted me to stay alone, to be a reclusive,” he told the crowd. “I spent a lot of time each morning in the Santa Monica mountains. I needed the sun. I stuck with the sun, with the earth. I felt that the order of nature supported me in gathering a kind of order within myself.”
‘SEINFELD’ STAR MICHAEL RICHARDS SAYS RACIST RANT WAS ‘DESPICABLE’ AND LED TO SELF-IMPOSED HOLLYWOOD EXILE
Richards began performing comedy at clubs in the 1970s and ’80s. The comedian was noticed by Billy Crystal, who gave him a spot on his first television special. Richards went on to star as a regular in “Fridays.”
Eventually, he landed the role of Kramer in “Seinfeld” — which ran from 1989 until 1998. Richards won three Emmy Awards for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series.
Richards was handed his own show, “The Michael Richards Show,” in 2000, but it was canceled after two months.
During his time on the show “Seinfeld,” Richards’ character was a fan favorite. The quirky Kramer lived across the hall from Jerry Seinfeld’s character. The two remain friends today, despite Richards largely stepping away from stand-up in 2007.
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Richards explained he chose to cancel himself in a memoir released in 2024.
“I took myself out,” he wrote in “Entrances and Exits.” During his time away from Hollywood, Richards worked on himself, so he could understand what led to the angry moment.
“I found faith along the way,” Richards previously told Fox News Digital. “Faith in creation and how marvelous this system is set up to – well, it’s rather merciful in that it allows us to reflect upon our wrongs and move on to get to a better place in oneself, to improve. The state of improvement. I’m fascinated by that. We as human beings can learn from our mistakes.”
Richards admitted he was “swept up by the rage” he felt when heckled by the audience members.
“I tried in the beginning, but it was all going wrong,” Richards recalled. “It’s a bad night, and I’m rather fascinated with just how bad it’s getting.”
“That’s another thing. As an artist late at night, I’m curious to see, because sometimes I’ve had really terrible nights and I stick with it and I come out with an interesting bump,” he added. “And what I mean by a bump is, I’ll find some comedy and button up the performance. That night, I think I should have just left the stage.”
Richards joked he should have said, “Goodnight, ladies and gentlemen. And I promise if you come back next week, I’ll be funnier.”
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