Mac King adds up his audience numbers

Three Antonios and a couple of Bills find their way into the show scene this week, but not before Mac King helps me do some math. ...

King, the comedy-magic mainstay at Harrah's Las Vegas, hosted a Tuesday promotion to give a prize package away to his one-millionth customer, which turned out to be Pearl Lee from New York.

A million since when? The days he and Lance Burton did a theme-park show together as high-school students?

"I think it's pretty close to legit," King says. "I'm coming up on 10 years at 100,000 people per year" at Harrah's. He works a calculator on the other end of the phone to figure an average 208 people per show covers his days in Harrah's smaller comedy club and more recent ones in the main showroom.

King is still holding his own amid the recession and new afternoon competition. "Up until two months ago, we were exactly even with last year people-wise, but down money-wise," he says of the show with flexible "airline pricing" in its number of discount tickets. "But in the past two months, we've moved ahead of last year." ...

It's impressive that hypnotist Scott Lewis gets to be the latest local entertainer to appear on a reality dating show. And not just because Lewis hypnotizes a bevy of bikini babes on "My Antonio." You can hear Antonio Sabado Jr. say, "He's the man," and one of the rocket scientists say, "Your brain is chill," in repeats of the VH1 episode today through Saturday.

It was just as amazing to be reminded Lewis has held on for seven years at the Riviera, and that with doing his act only on Monday nights. "It's hard to amortize (the advertising) for one night," he admits. On the other hand, "I've been there so long, a lot of people come back." ...

Another Antonio -- Restivo, the heavy metal-looking star of "Ignite," says his 5-month-old show is still status quo at the Greek Isles after foreclosure put a new ownership group in control of the hotel.

But it may get crowded there. Since the Isles has extremely limited gaming, management is looking at more titles to generate traffic. One of them could turn out to be Italian magician Antonio Casanova, a first-name coincidence Restivo hopes will not be confusing. ...

When big concert promoter AEG Live opened a new 4,000-seat venue at the Hard Rock Hotel, some wondered how much it would overlap with programming at the company's same-sized theater at Caesars Palace.

While the Colosseum is still mostly the "Diva Palace," two new acts can lay claim to both rooms. Comedian Dane Cook moves to the Hard Rock for Oct. 9 and 10. Jamie Foxx goes the other direction, taking his musical act to the Colosseum on Oct. 9. ...

More people than usual will be made aware that Saturday is Michael Jackson's birthday. Maybe you wish CNN would pay more attention to the larger world. But at least it will bring more awareness to "Las Vegas Celebrates Michael Jackson," Saturday's 3 p.m. benefit concert at the Palms for school music programs (via the Public Education Foundation).

The activity on what would have been Jackson's 51st birthday makes it fun to note the date is shared by two other local show folk: producer and V Theater operator David Saxe, and Earl Turner, co-star of "Voices" at the Las Vegas Hilton. ...

Perhaps Emily Jillette and Scott Lewis can compare notes on how to market a show that runs only once a week. Jillette -- who is married to Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller -- is co-producing "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" It's the latest twist in the odd saga of the Stage Door Theater.

The free-standing theater in Town Square shopping center was created for the short-lived "Shear Madness" and now hosts "Cannibal the Musical," along with the improv comedy troupe Free Beer on weekend nights.

When she heard theater operator Terrence Williams was launching the Saturday matinee, Jillette says she informed him, "I'm coming on as your co-producer."

She loves "Schoolhouse," and during its soft-opening debut last Saturday, she noticed, "parents almost involuntarily moving their lips, singing along" with '70s-TV classics such as "I'm Just A Bill."

"Schoolhouse" will run at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each Saturday; tickets are $8 for students and $14 for adults.

Jillette also plans to continue "Matt Donnelly's Celebrity Tarot Lounge" as an occasional offering at the theater, perhaps ramping up to once a month after it returns Oct. 16, with ventriloquist Terry Fator among the guests submitting to a comic tarot reading. ...

Emily Jillette isn't in any hot water (that we know of) with the Catholic League for "Schoolhouse," but husband Penn is back in the group's cross hairs. A news release from the League -- a conservative lobbying group headed by media-savvy Fox News favorite Bill Donahue -- calls for Showtime to cancel Penn & Teller's "Bullshit!" series as a preemptive strike against today's season finale, which takes on the Vatican.

"We have no reason to doubt that his episode will be particularly vile," Donahue states. Which probably makes more people want to watch than would otherwise tune in.

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