The Monte Carlo is offering locals two-for-one Blue Man Group tickets through November 15. Just be sure to mention the word "LOCALS" when you call (702) 730-7010 to order your tickets.
RELIX is hosting four nights of concerts at Brooklyn Bowl over Halloween weekend...and you can win tickets to all of them! Enter here by October 27 and win tickets to The New Deal on October 30, the sold-out moe. show on October 31, two shows by Greensky Bluegrass on November 1 and 2, and The Werks on November 2. Even if you don't win, you can still attend the The Phanart Poster and Pin Exhibition in honor of Phish's return to Las Vegas; it's also at the Brooklyn Bowl, from noon to 4 p.m. on November 1, and admission is free.
Another comedy night coming to Alexis Park: The Vegas Latin Comedy Jam kicks off at the Harmon Avenue resort on September 20 at 8 and 10 p.m., featuring Alex Ortiz, Gabe Nolasco, Eljay and Ricky Byrne. Tickets start at $20 or two for $35; call 702-682-6222 for details.
Want to journey back to the glory days of loud music and big hair? Southwest Airlines is giving one lucky winner a Rock of Ages vacation package with two tickets to the show, a two night stay at The Venetian, and dinner for two at Rockhouse. Enter here by September 30.
Long before Jack White discovered her, some of us already knew Wanda Jackson was the Queen of Rockabilly. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be playing the Beauty Bar at 8 p.m. on September 18. Tickets are $15 at LVTicketsnow.com or $20 at the door.
Want free tickets to Veronic Voices, courtesy of the Review-Journal? If you win, they'll even throw in a pre-show dinner at BLT Steakhouse and a free night at Bally's. And all you have to do is sign up here by September 14.
Downtown revelers have a new show to catch: "Limelight" opens at the Plaza on September 12. Creators Danny Brown and Jody MacDonald describe it as a mixture of vaudeville and burlesque, in tune with the latest Vegas craze for all things Prohibition-era. Get a taste here and check here for more details, including ticket information. Looks positively Chaplinesque.
In Other News: I didn't even know MGM owned the Railroad Pass.
If you've about put Labor Day weekend behind you, what to do with the next one? Why not spend it with the Funnyman? Frequent visitor Jerry Seinfeld will be making another of his stands (up) at Caesars Palace this weekend. Check here for tickets; shows are 7:30 p.m. at The Colosseum, September 5th and 6th
Think Fridays are no laughing matter? Party like it's 1989 at the Eastside Cannery's "Rock of the 80's" show, Friday September 5, with The Romantics, The Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw and Tommy Tutone. Do not call 867-5309 for tickets, which start at $14.95, and no, those aren't 1980 dollars we're talking about, either.
...Not if you win the Review-Journal's giveaway for a pair of Travis Tritt tickets. The country favorite plays at Downtown's Container Park this Thursday at 7 p.m. Enter here for your chance to win.
Want to see The Beatles: LOVE at the Mirage? Enter to win this giveaway and Southwest Airlines will fly you to Vegas, give you two tickets to the show, put you up for two nights at The Mirage, and treat you to dinner at Portofino. Enter daily between now and August 31.
Celebrate the King of Pop's birthday with Cirque de Soleil at Mandalay Bay's Michael Jackson ONE. Use the special code from their website when ordering your tickets for the August 29 shows. You'll get a special commemorative souvenir ticket, and hotel guests will be entitled to a birthday gift bag and an exclusive Meet & Greet with special guests.
Here's another comedy showcase: Drinks & Laughs at Alexis Park Resort (Harmon near Paradise), featuring Smiley Joe Wylie on Friday, August 15th, at 8 p.m. Hosted by local funnyman Ryan Cole and featuring special guests Donnie Johnson, Mike Krasner & AK, you can get the lowdown on tickets and more at their Facebook event page here.
Las Vegas is full of special deals for the locals (although, sadly, I guess free admission to Vegas Nocturne at the Cosmo won't always be one of them). Check out the Luxor's specials page for locals deals, including two-for-one show tickets and a free locals night at LAX.
Travel & Leisure is giving away a trip to see Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana at Aria. The lucky winner will get airfare for two, a two-night stay at Aria Resort & Casino, two VIP tickets to Zarkana, and a Zarkana gift bag. Enter here daily through July 31.
Want seats to see comic-actor-producer Russell Peters at The Palms' Pearl Theater? The Palms is having a drawing for 2 tickets to the August 2 show, and you can enter here through July 31. We'll always remember Peters best for his role as "Pervius" in The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, of course.
Oh, look, Don Rickles is coming back to The Orleans on August 16th & 17th. Okay, I'm not having another birthday in August. But my dad is. I'm just sayin'. Tickets start at $79.95; don't forget the American Casino Guide has a two-for-one on Orleans showroom tickets, and discount coupons do occasionally appear in some of the local magazines. In fact, Rickles is quite the Orleans regular, and will be appearing there again in October. Presale tickets are available; just be sure to use the code MRWARMTH. Not making that up.
Just because you lot are too cheap to shell out for Don Rickles tickets for your favorite blogger's birthday doesn't mean you can't still take in some of the top comics-about-town. Free comedy nights abound at several locales in Vegas, from neighborhood bars and restaurants to your high-toned casinos. A typical line-up has a gaggle of up-and-coming locals opening for a nationally touring headliner, and sometimes you can see the same comics who are playing the big-money comedy clubs on the Strip...sometimes even the same night!
"Free" has a fungible definition here: some venues might require you to buy a drink or two, or at least have an unspoken understanding with you on that score, but if you're going to a bar and not buying drinks: What's with that, anyway? As the stand-ups would say. Look at it this way: At Bonerz on Saturday night you'll pay as much for two drinks as you would to buy tickets for the Riviera Comedy Club and then sit there getting drymouth for two hours. (Of course, if you're like me, you can just sit there looking desperate and pathetic and, apparently, no cocktail waitress will bother with you.)
A real trouper, Torris Fairley dashes from hosting "Freakin' Funny Comedy" at the Freakin' Frog (4700 S. Maryland Parkway) to his next gig, hosting the Wednesday comedy night at Lucie's Lounge (Charleston at I-515), kicking off at 11'ish. It's a neighborhood bar which gives you a chance to see local up-and-coming comics as well as a nationally touring headliner in an intimate setting where many of the comics and their audience know each other. You might also see the headliner leave the stage to go have it out with the loud-mouthed drunk at the end of the bar who wouldn't shut up during his set. That's club comedy in its rawest form, people. Headliners have included Jeffrey Pearson, "The 4:20 Comic," on his way to a gig opening for Cheech & Chong in Denver, and actor/comic Gerry Bednob (whose face you know from The 40-Year-Old Virgin).
Thursday at 9 p.m., it's "Jokes With Friends" at Nacho Daddy's Henderson (9925 S. Eastern). Local comics are challenged to improvise five minutes of schtick incorporating randomly assigned topics (Kanye West! Detention! Country Music! Twerking!) while the audience picks contestants with a show of applause and cheers (this of course necessitates an applause meter, and apparently there's an app for that now). Before the finals they trot out the night's featured comic...or in the case of one show, wheel him out: California's Lamond Sheppard, AKA "Comedy on Wheels." (Sample quip: "I was diagnosed with rolling pneumonia.")
Weekends, the comedy action starts at Mob Bar at the Downtown Grand with their edition of Bonerz Comedy Club, Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. It's an intimate venue that gives you a chance to get up close and personal with the comics. Another way of saying that is...It's a small room. Our headliner, LOGO star Jason Dudey, made no bones about it as he awrily eyed the tiny platform they left him standing atop: "I love my agent. She's getting 15 percent of this." He went on to kill it, getting king-sized laughs that belied the size of the venue.
The casino that's about as far South as you can get without hitting Primm, the M Resort, is home to Laugh Out Loud Fridays, 9 p.m. in the Ravello Lounge. Your host Sean introduces a line-up of side-splitting talent from across the country in a lounge where the surroundings are a little more upscale and a good-sized crowd keeps laughs keep coming. At a recent show, local Ryan Cole was so hilarious I didn't see how the headliner could possibly top him, but actor/comic The Greg Wilson gave him a real run for his money.
Night-owls who still haven't satisfied their laugh craving can hop north on Las Vegas Blvd. to South Point, where the Dirty at 12:30 show recently celebrated its first year with an all-star special. Friday after midnight in the Grandview Lounge, Gabe Lopez hosts this early morning of uncensored comedy, with backing from "Last Comic Standing" vet Ralphie May.
Caveat: It's always worth checking before going to a show, in case they're charging admission for a special guest or event.
Benefiting AFAN and the Burlesque Hall of Fame, Absinthe at Caesars Palace plays host to the Shoot 'Em Up! Bang! Bang! Wild West Burlesque Show July 22 at 10:30 p.m. Absinthe cast members will share the stage with burlesque legends including Miss Exotic World Dirty Martini, World Champion Trick Roper Chris McDaniel, and the death-defying crossbow stunts of Mr. and Mrs. G.
Sam's Town advertises it as "the best free show in Vegas" so seems worth checking out: "Variety Toast of the Town" plays weekends at Sam's Town Live, with past guests including Roy Hamilton Jr., Clint Holmes, the Jubilee Dancers and many more. Shows are at 1:00 p.m., usually on Sunday but occasionally on Saturday, so check their schedule.
Want to catch a couple of Vegas legends live? Clint Holmes and none other than herself Pia Zaodra will be headlining the star-studded Mondays Dark at Vinyl inside the Hard Rock, Monday July 21st at 9:30 p.m. If you just can't wait to satisfy your Pia fix, she performs Fridays and Saturdays at Piero's.
