An affable big man hopes to make it big

"I'm just me. I like to just talk [off] the cuff. I'm not raunchy, but I'm just honest," says Lavell Crawford.

If you're a fan of Lavell Crawford, there are several versions of him available. You can choose the most sanitized Crawford on NBC's "Last Comic Standing," where he came in second to Jon Reep. You can see a looser Crawford tonight on Comedy Central when his half-hour special airs. Or you can go and see the true Crawford Sunday at the Comedy Connection, where he's free to say anything he wants.

"I think it's so funny because TV forced me to be nice and hunky-dory, but I'm not a Bill Cosby comic by no means," he says. "No offense to Bill Cosby, I'm just me. I like to just talk [off] the cuff. I'm not raunchy, but I'm just honest."

The Crawford that audiences got to know on "Last Comic Standing" was an affable big man, making fun of his weight and joking about his diabetes. And that's not an inaccurate picture of the comedian - it's just incomplete. Catch him on "Def Comedy Jam" or "Laffapalooza," and you'll get something a little more raw. When Crawford played Lowell last summer with the "Last Comic Standing" tour, he was surprised to see children in the audience.

"I forgot we were on prime time, so the kids got to watch me as well as the parents," he says. "You don't realize what kind of audience is watching you. You've got America watching you, families sitting down and eating dinner. You're bringing families together."

Crawford's material often turns to his weight, but he says he doesn't like to rely on it and tries to find other ways to approach it rather than making simple "fat jokes" (although some of his material would fit that description). He talks about finding out he was diabetic and how he has had to make changes in his life, which is something to which people can relate.

For an example of what he's up against, you need to look no farther than his contract rider, which specifies that his dressing room be stocked with fruit and vegetable plates and that his hotel have a health club. "Yeah, yeah, you've got to change your way of life," he says. "I joke about the weight, but the only way I can joke about it is if I'm doing something about it, I believe."

Crawford was popular in some markets before "Last Comic Standing," having built a fan base in the East and South by touring for roughly 15 years before he got that break. Being a finalist on the show has opened doors for him - he recently played a week in Canada in a club he had never played before, and he says it's much easier to negotiate contracts now. But he would have kept at it anyway, network exposure or no.

"I'd have found my niche," he says. "Katt Williams is real famous and he didn't do no 'Last Comic Standing.' He did a movie and he became famous. So there's always venues, there's always areas that I would have found a way to make it."

ImprovBoston's new digs

This past Tuesday evening ImprovBoston managing director Elyse Schuerman was on her way to Home Depot to pick up flooring for the troupe's new Central Square location, which has its soft opening tonight. The plan was to open last weekend, but last-minute changes to satisfy local inspectors forced them to push it back a week. Everything seems to be in place, and Schuerman is crossing her fingers. "It's probably not a bad idea just to tell people to check the website [improvboston.com] for details," she says.

The official grand opening will be March 14, coinciding with an open house complete with faux real-estate agents handing out spec sheets to visitors. The troupe will return to its normal schedule March 15.

Around town

Bob Marley is at the Comedy Connection tonight and tomorrow. The Comedy Studio hosts the Benefit for the Asian Cultural Development Corp., with Joe Wong, Sandy Asai, Don Diego, and Ahmed Bharoocha tomorrow, and the Benefit for Project Stretch with Tony V, Erin Judge, Corey Manning, and others Sunday. Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, and Jon Benjamin bring "Tearing the Veil of the Maya," which they perform weekly in New York City, to the Museum of Fine Arts' Remis Auditorium Thursday. Mirman and Showalter won "Best Host" honors from New York's ECNY comedy awards this year.