Comedian David Alan Grier finds time for stand-up

David Alan Grier might be everywhere, but you can't accuse him of overexposure in Las Vegas.

The versatile comedian broke a long absence when he played The Comedy Festival last November on a fly-in, fly-out engagement. "At least I got to see my friends in the hallway," he says.

Before that, you'd have to go back 10 years or more to a date in the Riviera's penthouse ballroom, or a 1993 concert at the Aladdin with his "In Living Color" co-star Jamie Foxx. "I wonder what happened to Jamie?" he quips. (Foxx will be at the Hard Rock Hotel July 3 and 4.)

But now he's wrapped up "Dancing With the Stars," and "Dance Movie" is in theaters. Alas, "Chocolate News," the sketch-comedy vehicle Grier worked two years to develop, was dropped by Comedy Central last year. But he doesn't have to start promoting his book, "Barack Like Me," a comic memoir and reflection on the presidential campaign, until it comes out Oct. 13.

That leaves time for stand-up on Friday and Saturday at the Monte Carlo, even if it's something people don't instantly associate with him.

"I've always done stand-up, so I've done it over 20 years" Grier says, while acknowledging the public might perceive him as more of "a comic actor." "I didn't really pound home 'David Alan Grier, Stand-up.' But I've always had fun on the road and it's always been a way for me to connect with my audience directly and immediately."

Don't expect any of his old characters though. "Mostly I talk about my life and bring people up to where I'm at right now, today. I talk about the world and living right now."

But he stops short of saying it's the real him: "The real me is not really killer funny. This guy hopefully is funnier. Let us pray he is." ...

British mentalist Luke Jermay will move into the small theater at O'Sheas on June 5, sharing the room with "Freaks." Both shows are produced by hypnotist Anthony Cools.

Jermay is known in the trade for his writings on magic and mentalism. He worked as a consultant on Criss Angel's "Mind Freak" TV show. The tattooed performer is "a younger, hipper version of the modern-day mentalist," says Cools, who was put in touch with Jermay by "Freaks" comedian Bruce Block. And he seemed the perfect answer to the question of what besides another stand-up comic could go into the theater. ...

June is shaping up to have some class. "Vocal Soup" at the Suncoast on June 19-21 pulls off an old-school Vegas idea Clint Holmes has talked about for years: teaming up with Martin Nievera, Susan Anton and Domenick Allen (a key sideman to Holmes in recent years) for a show that revives the fun of the Rat Pack, if not the ethnic jokes and booze cart.

The Golden Nugget will break some new ground by booking standards singer Steve Tyrell during a Gordie Brown vacation June 12-15.

Tyrell worked behind the scenes as a producer and someone who placed songs in films until cameos in the two Steve Martin "Father of the Bride" movies resurrected his career as a performer. ...

Las Vegas-based entertainer Tony Pace does a showcase of his music and comedy on June 20 in the Tropicana's big Tiffany Theater. ...

Las Vegas performers are heading up the highway for the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah, and a musical at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in St. George, Utah.

Carol Linnea Johnson, who starred in "Mamma Mia!" for three years at Mandalay Bay, will co-star with husband Don Burroughs in "Private Lives" at the Shakespeare fest. The two met at the same festival in 1996.

Ellie Smith, a 12-year-old Henderson native, will perform in "The Secret Garden" at the Shakespeare fest and then move into the title role of "Annie" at Tuacahn. Her 10-year-old sister Amy will play one of the orphans.

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