Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Mike Weatherford
Downtown hoping for some laughs with comedy showcases
Entertainment continues to filter back into downtown, with a new stand-up comedy night at the Golden Nugget testing the waters alongside three other comedy showcases.
The "Funny Bone Comedy Showcase" opens at 9 p.m. this Friday and continues every Friday -- when "Spirit of the Dance" has the night off -- with three comics for a $25 ticket.
The hotel is covering the payroll, but the performers are being booked by Steve Schirripa, who ran the Riviera Comedy Club before he found more lucrative work as a character actor on "The Sopranos."
Most casino comedy clubs are franchised or leased-out operations, "but you can't four-wall just four days out of the month," notes Joe Leone, the Golden Nugget's entertainment director. However, "if we see an interest, we don't have any problem adding a late show on Saturday."
The hotel's format of an emcee, middle spot and headliner is typical of most in town, including The Comedy Zone up the street at the Plaza. But two other downtown comedy showcases are more rare one-man forums, the kind usually reserved for big names.
In both cases, it's an unknown comedian willing to dig in and make the commitment in hopes of finding an audience.
Billy Tucker takes the stage at Fitzgeralds at 10:30 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. At the Plaza, Benny Baker spins out of The Comedy Zone to go it alone in "Hellbent for Humor" at 10:45 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
Baker is "the funniest guy you've never heard of," says John Biddle, who manages both shows for producer Scott Groseclose. The long-form showcase works well for the edgy humor of the gravel-voiced Baker. "It's the kind of show people do talk about," Biddle says.
Magician Dirk Arthur continues to negotiate for a downtown berth at either the Plaza or Lady Luck.
The Plaza and Golden Nugget are both in the early stages of being sold (to different operators). New owners, potentially bringing new ideas, and a downtown connection to the four-mile monorail going up east of the Strip could bring hope to Glitter Gulch.
Leone says the Golden Nugget has participated in co-promotions with the new Ice House Lounge, and is sending the "Spirit" cast to the opening of the new outlet mall next month. "We do what we can to cross-promote," he says. ...
Look for Charo on your TV, not on the Strip. The once-and-future "Cuchi-Cuchi Girl" has opted out of trying to go back into the former Sevilla club, which is being relaunched as Lost City.
Charo left the bankrupt nightclub in the Desert Passage mall shortly before it closed in May. The club is now held by its primary creditor, M&H Building Specialties Inc.
"She certainly would have liked to have a permanent home here, but it's tough," says veteran producer Bill Moore, who assisted Charo in all three of her Las Vegas casino efforts since late 2001.
"Hollywood Squares" loves her and so do all the new casinos springing up around the country, Moore adds. It's less stressful to be paid upward of $35,000 for one- or two-night engagements instead of trying to lease a space and self-market a show here, he notes. ...
A seven-day workweek has some of the cast members of the Rio's interactive "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" yelling for help. Take Melissa Adamson, for instance. When she took the lead role of Tina last summer, she was working on a broadcast journalism degree.
The degree paid off and she was hired as half of the "Jamie & Melissa" morning team on classic rock station KKLZ-FM 96.3. "She's pooped," casting director Barbara Lauren says of the double duty.
John Lombardo, who opened the show as Tony, is stretching his acting chops by playing that role some nights and Vinny, the wedding hall's caterer, on others.
The upshot is that backups are needed for those and other parts, and auditions will be from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Rio. "We do love real people," Lauren says of those whose real family life resembles the wacky Italian-Americans.
