Banged-up host to still honor Stallones on the Strip
We have our first accident reported leading into F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. But the individual involved says he will be able to make his Friday night appearance on the Strip.
We speak of Jay Leno, who was banged up Friday night in a tumble before a show at Palace Theatre in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The longtime “Tonight Show” host suffered an array of bumps and bruises.
The 74-year-old comic was still sporting an eye patch (in the fashion of former column author Norm Clarke) Monday at a charity event in Beverly Hills.
Leno is due to host a splashy charity event Friday night at Wynn Las Vegas, in the teeth of F1 weekend. He’s honoring Sylvester and Jennifer Stallone at the Las Vegas debut of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS gala.
Word is Leno is still fulfilling his role as the event’s celeb host. Diana Ross the night’s headliner.
The Stallones are receiving the organization’s Award of Inspiration. AmfAR was founded in 1985, raising more than $900 million in the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education and advocacy. Previous recipients of the award include Richard Gere, Ava DuVernay, Cher, Miley Cyrus and Charlize Theron.
Leno headlined a show at Yaamava’ Theater near San Bernardino, California, on Saturday. He is booked at Edgewater Pavilion in Laughlin on Nov. 30.
Announced Friday, Leno is also in rotation for the updated “Aces of Comedy” series, which is moving to David Copperfield Theater at MGM Grand next year (tickets for all shows are on sale at Ticketmaster.com). “Aces” ran for more than a decade at The Mirage Theater.
Leno makes his “Aces” return Feb. 22. Howie Mandel and Arsenio Hall relaunch the series Jan. 17-18. Ray Romano and Tim Allen are also stars in “Aces.” The shows take over the theater when Copperfield is on break.
Early last year, Leno crashed his motorcycle, suffering a broken collarbone, two broken ribs and two fractured kneecaps. Two months before earlier, the “Jay Leno’s Garage” creator suffered second- and third-degree burns while working on an an antique car in his Burbank garage.
The comedian joked to TMZ, “The great thing about this age is you don’t learn by your mistakes. You keep doing the same stupid thing.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
Schedule and headliners for "Aces of Comedy," which returns to the Strip.
HOWIE MANDEL & ARSENIO HALL
January 17 – 18
Tickets start at $49 (not including tax and service fees)
Howie Mandel has remained a constant force in show business for more than 40 years. He has served as a judge on NBC's flagship series "America's Got Talent" for over 15 seasons, is currently a judge on the new AGT spin-off series "AGT: Fantasy League" on NBC, is the executive producer of the new series "Deal or No Deal Island" on NBC, and is currently shooting the third season of CityTV's "Canada's Got Talent." Previously, Mandel received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program for "Deal or No Deal" and a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host for the syndicated version of the show. Mandel continues to perform as many as 200 stand-up comedy shows each year throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Arsenio Hall is a versatile actor, comedian and producer who became a household name with the success of his Emmy Award-winning late-night talk show "The Arsenio Hall Show." Hall has been featured as the comical "Carl Cristall" in Exodus Films' animated feature "Igor" and in the HBO Sports Documentary "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals." In 2013, Hall returned to late-night television as executive producer and host of the CBS Television Distribution/Tribune Broadcasting nationally syndicated "The Arsenio Hall Show." Hall recently enjoyed a triumphant return to his first love of stand-up comedy performing at venues across the country and released his current Netflix special "Smart & Classy." Most recently, Hall brought back his talk show for a 4-night run during the Netflix is a Joke festival in Los Angeles and can also be seen reprising his role as Semmi and other surprise characters in Amazon Prime's "Coming 2 America."
JAY LENO
Saturday, Feb. 22
Tickets start at $65 (not including tax and service fees)
Widely characterized as "the hardest working man in show business," Jay Leno dominated late night television ratings with two decades as the host of the #1-rated "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Currently, Leno produces and is host of the CNBC primetime series "Jay Leno's Garage," which debuted in 2015 and is an outgrowth of his Emmy-winning "Garage" YouTube Channel. When not on television, Leno performs more than 100 stand-up shows across the world; participates in numerous charity and corporate events, does voice-overs for animated series, pens children's books, and writes a monthly column in various automotive magazines. Leno is the recipient of many honors, including Emmy, People's Choice, and TV Guide awards, Harris Poll selection as most popular star on television, the Hasty Pudding Award at Harvard University, The Mark Twain Prize, recipient of the Patriot Award given by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and being the first person to drive the pace car of all major NASCAR events.
RAY ROMANO
March 21 – 22
June 20 – 21
Tickets start at $49 (not including tax and service fees)
Ray Romano began his career in 1984 as a stand-up comedian in New York and is widely known for his role in CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond." The series ran from 1996 to 2006 and is still one of the most popular and respected sitcoms in television history. Romano won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in 2002 and as one of the show's executive producers, he also received Emmys in 2003 and 2005 for Outstanding Comedy Series and shared a 2003 Screen Actors Guild Award with the show's cast.
Romano made his feature film debut in 2003 as the voice of Manny the wooly mammoth in 20th Century Fox's animated hit, "Ice Age," and reprised the role in four sequels. In 2016, he starred in the HBO drama series "Vinyl" alongside Bobby Cannavale and Olivia Wilde. Recently, Romano also was seen in the EPIX series "Get Shorty" opposite Chris O'Dowd. In 2019, Romano appeared in three Netflix projects including his stand-up special, "Right Here, Around the Corner," the indie film "Paddleton" with Mark Duplass, and Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated "The Irishman," with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. His upcoming projects include the Jim Valvano biopic, where Romano will star as the legendary college hoops coach and also produce the film as well as starring in "Project Artemis," an Apple Original Film, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Woody Harrelson and Channing Tatum.
TIM ALLEN
Saturday, May 17
Tickets start at $69 (not including tax and service fees)
Award-winning actor and comedian Tim Allen honed his talents as a stand-up comic throughout the eighties, leading to his highly successful ABC television series "Home Improvement" where he garnered a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy nomination, and was honored with the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Male Performer in a Television Series" for an unprecedented eight years in a row. He went on to star for nine seasons in the series "Last Man Standing." He returns to ABC this January 2025 starring in the sitcom "Shifting Gears." Allen made his film debut in 1994, playing a holiday icon in "The Santa Clause," earning him another People's Choice Award, and he continued his role as Scott Calvin/Santa for two more films. In 1995, Allen debuted his role as voice of the beloved, yet deluded, space ranger Buzz Lightyear in the CGI smash hit "Toy Story." Allen has also starred in films such as "Christmas with the Kranks" alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, "Galaxy Quest" with Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, and opposite John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy in the hit comedy "Wild Hogs." Most recently, Allen starred in and executive-produced the Disney+ series "The Santa Clauses," reprising his role as Scott Calvin/Santa. In June 2026, Allen will reprise his role as Buzz Lightyear in Disney and Pixar's upcoming "Toy Story 5."
