Dom Irrera would rather be funny and not famous than famous and not funny.

Sure, the veteran comedian's lack of a hit sitcom has kept him out of the big rooms in Las Vegas (though not in Atlantic City, backyard of his native Philadelphia).

But it also has kept him from becoming Michael Richards.

"He was never a good stand-up. Now he's just famous," says Irrera, who is working the Riviera Comedy Club this week.

One of his other regular gigs is the Laugh Factory club in West Hollywood, Calif., where Irrera had a connection to the "Seinfeld" star's stand-up act long before Richards' meltdown. "I was going on after him a lot, to kind of clean up the mess he would make."

Beyond Richard's newsmaking rant last month -- where he unleashed a torrent of racial slurs upon hecklers -- Irrera thinks the actor has a more fundamental problem: "To me, Michael is jealous of Kramer. He resents Kramer. (He believes) Michael Richards should be famous, not Kramer," he says of the sitcom character.

That's not a problem for Irrera, who has worked as a character actor in everything from "The Golden Girls" to the recent animated feature "Barnyard," without ever being mistaken for someone who holds acting above stand-up.

He has worked Las Vegas since the Comedy Store opened at the Dunes in the early 1980s. He remembers sharing stages with Bob Saget and Steve Oedekerk, who wrote and directed "Barnyard," for which Irrera provided the voice of Duke the Dog.

The confidence that comes with experience usually short-circuits any heckling problems. "I know how to not hurt people and have fun with it. It's not the words, it's the attitude behind it," he says. "The thing about hecklers, most of the time they're just having fun.... It's their one moment to say something in public."

Irrera is a bigger name than usual for the Riviera club, but he enjoys playing there about this time every year. "My ex-wife emcees and I bring in my stepdaughter and we have kind of a pre-Christmas this week."

His ex is Lisa Mende, best known to most people for playing the mother of "The Ugly Baby" on "Seinfeld." Irrera had his own pop-culture moment on the show, as the prop comic whose toy gun scared George Costanza and ruined Jerry's set. ...

"Viva Las Vegas" will close at the Stratosphere on Dec. 30, after 10 years in the casino. Producer Dick Feeney said he "didn't come to terms" with the Stratosphere for another contract year, and hopes to move the afternoon revue with a cast of 10. "I'm sort of excited about doing something different," he says.

"Viva" established the business model for budget afternoon shows marketed as "free" for the price of a drink when it opened at the Sands in 1991. ...

Hey! A postcard promotion promises a $90 discount off tickets for "The Producers" ... (sound of other shoe dropping now) priced at $140. Ticket prices on the Paris Las Vegas Web site list the regular price range at $75.50-$143.50. Time will tell if the regular pricing is to enable "mark 'em up so you can mark 'em down" ploys for promotions and room packages.

If not, the regular prices indicate the real producers of the Broadway musical consider it a top-shelf attraction competitive with the Cirque shows, not one that must use attractive pricing to offset the title's availability in other cities. Of course, they can always borrow the Cirque trick of adjusting the number of lower-priced rows up or down, based on demand. ...

At last week's Billboard Music Awards, daredevil magician Criss Angel said February might be the month when he can break his code of silence about "the live component" of his A&E series "Mindfreak," currently headquartered there. "We're working in secret locations on secret things that hopefully will be announced in February," he said of the project that's widely rumored to be in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.

That timetable would mesh with the limited schedule of concert attractions announced for Luxor's theater next year. Earth, Wind & Fire has the weekends of Jan. 11-14 and Feb. 15-18, Foreigner returns Feb. 9 and 10 and in a more unusual booking for the Strip, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame plays there Jan. 19 and 20. ...

In the old days, this week would have been the post-National Finals Rodeo slump when showrooms were a virtual ghost town. But there are so many shows now that a couple of dozen can close and still leave enough to choose from.

Another old December tradition -- being able to find some bargains -- does carry on. Here are discounts to three A-list shows:

The Blue Man Group has a two-for-one discount for locals through Dec. 28; the discount is restricted to the 10:30 p.m. show during Christmas week. "Mystere" leaves the big question, "Why 13?" with its offer of a second ticket for $13 with a local's purchase of tickets in the $82.50 to $104.50 range.

And Barry Manilow reverses the locals approach by putting the value on two nights in a room at the Las Vegas Hilton rather than the two show tickets in the balcony, all for $187. ...

Finally, you can take Donny Osmond out of the country, but ...

The most famous Osmond brother opens his "Holiday Celebration" at The Orleans today. He agreed to do it a long time ago, before finding out it would require a break from Disney's "Beauty & The Beast" on Broadway, where he stretches his nice-guy image to play the villainous Gaston.

The singer said recently that he enjoys "the arc of the role."

"He becomes the beast, basically. He becomes the bad one. But at first, you gotta be this lovable dumb hunk," he noted.

But the day he was phoning in, he had just finished a little green-screen work, helping out Weird Al Yankovic by taking over the Krayzie Bone dancing part in the song parody video, "White and Nerdy."

Perhaps understanding that he was talking to someone who epitomized the parody title, Osmond volunteered the helpful tip of first going to YouTube and watching Chamillionaire's original "Ridin' Dirty" video to get the most out of the Weird Al version.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.