Notes from the field, beginning with a great spot for single guys to enjoy a Double Whopper and, maybe, a double date.
• Whenever Jeff Timmons of Chippendales at the Rio ventures across the walkway from the adult theater to the Burger King Whopper Bar, he notices a high volume of guys gazing at the line of women lined up to see the adult revue. After the show, the cast visits Flirt Lounge at that theater to meet and greet the energized thong.
I mean throng.
“I was taking my stepson to get some fries, and a bunch of guys were conglomerating outside where a bunch of girls were lined up to take pictures of the mural outside the theater, and they were like, ‘Man, I wish it was cool enough for us to go inside the show,’ ” the founder of 98 Degrees said on this week’s episode of Kats With the Dish on KUNV 91.5-FM (find the show at KatsReport.com/kats). “I said, ‘Guys, this is the best place in Las Vegas to go and meet girls, after the show. These girls are all ready to party, they’re seeing a bunch of guys that are getting them excited, they’re all drinking, and it’s always packed. You will always see all these girls ready to have some fun.’ ”
Maybe it’s not as fail-safe as, say, eHarmony, or even an evening of speed dating, but it is an option. Timmons is married, so he’s been an impartial observer to this scene. His stint at the show might be heading to a reality TV project, where the happenings at the show and at Flirt would make compelling (and maybe incriminating) footage.
• The fifth-anniversary performance of Phantom -- the Las Vegas Spectacular on Thursday night produced a first for the long-running production: The Phantom performing a bit of post-show stand-up comedy.
The show’s lead, Anthony Crivello, read off some “fun facts” about the show, noting that it had played 2,190 shows at the Venetian for some 2 million fans. Then he said, “And through all of that, I wore a long-tailed coat and resisted the urge to do this!”
With that, he performed a quick Groucho Marx impression, curling into the famous Groucho posture, holding an imaginary cigar and pacing across the stage with, “Dat’s the craziest thing I EVAH hoid!”
Sadly, cast member Larry Wayne Morbitt (the Las Vegas Academy grad who has played Piangi for five years) didn’t leap in with his own take on Harpo.
Crivello then led a toast from the cast to the audience, to another five years. The show is going strong, still, and is as good as ever. As for its long-term viability, another Groucho quote applies: “I intend to live forever, or die trying.”
• One of the unique facets of the uniquely entertaining Absinthe at Caesars Palace is that the cast members suffer injuries that are, well, unique. Consider the plight of Jenny Arata, who performs the show’s manic spinning-skaters segment with her husband, Victor, performers I refer to as “The No Body Fat Players.”
Absinthe at Caesars Palace.
Weeks ago, Jenny suffered a blood clot behind one of her eyes. This required the couple to, for a time, change the act, so Victor spun Jenny around by holding her by her arms and shoulders rather than her feet during the fast rotations inside the small, circular stage. This reduced pressure on her head and eyes and allowed the couple to remain in the show.
They have since returned to the original, head-first method of performing an act that is, in a word, insane.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.
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