Larry King. Radio host. TV icon. Stand-up comedian?

Larry King abruptly stopped reminiscing about his days at CNN.

"Hold on," he said, calling from his home in Beverly Hills.

In the background, he chastised Cannon, his youngest son. "Lie down. I want you to rest," King said, his burnished baritone direct and pointed, much like his tone when he hosted a nightly talk show on CNN. "C'mon, I'm doing an interview with Virginia."

King returned. "That's my 11-year-old," he said. "I picked him up from school today. He's supposed to be sick.

"So where was I?"

The broadcast legend switched to another topic: his decision to try stand-up comedy. But barely a minute in, he stopped again. "Hold on," he said. "I got a problem here with the kid."

King sounded annoyed: "What is it now? You're bleeding? Oh, stop it. Lie down. C'mon. Hey, you're going back to school. You wanna go back to school?"

King returned to the line.

"Now he's got fake blood in his mouth," King explained. "A real entertainer, this kid. I'm the age of a grandfather, and I got to be a father."

At 78, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native said he feels more active and daring than he did when he started in the business 55 years ago.

When he's not parenting Cannon and 12-year-old Chance, King has been refining his new stage show, "Larry King: Standing Up," which stops at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News on Thursday.

The venture contrasts with his image as a serious, suspenders-wearing journalist, but King said it isn't really much of a departure.

"I tell a lot of funny stories. I've been doing it for a long time," King said. "I speak at a lot of conventions and sales meetings and the like, so I'm very used to speaking.

"When I semi-retired from CNN, my nephew, a Broadway producer, said, 'You know, you're really funny, and you got all these funny stories. Why don't you take it on the road?' "

Overseen by Canadian director Jim Millan and producer Karl Engemann, the one-man show centers on King's journey from a streetwise Brooklyn kid to one of the most recognized figures in broadcast journalism.

In between, he riffs on his marriages (eight in all), interviews with presidents, and life off the air at CNN. The show opened in April in Torrington, Conn.

"I love standing onstage. I love making people laugh," King said. "It's a different me, and people are curious. We never had a night where they didn't enjoy it."

Shows have included a Q&A segment with the audience. It's an extension of the immediate contact, reminiscent of the call-in part of his CNN show, that King relishes.

"The whole world is communications, and I'm a communicator," he said. "I have over 2 million followers on Twitter, but I dictate my tweets. I don't text. I like the human contact. So all the years I've been having human contact, I bring to the show. There's not a serious moment in the show."

In 2010, King retired from "Larry King Live," the Emmy-winning nightly program he hosted for 25 years. His guests over the years included everyone from former President Bill Clinton to Virginia pop star Chris Brown. But King knew it was time to move on.

"The truth is I've always had long contracts, and when CNN came to me and said, 'We'd extend you for a year,' I saw the writing on the wall," King said. "Nothing lasts forever, so I worked out the last year. When the train gets to the last stop, get off."

But he misses it sometimes.

"When there are big stories, I really miss it. You get the head of North Korea dies, you want to go on the air," King said. "There are mixed emotions. You don't miss doing the Kardashians. But they kill Osama bin Laden, you want to go to work. It's like watching your mother-in-law go over the cliff in your new car. There's an up and down to it."

Beyond his presence on CNN, King also appeared in movies and TV shows, usually as himself. They included the films "Primary Colors" and "Contact" and the sitcoms "Murphy Brown" and "Frasier."

He was born Lawrence Zeiger, but changed his last name soon after becoming a radio disc jockey in Miami back in 1957. "King," which he plucked from an ad in The Miami Herald minutes before going on the air, was easier to remember.

He worked his way up in the Florida market, interviewing celebrities and providing commentary on sports. By the close of the '70s, he'd gained a national audience. In 1985, "Larry King Live" premiered on CNN.

Doing the show became second nature, and the impulse to go into the studio remains.

"I love the cameras. I love the microphones. And this isn't ego," King said. "It becomes part of your skin. They call me right this second, and I'll go on the air right this minute. You don't have to tell me who the guest is."

But his drive over the years has taken a personal toll. Two years after "Larry King Live" became a network sensation, King suffered a major heart attack and underwent quintuple bypass surgery. He had another surgery in 2010 to remove plaque from his heart.

Life at home was sometimes unstable, as King was married eight times to seven different women. He married his current wife, Shawn Southwick-King, in 1997. She's the mother of Chance and Cannon. King also has three grown children, ranging in age from 41 to 50.

The oldest, Larry Jr., is president of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Established in 1988, the organization assists in medications and surgeries for people living with heart disease.

As he tours the country with his one-man show, King also has been putting finishing touches on an upcoming CNN special to air next month.

Though retired, King still hosts four CNN specials a year. Next month's program, to air close to Valentine's Day, will focus on literal matters of the heart. Guests will include Dick Cheney and Barbra Streisand.

The acerbic talk-show host enjoys family life these days.

"I'm having to do things I never thought I'd have to do again in life, like go to school and get up early and make sure the boys do their homework," King said.

Son Cannon appeared on the last episode of "Larry King Live."

"He does a great impression of me," King said with a throaty chuckle. "He's gonna be an entertainer or a great athlete - one or the other, maybe both."

King paused. "Hold on."

A few seconds passed, and he returned to the phone. "Hey, I gotta run, the kid again."

Rashod Ollison, (757) 446-2732, rashod.ollison@pilotonline.com

Check out Rashod's blog at www.hamptonroads.com/behindthegroove