Grandma Lee’s future seems bright

Grandma Lee played the comedy club Bonkerz before "America's Got Talent," and that's where she is again today through Saturday. But everything else has changed for her.

"Everybody recognizes me now," says the 75-year-old comedian known offstage as Lee Strong. "I go to Wal-Mart and I'm surrounded by people."

Lee has been a comedian for more than a decade and in her pre-"Talent" life played comedy rooms at the Plaza and Lady Luck as far back as 2003.

But Lee's profile was elevated after Bonkerz head Joe Sanfelippo shared a video clip of her with "Talent" scouts last year and she became a Top 10 finalist on the NBC summer hit. Lee was part of the "America's Got Talent Live!" package show at Planet Hollywood Resort last fall, and follows the show to Foxwoods in Connecticut this month.

The live "Talent" turned out to be one of the bright spots of a bad year at Planet Hollywood. The tentative plan is to bring it back with the 2009 finalists when the new season launches on TV this summer, rather than waiting until new TV winners are picked.

Sanfelippo is now Lee's manager, and Las Vegas producer Frederic Apcar has signed on to "grow her brand image," he says, and "slowly develop her into a headliner" with bookings in smaller tribal casinos.

"Every demographic loves her," Apcar adds. "Other comedians have their little niche, but she appeals to everyone from 12-year-olds to 75-year-olds."

Which is saying something, since Lee cusses a lot in the nontelevised version of her act. "There's something funny about old ladies, when they're saying (expletive), people like that. It's unexpected," she says. ...

January has always been a hibernation month for entertainment, and this one has several shows on the bench. Planet Hollywood's "Peepshow" is taking two full months off (though the cast comes back for rehearsals after six weeks).

"We're going to use the hiatus to make the show more efficient," co-producer Scott Zeiger says. "Peepshow" already cut its live band, and now is reconfiguring some of the lighting, sound and automation, all of it "unnoticeable to the viewer."

The cast won't be reduced, and all the big props remain, along with star Holly Madison and male singer Josh Strickland (who developed his own fan base as Broadway's "Tarzan.")

"We're outgrossing every other show in our category," Zeiger says. "But we built a show that operates closer to a big Broadway musical." "Peepshow" opened as a competitor to "Zumanity," but the public puts it in the category of topless cabaret shows such as "Fantasy."

Zeiger says the vacation was not timed to wait for Madison's E! reality series "Holly's World," which may not air until June. ...

"The Soprano's Last Supper" turned out to be just that at the Tropicana on Dec. 30. Maggie Cupp, producer of the interactive comedy spoof of "The Sopranos," says the show will reopen as "Soprano's Sit Down" in the same venue, possibly by the end of the month.

The new name and script are the result of Cupp dissolving a business partnership, which legally mandated the show to close and reopen. Conveniently, it also allows the production to sit out January. ...

The afternoon revue "Amazed" is following a similar tactic at the V Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. Theater operator David Saxe says the producers fulfilled a six-month contract and may sign another, but aren't in a rush to do so this month. ...

January at least brings the annual convergence of the Consumer Electronics Show and Adult Entertainment Expo, and if you can't rely on porn as an economic aphrodisiac, what else is left?

You see porn-star promotions all over town, from Tera Patrick signing her autobiography at the Borders in Town Square on Friday, to a happy hour with Monique Alexander, Nikki Rhodes and Lexi Lamour today and Friday at First Food and Bar in the Palazzo.

But the centerpiece event, the AVN (Adult Video News) Awards suggests porn has felt the recession as well. The awards show -- staged in Las Vegas since 1984 -- scales back to a smaller, bigger-ticket event this year.

The AVNs move into the 2,500-seat Pearl at the Palms on Saturday, after a three-year arena run in the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tickets are $300, compared to a low ticket of $107 (and an average $179) last year.

Despite a Showtime broadcast in 2008, the arena years were not moneymakers and the financial risk this year would have been enormous, said a producer with ties to the event. ...

Rich Little will no longer impersonate a U.S. citizen. On Friday, the Canadian impressionist takes part in a naturalization ceremony in U.S. District Court. The 71-year-old Little has lived in Las Vegas more than 10 years. ...

Maybe he saw Garth. On Friday, the 2009 "American Idol" winner, Kris Allen, plays a solo acoustic set at B.B. King Blues Club in The Mirage. It's the second time in as many weeks Allen has played the club that opened with a house band policy and no plans for big-name acts. There's a $10 cover for the 9 p.m. set.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.