Garrett bringing back the comics
SOMETIMES, you just have to laugh. For Brad Garrett, the time is now. “We decided we’re going to reopen, with the 50-person cap,” Garrett said Wednesday night. “We have a lot of comics who live in Las Vegas who need to get back onstage. Let’s go.”
So it is that Garrett’s eponymous comedy club is reopening Dec. 26 at MGM Grand, moving back to its original location at the resort’s Underground promenade.
The comedy enclave offers the only ticketed shows anywhere in MGM Resorts International’s Strip resorts. Garrett had resisted the idea of putting comics in front of 50 ticket holders but changed course after talking to comics and MGM Resorts officials.
The club’s schedule relaunches with headliner Trixx and featured comic Kathleen Dunbar, both club vets, on Dec. 26-27. Drew Thomas headlines with featured act Omid Singh Dec. 28-Jan. 3.
The club’s rotating schedule runs nightly, two shows per night, until Jan. 3, when one show is booked at 8 p.m. After that, the club returns to its previous schedule Wednesdays through Sundays, two shows per night on Fridays and Saturdays.
A frequent host in the Vegas club, Garrett himself has no plans to perform in the 50-seat room.
“I am leaving that spot open for a comic who wants to work,” he said. Garrett most recently hosted on Nov. 23, when the club’s lineup returned to its temporary space at Studio A & B at the MGM Grand Garden arena.
Comedy has been performed on and off the Strip even during public-gathering restrictions. Laugh Factory at the Tropicana, coincidentally Garrett’s space before he moved to MGM Grand, is running its full schedule. L.A. Comedy Club at The Strat, Delirious Comedy Club at Downtown Grand and Jokesters at Alexis Park (both operated by Don Barnhart) and “Four Funny” at Notoriety are also staging the funny business.
Garrett’s dedicated club, which opened in March 2012, has been latent since March 14.
“It’s incredible when you think about it,” Garrett said. “This is just really hard to believe, with so many folks hurting. But we are seeing some promising news with the vaccines, and I think we are going to get ahead of this.”
Nick the quick
Nick Carter has been making news, twice over, this week. The onetime teen idol and current Vegas resident has shed his white Backstreet Boys stage outfit for a pink Crocodile costume for “The Masked Singer.”
Carter flourished in the role, finishing third in the Fox competition show.
And Carter’s new solo release, “80s Movie” is out Friday. On Thursday, I asked him what he’s listening to these days. Suddenly, the 1977 funk hit “Strawberry Letter 23” was running in my head.
“Actually, I’ve been listening to a lot of old R&B right now, The Brothers Johnson, Kool & The Gang,” Carter said. “I’ve been listening to Hall & Oates, a lot of classic stuff.”
Carter has been playing back his own recent studio work.
“I’ve actually been listening to a lot of my own music, some of the stuff I’ve been recording, and preparing the new song,” Carter said. “I’m anxious to see what people think of it.” Carter says he plays music videos for his kids, “I put Youtube on the screen, and putting music on keeps them in one area and not running around.”
We plan to post more of this chat, including an intriguing concept about Carter and busking, in the next few days.
Rat Pack back!
It seems the sun never sets on “The Rat Pack Is Back” at Tuscany Suites. Producer Dick Feeney continues to run the show Fridays and Saturdays at its socially distant, temporary ballroom on the hotel’s second level.
“Rat Pack” is also showcasing its Christmas show Monday through Saturday at Tuacahn Center for the Performing Arts in Ivins, Utah. Yes, for that vintage-vegas vibe, hit Tuscany … or, Ivins.
Dates with divas
Vegas singer and burlesque performer Bridget Reilly has collected a series of great photos of column faves for her Diva! Las Vegas 2021 calendar. Reilly co-stars with The Swing It! Girls and Sudden Sirens and also is a singing bartender at Don’t Tell Mama at Neonopolis.
The calendar lineup leads with Rockie Brown in January, followed in monthly order by Lisa Marie Harris, Noelle Chiodo, Charlie Quinn Starling, Christina Shaw, Brittagna Giordano, The Swing It! Girls (Erin Baltsar, Jenna Bagatti, Kara Woodward, Brittany Avery, Jenelle Cathrina Magbutay and Reilly), Anne Martinez, Neon B. Carter, Cassie Stone and Angel Beau. Reilly herself closes the year.
The page-turner costs $25 (a mere pittance) and is available at divacalendar.com.