By HAL BOEDEKER

You might know Craig Ferguson, the host for five years of “The Late Late Show” on CBS. But you haven’t had the full Ferguson experience unless you’ve caught him away from television.

He is a salty talker. Even raw. You can see him at full force when Ferguson brings his standup act to the Coral Springs Center for the Arts on Tuesday.

Ferguson, 47, talked by phone with me yesterday. Ferguson was watching contractors move shrubs at his Los Angeles home.

You’ve just moved to Twitter. How is that?

“It’s awesome. I do kind of like it. It’s like taking a straw poll on whoever’s watching the show. It’s like market research every day. It’s very useful. No sponsors. You can say what you like. It’s like doing standup in little increments.”

How many dates do you play in a year and what are your topics these days?

“I’m doing about 60 or 70. I’ll finish up the year in Carnegie Hall in October. The subjects tend to be what I can’t talk about on TV. There are no sponsors and no censors, and you can say what you like. It’s a little rawer. It’s a little more dangerous than network TV.”

Do you talk about what peeves you?

“Yes, stuff that irritates me. You can talk about religion. You can never talk religion on network TV. It makes too many people angry. You can talk about sex. You don’t have to do double entendres. You can do entendres. You’re going straight up. It’s what I’m used to, where I’m at my most comfortable.”

Do you talk politics?

“Some, but not too much. I have a deep and profound mistrust of all politicians. I kind of don’t go into anything with a great polemic. People have got their ideas, and [I’m] not going to change them. People said, ‘He’ll do the White House press dinner and he’ll stick it to Bush and Cheney.’ What is wrong with you people? I try not to preach. I’m not a preacher.”

Does going out on the standup circuit re-energize you?

“Yes, it’s a bit of a pressure cooker. Sometimes CBS will say to me, ‘Look there’s a major car company. Please don’t do that thing you were going to do about cars.’ You can’t talk about testicles for five minutes. They have criteria. Standup is like a pressure cooker. You can cut loose. It’s kind of the difference in parties. At CBS, I’m in your house. I’m mindful of that. When I do standup, you’re in my home and I can say what I want to.”

You’ve won raves for an interview you did — without an audience — with Stephen Fry. What did you think of that show and do you plan any changes?

“I’m always thinking about some changes. I’m not about to turn into a Barbara Walters special and ask what kind of tree they are. With that particular [Fry] show I just wanted to [mess] with the format. You’ve got to change it up or you’d lose your mind. I’ve known Stephen Fry for years. It wasn’t necessary to do that much work. Once I started talking, I knew Stephen would be his charming self and I could take all the credit. That’s what I did.”

You’ve been compared to Jack Paar and Dick Cavett. What do you make of those comments?

“It’s nice. These are great pioneers. I don’t know enough about Paar or Cavett to comment. I didn’t grow up watching them.”

Those comparisons are a sign people think you’re smart.

“Sometimes people think you’re smart if you question the status quo, if nothing else. Why do we have to do it that way? It’s not necessary for everyone to do the same show. Let me switch it up.”

You won great reviews for the White House correspondents’ dinner two years ago. Was that a career high point and what did it do for you?

“On a couple levels, it was life-changing. It was a surreal experience. When I was sitting on the dais before I spoke, George W. Bush was the president and he was making gags. I thought this was bizarre. That’s a very difficult gig. I think they’re very smart to have [Jay] Leno do it. He’s a master at these corporate, dangerously political events. It’s a difficult gig, but I think I liked it because I got to sit at the grownups’ table for a while. All my life, I’ve felt it was Thanksgiving and I sit at the kids’ table.”

You’ve talked memorably about becoming a U.S. citizen. [Ferguson was born in Scotland.] Are you a hopeful citizen these days?

“I’m always hopeful. I’m hopeful we crawl out of this kind of rather turgid period of history we are in. Everyone has different ideas of how to do it. I think in our desire to create a better America, we have to have civilized debate in this country and not just yelling.”

What do you make of late night with Jay Leno’s return?

“I know and like Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. I’m glad I wasn’t involved in all that terrible mess. What I do isn’t part of all that. I want to distance myself from that. Whatever late night is, don’t include me in that. I have a public-access show with puppets. I don’t feel that I’m a late-night show unless it’s an old-fashioned late-night show where you do what you want to do. Much of television has been homogenized in the desire to avoid annoying or upsetting people. I don’t want to stir the hornet’s nest. But I don’t feel I have to conduct the show in a certain way because everyone else does it that way.”

How has David Letterman, your boss, handled the past year?

“Dave’s had a difficult year, no doubt. Up and down, and everything else. I’m a great admirer and fan of David Letterman. I believe he deconstructed late night. He is my boss. It would be awkward if he was [a jerk].”

You’ve spoken movingly about addiction. Are there any drawbacks to that frankness?

“I don’t’ think there’s anything wrong with telling the truth. I know it isn’t fashionable. When I was younger man, I thought everyone had their [stuff] together. I’ve sat with the most powerful people in the United States. I’ve noticed everyone is [nervous] and there seems to be a fashion to try and appear very confident, like you’ve got your [stuff] together. All I’m saying is I’m not any of those things and I’m not going to lie about it.”

How is life these days?

“It’s not bad. I’m watching the guys in the back yard move that shrub. I used to be one of the guys who moved the shrub. I feel a little better. Things are OK. I don’t want to push it or press my luck.”