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Making a Lasting Impression
By Len Butcher
Las Vegas hotels continue to add entertainers, as well as production shows, to their ongoing lineups, and this means good news for you. One of the best has recently made a move from one property to another and is filling the seats.
Any guy who can go from pen and ink impressions to impersonating real people has to possess one hell of a fertile mind, and that's the multi-talented Gordie Brown. Now performing at the Venetian six nights a week, after moving uptown from his long-running gig at the Golden Nugget, Brown is where he belongs. I caught up with him in his dressing room for a chat the night before he flew to New York to tape the David Letterman Show for "Impressionist Week." Brown's performance drew a rousing standing ovation and praise from Letterman, who said, "That was just unbelievable."
Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Brown began putting his creativity to work as a political cartoonist for the Ottawa Sunday Herald. After co-workers entered him in an industry talent competition in which he took first prize, he caught the entertainment bug. Inspired by show business idols and fellow Canadians Paul Anka and Rich Little, Brown tells me, "They were the light bulbs that went off in my head."
Sometime after the "Aha moment," Brown pulled together $3,000, jumped in his car and headed for the neon lights of Vegas. His goal was to break into the big time and work with the two Canadian icons. It soon came to fruition. In less than two years, Brown was opening for both Anka and Little before moving on to work with Jay Leno, Louie Anderson, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Barry Manilow, The Righteous Brothers and Jerry Seinfeld.
Brown considers himself first and foremost a comedian and writes all of his own material. He also includes a lot of singing in his show, but says when he was young, he never did have a good singing voice (though I'm sure audiences would challenge that statement). Brown laughs, "In fact, when I did sing, people would tell me to shut up. But that spurred me on. It's like when someone tells you that you can't do something, you want to prove them wrong. I've been very fortunate in the fact that I didn't listen to people." So much so, that as far as singing, he has been writing songs that he will release (as himself) on two CDs in the coming year.
His real strength, he says, is being able to observe and create dialogue for those observations that he then weaves into his show. Brown takes on approximately 60 personalities per show, covering a wide variety of entertainers, including Jim Carrey, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Walken and a very funny Ozzie Osbourne. He also does a great President Bush.
Musical parodies of songs made famous by Louis Armstrong, Garth Brooks, James Brown, Johnny Cash and Tracy Chapman are also part of the show, as he goes from one character to another with ease. Not only do you get the sound of the performers, but the very convincing physical resemblances as well. In a town where the competition is hot, Brown rates a 10 on a scale of one to 10. Dollar for dollar, one of, if not the best, show in town. Check him out. You'll thank me.
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