Louie Anderson may have had the sweetest success story of any Twin Cities comic in 2016, but Cedric Yarbrough came a comfortable second. After years of stealing scenes in sitcoms and films, the Dudley Riggs veteran finally got his big break as a big-hearted caretaker to a physically challenged teenager in ABC's freshman hit, "Speechless."
Yarbrough was telling me how he was ajdusting to his new level of fame during a network party Tuesday night that also drew Rachel Griffiths, Randall Park, Eric Stonestreet, Jenna Elfman and Clark Gregg.
"I used to be bro-famous," he said. "Now I'm family famous."
For the third time, Yarbrough went overseas during the holiday season to entertain the troops.
"In Honduras, there was a snake in my room," he said. "And it wasn't a Minnesota snake."
At some point during the conversation, we were joined by Allison Tolman. That name may not ring a bell, but her face should. She came out of nowhere in 2014 to star in the first season of "Fargo," a performance that earned her a Emmy nomination and led to the opportunity to lead her own sitcom, "Downward Dog," which premieres later this year.
I had chatted with her earlier in the evening, reminding her that, no matter how successful the new show is, she'll always be "one of us."
"An honorary Minnesotan?" said the Texas native, who admits she'll sometimes slip into the old accent when she talks about the show that put her on the map. "That's nice."
