‘The Frank and Dennis Show’ always eerily entertaining

One of the more intriguing acts playing Las Vegas these days takes place outside the glare of neon and beyond the shadow of the Strip.

I've caught it a few times now. It's often funny, always eerie, and is a reminder of our not so distant past. I call it "The Frank and Dennis Show."

Frank Cullotta and Dennis Arnoldy, that is.

Cullotta is the former Chicago Outfit hoodlum who came to Las Vegas as a loyal soldier for his lifelong friend Anthony Spilotro, the noted mob enforcer who is now deceased. Cullotta was a thief and killer in a business where such skills are job requirements.

Arnoldy is the retired FBI agent who spent much of his career chasing the likes of Spilotro, Cullotta and other members of the crew of thugs and burglars who came to be known as "The Hole in the Wall Gang." When Cullotta decided to betray his friends, as criminals will do, Arnoldy became Cullotta's handler. Eventually, they became friends.

Now Arnoldy plays Cullotta's straight man during their many public appearances. The title is unofficial, but "The Frank and Dennis Show" is entertaining and more than a little creepy. Audiences of varying sizes eat up tales of robbery and homicide like ice cream.

Who knew stories of murder and mayhem were good for so many yucks?

When I say Cullotta knocked 'em dead, it's no metaphor.

Cullotta and Arnoldy on Saturday were featured in "The Las Vegas Mob Connection" at the Nevada State Museum at the Springs Preserve. Billed as an educational event and presented by the Nevada Council for History Education, the program featured a full day of activities for mob buffs, aspiring hitmen with a sense of history and local teachers thinking of weaving a little "Casino" culture into their classroom curriculum.

Cullotta was a consultant to Martin Scorsese's Las Vegas mobster epic "Casino" and captivated the audience with his "Marty & Me" stories. Any serious discussion of the mob in Las Vegas has to acknowledge the impact of Hollywood on the public's perception of the organized crime phenomenon.

And there was a panel discussion led by College of Southern Nevada history professor Michael Green that featured U.S. District Judge Philip Pro and retired U.S. Magistrate Lawrence Leavitt, who battled organized crime during the Spilotro era as federal prosecutors. They also let me tag along.

The remembrances of Pro and Leavitt were enlightening, and "Shecky" Green's sense of comic timing was keen. But let's be honest: The crowd was there for The Frank and Dennis Show.

Cullotta, the survivor, grew up in the Outfit but switched teams just in time to beat the odds. He testified with varying degrees of success in federal trials and worked on his memoirs while other guys were working on their appeals. Instead of winding up in a shallow grave or a penitentiary cell, he became a consultant to Scorsese and these days sells his book, DVD and posters - posters! - to a line of fans.

At one point Cullotta recalled a few of the Hole in the Wall burglaries. (For some reason, he doesn't bring up the murders he was involved in. Maybe shooting people in the head isn't as funny.) To the delight of the audience, he said, "We weren't robbing people that actually weren't looking to be robbed. I'd say 95 percent of the people that we robbed were gifts from insurance companies telling us how much they had in their house. And at least 98 percent of these people that had their houses burglarized and their jewelry taken, would claim more. In other words, they made more money after they got robbed than we would."

Scores of victims of the Hole in the Wall Gang might disagree, but I guess they will have to get their own show.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or cal 702-383-0295. He blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith.