POST-'RAYMOND' ROMANO GETS READY TO TEE UP HIS ACT.

Byline: Phillip Zonkel Staff Writer

RAY ROMANO may have called it quits after nine years on his hit sitcom ``Everybody Loves Ray,'' but he still has laughs with series co-star Brad Garrett.

Two weeks ago, Romano and Garrett were both on the links at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe.

``If you ever want to go golfing, take Brad with you. He will make you look better,'' the Encino resident says. ``He came in dead last. There were 75 celebrities and pro athletes and he came in dead last.''

But Garrett did more than come in last.

``He missed a shot and got frustrated and accidentally hit himself on the head with his own putter and needed stitches on the course. It was hysterical,'' Romano says.

Apart from brushing up on his swing, Romano is returning to stand-up comedy and will be performing his act at the Orange County Performing Arts Center tonight.

In an interview from his office on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Romano talked about life after ``Raymond.''

Q: With the sitcom done, you're getting back into stand-up comedy. Were you writing material during the show and holding it, or is this new material you wrote once the show was finished?

A: I kept doing stand-up during the course of the show, but very sporadically. The thing about writing stand-up is if you're going to write stand-up, you need to go out into the clubs and test and try material. The way I used to do it was in New York City, night after night after night. Hone material and work it out. In two weeks, I could do 15 to 20 shows in front of an audience and I would know if a bit works or not.

I didn't have the opportunity to do that, but what I did was when something seemed funny, I wrote it down on a piece of paper. When I would go perform somewhere, I would try it.

I didn't have a lot of time to write new material, but I have some new stuff. I show outtakes from the show. I do a Q & A with the audience at the end, which is kind of fun, for about 15 minutes.

Q: Do you have plans to do major comedy tours like you did early in your career?

A: I don't think I'll do that. I know Jerry Seinfeld does that. Unless I get this drive to go in and come out with a whole new act, which is what Jerry did, that will take some time and dedication. Right now I'm still toying with trying to find another film to do or seeing what's next.

I love to do stand-up, but part of the joy of it is writing new material. I will have to get out and do it more. I don't want to keep going out without coming up with new pieces.

Q: Do you miss making the show?

A: Right now, we'd be about a week or two away from when we would actually start filming the new shows, about the first week or two in August. I miss the camaraderie of the guys, the writers and the creative outlet. So far, it's not as big a void as I thought it would be. Right now my concentration is on what's next. Do I want to do stand-up? Do I want to try another film? Do I want to write a film?

I do appreciate the show more now that I'm away from it. I can watch it on TV and I'm just slightly removed from it. Whereas when you're in the middle of it, you're like, ``Well, I guess it's funny. I guess people like it.'' Now you can see it almost like an audience member would see it.

Q: On your Web site, you have a list of the top 10 things you were going to do after ``Everybody Loves Raymond'' went off the air. No. 10 read, ``Meet my 6-year-old. I hear he's cute.'' How are those goals coming along?

A: He's 7 years old now, actually. He was born during the show. He was born in the middle of the second year. He just was kind of getting (the idea) that Dad was on a TV show when it ended. To my (twin) 12-year-olds, who were 3 years old when the show started, this is their world. They don't remember a time when Dad wasn't on a show.

It was a very traumatic ending for them. I was shocked. In the final curtain call on the last show when we were all there, normally my kids run out with me for the curtain call. I looked to the side wondering where they were. My wife was there, and they were in her arms crying.

Then it dawned on me - a little chunk of their world just ended. When I thought of the show through their eyes, it made it a little more emotional for me.

Q: We know you have another movie coming out (``Grilled'' with Kevin James later this year), but after ``Welcome to Mooseport'' flopped, did you still want to make more films?

A: I can't top that. ``Mooseport'' was on the plane ... and two people walked out. That's my joke. I'd like to do a movie that people see.

RAY ROMANO

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

When: 7 tonight.

Tickets: $58 to $86. Call [phone]; www.ocpac.org.

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Photo:

(color) ``I love to do stand-up. ... I will have to get out and do it more,'' says Ray Romano, who appears tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Karl Walter/Getty Images