A Little Variety

Funny, yes. Fun, no.

Whether it was empathy, comedy or a likely combination of both, America found it funny to be a chicken catcher. And the day job helped make a million-dollar Cinderella story of the Kentucky singer on "America’s Got Talent."

Now Skinner the winner is reunited with the comedy grandma, the cancer survivor with the beautiful voice, the break dancers and the basketball guys — with Jerry Springer thrown in for good measure — for a live 10-week run of "America’s Got Talent" at Planet Hollywood Resort.

Skinner, a 35-year-old singer from Western Kentucky, has been to Las Vegas once before; a recent trip to take care of business for the new live show.

What was he doing a year ago? "Probably dreamin’ about being here," he says.

The not-so-funny background on chicken catching: Skinner worked for the Mayfield, Ky., plant of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, which, according to its Web site, has 28 plants in the United States and the capacity to process 45 million birds per week.

For about eight years, Skinner was part of a six-man crew that "would just go out and catch two barns. Each barn held 30,000 chickens apiece. We would catch two full barns in 51/2 hours.

"It was really physical work. It didn’t take me long until it looked like I’d been in the gym," he says with a smile. It’s also a job that can fuel lung and skin problems.

"It’s really hard work, but I was always raised up. … My dad always taught me, there’s nothing wrong with hard work. ‘You’re doing it the best way you know how, and you can be proud of yourself when the day’s over.’ "

That didn’t make it less a source of smirkitude for The Hoff. But history repeats itself. It was Terry Fator-with-the-puppet all over again when Skinner wiped the smile off the judges’ faces, playing his guitar and singing with an earthy Randy Travis resonance.

America seemed to have found the Susan Boyle it craved, trying to keep up with the show’s British counterpart, "Britain’s Got Talent."

Skinner was as familiar with Boyle’s saga as the next guy, but says, "I never really expected people to compare me with that."

Instead, "I went on the show with just one thing in mind, and that was to sing to the audience and try to connect with them. … That’s my main goal when I walk out there. Sing something that maybe they’d experienced in their life and kind of put them in the moment."

Mayfield is within striking distance of Nashville, and Skinner had a few nibbles in Music City. "I was featured a lot down in Nashville on songwriter’s night. I’d show up on the open mic on Thursday, and they’d always grab me on the way out and say, ‘Hey man, would you care to come back and let us feature you on the weekends?’ "

That got him listed in local music guides a few times. And, like many in Nashville, Skinner has a fish-that-got-away story about coming close to a publishing deal with one label, before the executive he was dealing with jumped ship to another.

When he wrote a song called "Her Stone," dedicated to his late grandmother, Skinner decided "Talent" was "the biggest event I could get on and maybe get that song heard and make something happen."

Does he have a future in commercial country? "You’d be surprised at some of the stuff I write," he says. "Some of the new stuff that appeals to the younger crowd. I’ve been a writer so long I have probably enough material to appeal to either a Johnny Cash-type album or more of a mainstream album like Keith Urban. I’ve got enough material to do the new country right now."

But first there’s this Las Vegas variety show, in which director Stacy Haynes must figure out how to orchestrate a roster that features runner-up opera singer Barbara Padilla, break dancer Hario Torres, comedian Grandma Lee, the drum band Recycled Percussion, the basketball-jonesing Acrodunk and the singing Texas Tenors. Last year’s Nuttin’ But Stringz also are onboard for the first few weeks of the run.

"That’s the challenge and the fun," Haynes says. "You find your acts in front of you and you go, ‘OK. How does the show go from here to there?’

"It has to have a curve. It’s not just one act after another coming out and doing what they did (in competition)," she adds.

As she told the cast on the first day of rehearsals, "The competition is over and we are now in a place where we are all working to the same goal," Haynes says. "And that goal is to give the best show that we can give."

For some acts, this Las Vegas showcase might be a once-in-a-lifetime dream. Others hope it’s a stepping stone. Recycled Percussion is one of the working-pro acts; they even have their own tour bus for regular college engagements.

"I think we are probably the best act as far as Vegas is concerned," says the group’s Justin Spencer. "Our ultimate goal as a band was to have our own venue in Vegas.

"When (an) offer was on the table a few years back, we weren’t ready for Vegas. We were a little too green. Certainly, that’s not the case anymore."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.