Show: Sin City Comedy - My Review

• Offered by House Seats
• $5.00 Service Fee
• Planet Hollywood V theatre 9:00 PM

A sexy comedy show featuring comedy and berlesque is how it is advertised.

The headline comic for the evening was Bob Zaney.  His comedy seemed more reactionary than joke driven, probably from years of practice, and that made it all more funny.  He attacks some new angles on subjects and then attacks the audience for their non immediate reaction.  Heck, I even purchased his CDs following the show.

As for the berlesque... it was more tease than strip.  Less sexy than a break from the comedy.  The performer was lovely to behold; but I believe that if you are selling sexy as a product, I'd like to see it.

The space for the show is not well conceived.  The room is too wide for the stage and the wings get an obstructed view.  Also the back is a semi enclosed room (that is where I got seated).  It's bad enough to be behind 8 rows or so of people on the same level, but then also be in a box.
Also, they have an interesting collection of flat screen TVs behind the stage (and two in the room I was in).  Instead of broadcasting the show on those screens so that everyone can see the show, they just display the logo.

Not a bad show, but I can tell you, if I go again I'm going to be there very early to get a better seat.

Show: Scarlett and Her Seductive Ladies of Magic - My Review

• Offered by HouseSeats
• Rivera Hotel 10:00 PM
• Cost $0.00

Review of 08/06/09 performance:

Scarlett and her entourage of assistants attempt to wow you with feats of magic with "Abra - ca - sexy".

My thoughts about the show are as follows.

Sexy: I have always had eyes for red-heads… and Scarlett is an amazingly beautiful woman in my humble opinion. Her female dancers, all two of them who are topless for about 40% of their time on the stage, are pretty, but pale to Scarlett. Unfortunately Scarlett does not reveal any endowments during her performance. For the sexy part; Scarlett in a two piece red string bikini soaking wet is HOT!

Magic: The show is unremarkable. Half of the “magic” tricks are cliche and amateurish. I was not impressed with any of the performance. Granted, I was sitting in the third row center and could see everything, but when you can see the mirrors, see the strings and see the obvious failings of the show, you know there is a problem.
Examples:
· Male assistant climbs into an elevated box. The box is covered and in front with a cloth and he sticks his OBVIOUSLY FEMALE hand through the cloth to prove he is there???
· Scarlett magically leans her male assistant forward past his center of gravity… and he falls off the pegs holding his shoes to the floor. (yes, you can see the pegs)
· Scarlet’s assistant shows off a "powerful" industrial fan, spins the case around and reveals a view that shows off the 45 degree angle mirror. Then to demonstrate the fan’s strength, Scarlett puts a piece of newspaper through the fan that shreds it. First off, the fan is going way too slow to support the results, second you can see the pop effect as she shoots the newspaper confetti out of her hand.
· An animated handkerchief where you can see every string.

The one entertaining part of the show was Max Clever, the comic intermission. His animals were cute and his comedy was above par for the remainder of the show.

This show could easily be improved and become a good draw, but by what I saw, and the crowd’s unenthusiastic reaction, this show will probably have a short run and Scarlett will be once again back to entertaining children.

08/25/09: Even with my poor previous experience, I'm going back because I got another free show and I can't resist a beautiful redhead. I'll let ya know if things have gotten better. Let's hope.

OK, a here is how it went.

Prior to the show I happened to spy Scarlett being escorted off of the casino floor. OK, my jaw dropped and I spun to see more. If that was not obvious enough, the audible "Wow!" that came out of my mouth should have been.

There is a major pool tournament going on in the attached convention center so there is lots of activity. That should mean that the showroom will be packed. Wrong. The show must not be doing well... even with the major activity in the building, the front of showroom is less than filled. My ticket was for section B (the tables in the center section) but I am ushered to third row center. Don't get me wrong, I won't complain ever about an upgrade... but it doesn't bode well for the success of the show.

The show met my low expectations... (see above review as there have not been any significant improvements).

• Decent acting, damn sexy Scarlett, 2 pretty topless assistants and poor magic. I'd complain more about what additional illusions were revealed, but I don't want to give away everything in the show.
• Max Clever and his animals, the comedy intermission, got better reactions and crowd approval than the main show. Some quick whited stabs at the audience, three well trained animals and some well used jokes made for a great performance. Oh, and the performance included one of the best Elvis I've seen on stage.

I'm not saying that the show is not entertaining. Heck, the show does have a good pace and keeps you involved. What annoys me is that it could be so easily improved with some lighting changes (go sit in the audience and see what I mean) and a bit more practice. Give the audience some mystery, not the secrets.

06/30/09 Show: The Art Of Prostitution - My Review

• Onyx Theatre
• 1 AM - I believe last night was the final performance
• Cost $20

Revel in the taboo as our story teller walks you through the world of Prostitution. A world of seduction embraced and condemned by society. Filled with music, rhythm and spectacular dance, this thrilling musical teases the mind and excites the senses.

Although the topic provocative and the dance movements erotic, all was in good taste. Yes, there were beautiful scantily clad people on stage performing, but nothing more than you would see on a trip to the beach.

My one complaint... a show at 1AM. It makes it hard to want to get up for work in the morning.

OK. I admit I could not take my eyes off of one of the girls (I won't mention who). What can I say other than I am a healthy male with a good eye for women.

06/16/09 Show: Shear Madness - My Review

• Offer from HouseSeats
• Town Square Shear Madness Theatre 7:00 PM

What do you get when you take an outspoken flamboyant man, a ditsy redhead, a guy in a suit and a rich cougar and put them together? No not an episode of Will & Grace... Shear Madness.

Set in a hairdressing salon, this comedic who- done - it is a real cut-up (pun intended). It had me in stitches.

Personal aside: I have obnoxious contagious laughter. I've stopped comedy routines before. This was the first time I stopped a play. (Four of the six actors on stage could not keep a straight face)

06/15/09 Show: Set - My Review

• Onyx Theatre 8:00 PM
• Cost $7 - Cheaper if you are involved in classes
• Weekly - every Monday

This is an outlet for people who want to be in comedy (or love comedy). A local comedy school (Improv Las Vegas... I believe [ formally associated with Second City]) hosts a scheduled practice and show for their students and teachers.

Not everything is perfect, but it is not meant to be as Improv is the art of creating comedy on the fly. Regardless some of the acts/performances are truly side splitting.

Once the main acts are done.. if there is time they do roulette - a chance for the audience (mostly students) to get involved with structured improv games.

I'm not a regular, but I should be as this is a great place to laugh.

06/11/09 Show: Sin City Bad Girls - My Review

• Offer from Houseseats
• Las Vegas Hilton 9:00 PM

Contrary to the reviews that I have read, I really enjoyed this one hour burlesque show. Along with a live trio (guitar, keyboard and drums) and a female lead vocalist, this show kicks up the action with high energy music and hot semi-clothed women for the majority of the show.

The show takes you through a number of different fantasy scenarios including naughty nurses, barely there night ware and sinful schoolgirls. The doctors came to visit this very happy patient at the front table... although I only got a sucker even though my heart was pounding out of my chest.

I was happy to see two familiar faces on stage (the former Gigi and Summer from Sin City Kitties). Never a bad thing to see these beauties again -and now no longer a drive to Primm.

Not that it dieters at all from the show, but my only regret is that the lead singer only teases the audience with her endowments but never reveals them.

Oh yeah... for the month of June, the Hilton is offering 2 for 1 tickets. So even if you can't find 'em free, you can get 'em cheap.

05/07/09 Show:Carrot Top - My Review

• Offered by House Seats
• Luxor Showroom 8:00 PM
• cost $0.00 - with annual membership

This was the fifth time I've seen Carrot Top (or as one of his fans calls him "KT"). Although most of the performance was pretty much the same since I saw him last in October... the new material and prop gags had me laughing till I was numb.

Oh. did I mention I have loud, obnoxious and contagious laughter? Even Cattort top stopped a couple of times to laugh with me and pointed me out.

Carrot Top ended his show in style with a great prop/costume music montage. I love that routine. By the way, he only does it when he likes his audience.

-Flix by Flicks