Laugh fest takes break at Caesars

After a four-year run, The Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace is "taking the year off," leaving the door open to a future return.

Cher takes over the festival’s usual weekend in November at Caesars Palace. The event had three partners — Caesars, AEG Live and the cable TV network TBS — but came to depend on TBS.

"This year, because of the uncertain economic climate, TBS has decided not to stage The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. TBS remains committed to the festival business, however. We plan to be back in Las Vegas in the near future," reads a network statement.

When the festival was announced in 2005, the big question was how it would stand out as an event, when most of the big-name comedians already work Las Vegas.

Special programming for TBS became the answer. As the festival evolved, TBS went from saying, "We can point some cameras at that," to taking the wheel and producing Ellen DeGeneres variety shows, Cheech & Chong roasts and the like, Turner Entertainment Network executive Michael Wright explained in 2007.

It’s easy to understand why AEG might get cold feet about pricey tickets for big concert acts this year. It’s harder to figure how TBS could generate cheaper content, since the events were at least partially subsidized by ticket sales.

One of last year’s big Comedy Festival draws, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, signed on for multiple dates in the Colosseum at Caesars, starting Dec. 11 and 12 during the National Finals Rodeo. Tickets go on sale Saturday. …

There will be no cameras at "Peepshow." Unless they are reality TV cameras. The Planet Hollywood topless revue stands to hit the daily double, with both Holly Madison and Aubrey O’Day filming for separate TV projects.

Depending on the timing, there’s a real possibility two crews could be bumping into one another backstage, a new benchmark even for the reality-saturated unreality of the Strip.

Madison is official with her long-discussed "Planet Holly" on E!; cameras are set to roll on the pilot Oct. 12. Arrangements for O’Day’s show are less specific, but "moving along as planned," according to her publicist. A pilot is finished and crews continue to follow her backstage.

That might explain last week’s instant drama of O’Day skipping a show in favor of a YouTube tirade against unauthorized Internet photos from her first performance.

The drama may have been manufactured, but the reaction is real. Producers cracked down with a "zero tolerance" policy of ejecting shutterbugs and even using night-vision goggles to spot them.

Bags are now searched and cameras checked at the door, says Marks Chowning, senior vice president for the producer, Base Entertainment. There are two preshow announcements, and if you ignore them and pull out your cell phone to check a text, you could be tossed out.

"We want to do everything we can to have a comfortable environment for the women," Chowning says. Even though O’Day posed for Playboy and goes topless in the show, "she’s not out there to have her body flown all over the Internet." …

The Luxor’s topless "Fantasy" may be close to signing a name actress to compete more directly with Madison in "Peepshow." Producer Anita Mann said in January she would love to snag Madison "before any other hotel could get her," but Madison apparently wasn’t serious about Las Vegas at that point. …

The local cast of "Jersey Boys" has imported actor Drew Gehling from the Chicago company to play the role of Bob Gaudio. If there was any question about the return of Erich Bergen, who was dismissed for unexplained reasons, there isn’t any more. …

No contract had been signed at this writing, but "Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas" was moving toward that crucial ink on its path to becoming an Imperial Palace late show, possibly opening by Oct. 17. …

"Scarlett and her Seductive Ladies of Magic" closed shop at the Riviera on Monday, opting not to continue beyond a contracted 90-day run. Manager John Lewis says they have signed with a new management company that plans to invest in a whole new — and not topless — show with unique illusions. They hope to open in six months to a year. …

Comedian Bobby Slayton has vacated the Tropicana, choosing the road over disputes with management and heavy comedy competition on the Strip. "I just really need to get back out there and make some money," he says. A probable Showtime special could bring him back in a position of strength, he adds.

Impressionist Rich Natole, an afternoon tenant in Slayton’s venue, also had to close, at least temporarily, when he had no one to share production costs with. …

In Las Vegas, Elvis is still the King. So says "Legends in Concert" producer Brian Brigner, who had to make a call on which icon — Elvis or Michael? — gets to close the show now that both are in the lineup. Damian Brantley, formerly of "American Superstars," joined the Harrah’s Las Vegas lineup last week as Michael Jackson.

"We felt like this was the right call in Las Vegas as Elvis is so iconic in the town and his show resided here," Brigner says in an e-mail. If the "Legends" revue was in Detroit, "I could maybe see it play out differently."

The new lineup at Harrah’s also features a Bette Midler tribute by Sherie Rae Parker. Having the real Midler sometimes right across the street at Caesars Palace is an "Only in Vegas" phenomenon.

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