Small fish using TV to hook audiences

Last summer, two giant shows -- "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" and "Love" -- opened with huge marketing campaigns and fairly predictable results.

This summer was one for the little guys. The results were surprising and perhaps even more useful in selling Las Vegas entertainment down the road.

There still is no easy way to explain two trends that seem to run contrary: Nightclubs and upscale dining have made traditional shows a smaller piece of the Vegas pie. But still more shows keep coming. They now top 75, not counting comedy clubs, concerts or short-run visits by headliners.

So if the little guy isn't going anywhere, how does he stand out?

Getting on TV couldn't hurt. Just ask the stars of the Riviera cabaret show "Barbra and Frank -- The Concert That Never Was," who made the finals of the ABC contest "The Next Best Thing."

Getting e-mailed around by YouTube users? Better still.

"This whole viral Internet thing, I can't believe how this thing has spread," says magician Kevin James.

James' life changed this summer after fellow magician Nathan Burton convinced him to audition for "America's Got Talent." Formerly a magician known more by his peers -- with illusions picked up by David Copperfield and Criss Angel -- James was the relatively obscure headliner of "The World's Greatest Magic Show" at the Greek Isles.

The NBC show drew as many as 14 million viewers and was repeated on Bravo. The magician performed three times on the show before a bruising smackdown from the celebrity judges. No biggie. "You don't do it to win it. You do it for a massive audience to see your best material," he says.

A YouTube clip of him severing an assistant in half extended the impact. "People are e-mailing it to each other all over the world. I got like a million and a half hits on that one trick," he says. A morning TV show in Australia dissected the video and a Miami carpenter watching him rehearse for Latin TV told him, "Somebody e-mailed this act to me this morning. And now I'm watching it live."

James left "World's Greatest" to strike while the iron is hot. "People from all over the world are asking for my demo tape and I've added a zero to my price for corporate shows."

When he comes back from touring this fall, the magician may be closer to headlining the Strip's 77th or 78th show. "It's hard to compete with Cirque du Soleil and their advertising budgets," he says. But the big crossover from the lower tier of entertainment occurs "if you can somehow connect with the people who are planning their trips before they ever get to town. Then you're on their calendar."

"It's a whole new world with the Internet," he says, "and I think the people who are going to be successful are those who can capitalize on it."

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.