Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: MIKE WEATHERFORD
Amazing Johnathan makes move to the Strip
The Amazing Johnathan will be putting his bloody handprint on the Strip.
The manic comedian and chronically bad magician will move from downtown's Golden Nugget to the Flamingo in January, following Gladys Knight in a 9:30 p.m. time slot.
Johnathan has been a surprise hit at the Nugget since he started in June 2001, outlasting early evening roommates such as David Brenner and Tony Orlando.
His profane, sometimes gross antics, which include a "blood trick" of slashing his arm with a knife, succeeded in spite of downtown's sleepy, seniors-oriented image.
Johnathan was working for ticket revenue, not salary, but enjoyed a good relationship with the Nugget. Hotel management "gave me everything but the chance to make my show bigger," Johnathan said last week. "It's just time I get on the Strip, where I can make the show a little bigger and better."
The comedian struck a deal with Danny Gans manager Chip Lightman, who has control of the Flamingo showroom to produce Knight's ongoing show. "I have let go of my management and agency (for outside bookings) to concentrate just on Vegas now," Johnathan said.
After living in the Nugget all this time, "I broke down and even bought a house here in Green Valley. What have I done?"
He wraps up his Nugget run on Dec. 15 and reopens Jan. 18. Today through Thursday, he's finishing a week of special Halloween shows, which are bloodier than usual and incorporate horror film footage and extra assistants.
Johnathan also hopes to see himself on "The Real World" in the next week or two. "Every other show in town turned them down because of the (MTV) cameras and lights and stuff," he says of the shows taped last spring. ...
Last week was full of on-again, off-again gossip about "Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance" closing a deal with the Showroom at The Venetian. The deposit check apparently cleared and the production opens sooner than later: Saturday, to be exact.
"I'm excited to have `Lord of the Dance' coming in," showroom landlord Richard Heftel said Friday.
The Irish dance revue closed in July at New York-New York after 3 1/2 years; the hotel gave the theater to Cirque du Soleil for a new show that opens next year.
So far, "Lord" appears to not have displaced either "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" or "Gleason Magic," though show times for the former might change.
The news might not be good for the opportunistic "Spirit of the Dance," which moved into the Golden Nugget in August, three weeks after "Lord" closed at New York-New York.
"Spirit" was recently extended to March 7, with the Nugget agreeing to make physical improvements to the stage and seating areas so audiences can better see the stomping. ...
The Amazing Johnathan won't be the only "every day is Halloween" show on the Strip; "Shock" was scheduled to open Monday, enjoying the double good timing of last weekend's "Jackass: The Movie" opening.
It runs at 10 p.m. on Mondays only and features "Rubber Man" David Smith, "Razor Girl" Lyra O'Donnabhair and sword-swallowing Edward Robinson, the "Phoenix Blaze." It's all hosted by comedy magician Robert Strong for an $18 ticket. ...
It's a cutthroat entertainment world out there when even the most bizarre of local traditions has competition.
For 17 years, local magician Dixie Dooley has hosted a seance to attempt contact with his hero, Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1926.
The seance is an exercise in frustration rivaled only by Linus' annual wait for the Great Pumpkin, because Houdini has yet to pick up that ectoplasmic phone. "We've had all types of mediums and fortunetellers come and nothing's happened," Dooley said.
"But it's a tradition, and we always get a lot of calls" -- from other people, that is. The public is invited to this year's seance is at 1 p.m. Thursday in the small theater at the Greek Isles casino where Dooley stages "The Houdini Experience" three times a week.
This year, Wednesday brings what's billed as the Official Houdini Seance to the Brooklyn Room at New York-New York. The actual seance is not open to the public, but authentic memorabilia, including Houdini's original Chinese Water Torture Cell, is on display at Houdini's magic shop inside the hotel.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Sundays and Tuesdays.
