Las Vegas Backstage Talk column in Casino Player Magazine-Oct.

Oct. edition-by Michele LaFong

Las Vegas Backstage Talk column

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Oct. “Las Vegas backstage Talk” column in Casino Player Magazine-Please click here to view it.

The “entertainment pool” in LV this summer has been incredibly rich.

LVBST has enjoyed amazing line-ups all the way through September, and October looks pretty exciting as well!

  Margaret Cho was guesting on my radio show recently explaining what we could expect from her “Mother” Tour, at The Mirage. I wrote a little about it in last month’s issue, but wasn’t prepared for what was in store!

Jim Short an Australian comic that tours with Cho led off the evening.  He had the audience right out of the gate and just kept the laughs coming throughout his set.  The packed house, many in town for “Gay Day,” were now properly warmed-up and ready for “everyone’s Mother,” Margaret Cho.

When Cho hit the stage, the stereo-type of what a “mother” typically would look like disappeared from my mind faster than Miley Cyrus’ past “Disney” image at The VMA Awards!  Covered in tattoos almost from head to toe, Cho soon dug deep in her gut,   “throwing up” her hilarious impression of her Korean mom, spoke candidly and bluntly about her bi-sexuality, and just “put it all out there” onstage.  Her uninhibited honesty throughout coupled with her wild animations was uniquely shocking, as well as visually hilarious, and is what truly sets her apart.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!

Kathy Griffin made a surprise cameo appearance during Cho’s show.  What a treat!  Together, they shared a story that I had read in the Review Journal that morning about Kathy wanting Margaret to go halves with her for a private plane. It costs $50,000 to go from LA to Vegas.  Margaret’s response was “but… its $50 on Southwest!”  In the article, Kathy said she would try to go halves with Bill Maher on it.  It was really funny when Kathy announced on-stage that she ended up renting it alone, then later heard that Margaret’s flight had been delayed and in the end she had to call for a car to drive her to Vegas!

Immediately following the show, and falling in step with the theme of Margaret’s tour, “Mother,” I surprised myself when I spontaneously shared something with her, and asked for some personal advice to which she in-turn did answer…but ironically, like all mothers, they rarely get proper credit at the time.  I soon came to realize however that “mother” was right!

Both Margaret and Kathy were nice and gracious backstage, and true to character off-stage as well.  It was cool to see some of Margaret’s very detailed tattoos up-close, and I couldn’t get over how petite Kathy was.

Little did I realize that my experience backstage that night with both Margaret and Kathy, would prove to be “life-changing” for me, shifting my paradigm, leading me to choose a path that I didn’t have the “inner-fire” in the past to choose.  That’s all I am willing to reveal for now.  I am very thankful to Margaret’s publicist, Ken Phillips for not only providing me with great seats to Margaret’s sold-out show, but for being really straight forward…  A trait that is way too rare these days, especially in this business.

I had a blast interviewing World Renowned Comedian Russell Peters in his suite prior to his sold out performance at his “Notorious World Tour” show at The Palms H & C.  Ironically, he is a name that still too many people are not yet familiar with in spite of the fact that his tour has become the highest attended comedy show in the history of the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and his home country of Canada, selling out arenas of up to 16,000 fans. In Dubai, Peters was the fastest selling concert in the history of the Emirate outselling Madonna! With over 60 million views on YouTube, His credits also include selling-out:  Radio City Music Hall (twice), Madison Square Garden, and the astounding list goes on and on, both nationally and internationally. It is no surprise that Russell, whose heritage is Anglo-Indian, was ranked by Forbes as one of the top ten highest grossing comics in the U.S., in 2009 and 2010!

Peters is always on-the go, and is constantly late, but always worth waiting for as he was a really fun interview, and one of the quickest “off the cuff” personable comics I’ve come across.  The audience was howling throughout his show.  Somehow he seems to be able to get away with political correctness being thrown out the window, as exampled in his latest DVD, Red, White and Brown recorded live at Madison Square Garden. His crowd ad-libs that night at The Palms were as on target as his material.  He is currently working on a project, writing with Billy Crystal.  Edited portions of Russell’s videotaped interview can be seen on casinocenter.com

After his show he invited my husband and me along and about 15 other guests to accompany him to The Ghost Bar, in The Palms where we partied till all hours! “Table service” was on him.

I’m still recovering…

Legendary music icons and Grammy Award winners, Brian Wilson (co-founder The Beach Boys) and Jeff Beck (Yardbirds) will perform live in Las Vegas as part of a co-headlining North American Tour. Wilson’s former band mates Al Jardine, (“Help help Me Rhonda”,) and David Marks will join Wilson and Beck.   The show will make a stop at The Pearl inside The Palms H & C on Oct. 18.  Al jardine, a return guest on our program gave a great interview which will air on LVBST on Oct. 17, with Ray Romano. (Al Jardine is on far left.)

Comedian Bill Engvall, mostly known for “The Blue Collar Tour” with Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, and Ron White who has guested on LVBST many times, will be on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” for their new season beginning Sept. 16. He is teamed with Emma Slater, and will be competing against Leah Remeni, Snooki, Elizabeth Berkely, Jack Osbourne, and Valerie Harper. The audience vote counts for 50% of their score.  We, at LVBST support him, and encourage all to vote, and keep voting for Bill!    Engvall will be in town on Oct.25, appearing at The TI.  Video of his Backstage Interview can be seen on casinocenter.com.