George Wallace gets Vegas market

03:14 PM PT, Sep 19 2007

Comedian George Wallace, the headliner at the Flamingo, offered a new joke proclaiming O.J. Simpson's obvious innocence on the grounds that everybody knows the man uses knives, not guns. It was tasteless. But I laughed. That is why I went to see a comic last night. After a few days on the O.J. Simpson story, it felt good to be back in a showroom on the Strip.

George Wallace has been a headliner at the Flamingo for nearly four years and, he announced to the audience last night, he recently renewed his contract with the property. A former marketing major, Wallace oversees all aspects of selling his shows. And not in a distant way. Once while I was interviewing him for a story, Wallace had to take a call from a billboard company. I got to overhear Wallace win an argument with a salesman over the placement of his billboards in certain prime locations. It is just that sort of tenacity that helps a headliner survive and thrive in the brutally competitive environment of the Strip. So I wasn't surprised that even on a Tuesday night, though the room was not sold out, the audience was large enough to pass for a good-sized weekend crowd.

Most headliners don't change their shows too much from night to night. They simply can't while doing 6 to 10 performances a week. So there are certain core-element jokes and routines I've come to expect from Wallace. But what brings me back to Wallace's show is that although I expect certain things, I don't depend on seeing them.

Wallace is great at keeping his show fresh and creating a freewheeling environment. In part, he does this by literally giving things away. Of course, mostly the audience is given the more traditional gifts (a Wallace T-shirt, CD, DVD). But in a mock Oprah gesture, Wallace handed a designer handbag to one audience member last night. Best of all, he gave a $100 bill to an audience volunteer.

In Vegas giving cash out is always the best way to get people's attention.

In other Strip entertainment news: The Fashionistas, an erotic dance show, is returning to Krave Theatre at Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin) on October 10. The show left Krave last year to move to the Empire Ballroom (an independent nightclub across the Strip from the Monte Carlo). Famed pornographer John Stagliano's dance interpretation of one of his adult films, The Fashionistas, remains among the most unique and imaginative creations I have ever seen on the Strip.

(photo by Sarah Gerke)

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