Gaming Control Board spikes downtown Las Vegas comedy show
Downtown Grand wanted to put on a comedy show. The state Gaming Control Board is not laughing.
The GCB has yanked the plug on Don Barnhart’s comedy show planned for this weekend at its “Delirious Comedy Club.” Downtown Grand had planned a ticketed show Thursday through Sunday, headlined by Barnhart, also the club’s operator.
Instead, the GCB sent word Monday afternoon to Downtown Grand General Manager Kevin Glass that the shows were in violation of section 22 of Phase Two Emergency Directive, prohibiting audiences at live events.
Only live streaming of the show, with no audience, would be allowed. Going with an empty room is not in the plans.
“It’s safety first,” Barnhart said Tuesday. “If the powers that be say we can’t do it, we’re not going to push the wall.”
The show was to be a traditional comedy lineup in a venue presented as a standing bar with a stage, adhering to Phase Two reopening protocols. The venue, formerly known as The Mob Bar and Las Vegas Room had been reconfigured to less-than-50-percent capacity seating, or 40 in a room seating 166.
Appropriate social distancing, following Phase Two reopening directives covering bars in the stage of Nevada, had been enacted. Face masks were required of staff and guests. Barnhart had even designed face shields for himself and fellow comics Guy Fessenden, Brandon James, Greg Vaccariello, Kathleen Dunbar, Derek Richards and Mark Pitta. He even joked of the “Covid Moat” creating a chasm between the audience and the comics.
But none of those measures budged the GCB off of its original ruling. The agency has not returned calls and e-mails asking for clarification as to how the “Delirious” show was not allowed in Phase Two, but live entertainment is being routinely presented at other Las Vegas hotel-casinos.
From the start, the attempt to return the club show to Downtown Grand was not universally appreciated. Las Vegas PR exec Kip Kelly, who represented the hotel and promoted the “Delirious” launch in May 2019, blasted the club’s return by re-tweeting my original column about the show: “Happy to hear GCB stepped in today and shut this down. Cheap stunts like this only hurt Las Vegas. Rookie move. Everyone involved should be ashamed.”
Undaunted, Barnhart is now looking for a home for his Church Of Ha Ministry of Laughter. He is indeed an ordained minister, with an online certificate and everything. The veteran stand-up is scouting for a venue to perform comedic, and legally binding, services — with guests.
Until he resumes the funny business, Barnhart posted a Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract” video, with its apt lyric, “Two steps forward, two steps back.”
That ‘34
ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, my occasional bicycling partner and proud friend of Eric Clapton, is the guest star at 7 p.m. Wednesday on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage.” The two cruise in in Gibbons’ 1934 Ford Coupe, which Gibbons calls, “The Bad Little Sister.”
The overhauled coupe is an homage to the classic hot rod featured on the band’s 1983 “Eliminator” album cover, and in the videos for “Gimme All Your Lovin’, “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.”
It’s a great piece. Gibbons even throws his keys, with the ZZ Top key chain, to Leno in theatrical slow-motion. The sunglasses might be cheap, but Billy F. is solid gold.
He’s been juggling
It’s been far too long between visits with column fave Jeff Civillico, most recently headliner in “Comedy In Action” at Paris Las Vegas. Civillico closed his frenetically entertaining production in December, and had anticipated one of his busiest years ever on the corporate circuit in 2020.
Instead, Civillico has been busy as a virtual emcee for several companies and charity organizations. The acrobat and comedian has performed more than 60 online events just since March.
Civillico, a 10-year headliner on the Strip, has 90 minutes of material, and pitches his skills as, “I’m quick on my feet, able to segue smoothly between speakers, and extremely high energy.” He’s not bad on the unicycle, either.
Not Murray Langston
Vegas entertainment mainstay Tony Felicetta has evoked memories of “The Gong Show” and Riviera Comedy Club with his choice of face covers. He posted a photo of himself on Instagram with a shopping bag over his head, as The Unknown Comic, to promote his “Dino à La Carte” performances at The Golden Tiki.
Felicetta has worn the prop the entire time onstage in his one-man, Dean Martin tribute act.
Felicetta asks, “Any other singers up for this?” I say, make it mandatory. We just need someone to play Chuck Barris.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.