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Las Vegas entertainment telethon set for April 27

Updated April 10, 2020 - 3:28 pm

The moving parts for the Mondays Dark Performer Fund Telethon are moving forward. Save April 27 as the date, 5-11 p.m. as the time, and The Actor’s Fund as the charity partner.

The Actor’s Fund dates to 1882 and provides a safety net for partners in all variety of professional entertainment. The upcoming event, which is slotted in the Monday’s Dark schedule, is the charity’s first significant philanthropic partnership in Las Vegas.

The Space and Monday’s Dark founder Mark Shunock will host, in virtual solitude, from the venue’s main stage. VSiN and the company’s CEO and founder, Brian Musburger, are also on board as production partners. Yours truly is a member of the event’s volunteer steering committee, not in any formal entertainment capacity (cough).

To acccess the performances and also to support, go to TheSpaceLV.com and MondaysDark.com.

Entertainers of all ilk are being enlisted to perform live in their dwellings, or contribute recorded clips, to drop into the five-hour telecast. That list is now forming and will be updated. The goal is $100,000 for Las Vegas entertainers sidelined by COVID-19. As always, go to TheSpaceLV.com and MondaysDark.com for info.

Love is all you need

Human Nature invoked a Beatles classic, and most of them are, in its latest online collaboration. The Venetian headliners covered “All You Need Is Love,” a hit and famous live performance from 1967. Andrew and Mike Tierney, Phil Burton and Toby Allen (who sings lead) perform with guitarist Carlos A. Guerrero and violinist Chandra Meibalane. The clip lives on the Human Nature Facebook fan page.

“We had a good time doing it, and it’s great for us because this is the longest we’ve ever gone not performing together,” Andrew Tierney says. Human Nature was formed in 1989 and most recently performed on March 14. The band is due back at the Sands Showroom on May 30, and has a tour of its native Australia on the books in July and August.

All of it is up in the air, but the guys have been singing (and occasionally grooving) on Facebook. Their “Lean on Me” tribute to Bill Withers is worth a visit, too.

Tough break, J.D.

John Di Domenico, the wonderful impressionist known for his devastating Donald Trump routine, only last month debuted his Bernie Sanders impression on Instagram. Di Domenico was to premiere the bit live on March 14 at the Golden Raspberry Awards (the vaunted Razzies) in L.A.

Well, the Razzies never came off. And on Tuesday, Sanders dropped out of the presidential race.

So Di Domenico took to IG to offer the remnants of his Sanders character.

“Anyone want to buy a custom-made, human hair, French-lace constructed, Bernie wig?” Di Domenico posted. “Best offer!”

The character is benched, but there is a new opportunity for Di Domenico — to portray irascible comic actor Larry David.

Reps of the Cameo online platform, where fans can order personalized messages from entertainers, have suggested Di Domenico could add David to his repertoire.

The logical progression: David performs as Sanders. Di Domenico performs as Sanders. Di Domenico could portray David, naturally.

Online, all the time

Murray Sawchuck was enforcing his brand on the web long before COVID-19 forced entertainers off stage. Sawchuck has drawn more nearly 1.7 million subscribers and a billion total views on his Magic Murray YouTube page. On Thursday, Sawchuck appeared on “The List” syndicated TV show and website, showing how to perform a couple of routine magic tricks.

At 6 p.m. April 25 he and Doug “Lefty” Leferovich are on Sawchuck’s Facebook Live page; at 6 p.m April 26 he and Leferovich take over the Magic Murray YouTube Live channel. The duo perform and instruct. I can now perform three minutes of magic.

And those who have scanned Sawchuck’s IG page — and that of his girlfriend, “Crazy Girls” emcee Dani Elizabeth — need to know these shows are “family friendly.” #NotNekkid.

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.

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