Mario Cantone Live

At The Cabot, Beverly, June 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets $28.50-$62.50, 978-927-3100, www.thecabot.org,

Just a few minutes into a recent phone interview, Mario Cantone starts on a tear. He’s fed up with modern culture, especially the overreaching influence of reality shows, and the new president (whom he doesn’t name). Even through the phone, you can picture his eyes rolling. He stops himself before he gets into a full-on rant. He’s got a lot to say, and it’s been building up since his last one-man special, “Laugh Whore,’’ debuted on Showtime in 2005. But he’s saving it for his audience at The Cabot in Beverly Saturday night.

“It’s all horrifying,’’ says Cantone. “It really is. I just want to stay under the covers sometimes and sleep. I really do. Although I do sleep all I can. Keeps you young. That’s my beauty hint.’’

Cantone says his audience can count on some politically-minded material that boils down to one thing. “The dumbing down of people,’’ he says. “The dumbing down of a lot of stuff. But mostly, I’m there to entertain and do my [stuff].’’

There’s more to his act than politics. Cantone has been workshopping his new one-man show, which he plans to call “Mario Cantone Swings Both Ways’’ once he gets it into shape for previews. Like “Laugh Whore,’’ it’s a mix of stand-up and music. Cantone’s got serious theater chops; his resume includes a stint on Broadway in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Assassins.’’ As with “Laugh Whore’’ — which Cantone presented on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination — he’s singing original music written by his husband and partner of 26 years, Jerry Dixon.

“My show’s such a mish-mosh of things,’’ says Cantone. “I’ve got a band and there’s live music in it, also, because I’m musical. And I can’t work without a band anymore because . . . I don’t know. Because I’m a diva. And I’m not as self-contained as I used to be. I mean, I certainly could get up there and just do stand-up if I had to, but I don’t like that. I like having my band. I like doing an opening number. I’m old school. Except I have a filthy mouth.’’

Cantone grew up in Stoneham and got his start in the Boston comedy scene while a student at Emerson College. These days, he mostly plays theaters with a backing band, or at least a piano player.

“I love to sing. Jon Stewart said I was the white Sammy Davis Jr. I said, ‘That’s perfect! That’s just great!’ ’’

Cantone and Dixon sometimes perform together in a musical comedy show called “How Long Has This Been Going On?’’ “I love doing it,’’ says Cantone. “I tell him all the time, ‘I work alone, you know. I enjoy working alone.’ But we get along very well when it comes to working together.’’

Musical impressions are a staple of Cantone’s shows, and he has some in the new show, courtesy of Dixon. “He wrote an original Bruce Springsteen parody,’’ says Cantone. “He wrote another Liza Minnelli parody that’s hilarious. There was one in ‘Laugh Whore,’ but this is a brand-new one. But he doesn’t take songs of theirs and rewrite the words and use their music. He writes a completely new song. Something that sounds like something they would sing. It’s pretty brilliant, what he does.’’

Though his father ran a rock club, Cantone would go to the Berklee stage to see R&B singers like Luther Vandross and Stephanie Mills. “Meanwhile, everyone I went to college with was going to Cantone’s and seeing the Stompers and the Marshalls and the Real Kids,’’ he says.

There are some film and TV roles potentially on the horizon for Cantone, but he hesitates to mention specifics until the deals are final. He loves acting, and he’ll do anything that’s scripted. But he says he’s “a beggar that’s choosy,’’ and won’t do reality shows. “And I’ve been offered them,’’ he says. “Believe me. I’m offered what I don’t want and I can’t get what I want. So it can be hard.’’

For years, the prize for a comic was to helm a sitcom, but that wasn’t an option for Cantone for years. “I was an openly gay man performing in the early ’90s and late ’80s,’’ he says. “That’s like, you have leprosy.’’ Things have improved, but not as much as Cantone would like. “There’s still only room for a few of us, believe me, but it’s definitely better,’’ he says. “There’s a lot of people that hate gay people. No matter what we do.’’

As a North Shore native, Cantone says he’s excited to play The Cabot. He visits the area frequently, but hasn’t played Boston since a 2010 gig at the Wilbur. “I love where I come from, I really do,’’ he says. “And I haven’t played Boston in so long. It’s nice to be going home.’’

Mario Cantone Live

At The Cabot, Beverly, June 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets $28.50-$62.50, 978-927-3100, www.thecabot.org,

Nick A. Zaino III can be reached at nick@nickzaino.com.