Talk has become the talk of Las Vegas; Penny Pibbets and Gaz focusing on solo scenes

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 | 1:04 p.m.

The Kats Report Bureau over the weekend was a road-trip-a-rama as we raced to Alex Theater in Glendale, Calif., to catch a dual appearance by Steve Martin and Martin Short.

This onstage conversation was part of the “Live Talks L.A.” series, in which entertainment celebs or otherwise famous and noteworthy individuals are asked questions onstage in a kind of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” format. The event was pegged to Short’s new autobiography, “I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend.” (HarperCollins; $26.99.)

At a reception for VIP ticket-holders before the show, I asked Short if his character Jackie Rogers Jr., the cross-eyed albino, sequins-encrusted variety-show stalwart, was based on any Las Vegas performer. Or maybe a composite.

“Ah. No, sorry,” he said, grinning. “I know what you’re going for, but he wasn’t.” Short also said he’d love to return to town to reprise his well-received performances from July 2012 but is not booked as part of the extended lineup of the Mirage’s “Aces of Comedy” series.

This sort of presentation is becoming a trend in Las Vegas, with subjects telling their own stories as part of an onstage conversation, as was the case with the Al Pacino appearance at the Mirage in September.

We’ve also seen the one-man production rolled out, with Mike Tyson’s “Undisputed Truth” at MGM Grand and Jerry Lewis’ appearances at South Point Showroom and Reynolds Hall in the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Most recently, we’ve seen Andy Walmsley carry off a great debut of “ENTSpeaks” at Inspire Theater on Fremont East. The Amazing Johnathan’s bracing account of his health problems and subsequent retirement was a particularly moving moment in a show that featured comic legend Marty Allen, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, “Splash” producer Jeff Kutash, Olympic synchronized swimmer and “O” artist Christina Jones and former “Crazy Girls” showgirl Shellee Renee.

The next installment of “ENTSpeaks” is planned for January, and Walmsley wants to produce these shows three to four times a year. Those who are either lined up or are on the hook for the series include Melody Sweets of “Absinthe”; Bob Anderson, who by then will be a headliner at Palazzo with his Frank Sinatra tribute show; Cabaret Jazz headliner Clint Holmes; actor Antonio Fargas (you must remember him as Huggy Bear from “Starsky & Hutch”); Plaza headliner Louie Anderson; “Fantasy” producer Anita Mann; former Stardust showgirl Aki Levin, whose image was featured on Western Pacific Airlines flights headed for Las Vegas; and the highly coveted comedy magician Jeff Hobson.

Fashioned after the TED Talks series of brief monologues, “ENTSpeaks” is part stage presentation, part party at Inspire. In each instance, it’s a groovy way to learn more about those among us who are ubiquitous, yet still largely unknown.

• In one of the recent performances of “Absinthe,” a show I see more frequently than can be deemed healthy, I noticed something about Penny Pibbets’ sock-puppet performance:

Spit the color of pink.

It was in the late stages of the brilliant, three-minute segment in which Pibbets starts with a pair of socks she has crafted into puppet creatures. She shouted with such ferocity that pink spit flew from her mouth and, yes, befouled my jacket (which is now being donated to the Smithsonian Institution).

This is a way of saying that Pibbets is a spitfire, for real. Lately, she and the similarly inspired Gazillionaire have embarked on solo projects worthy of attention, support and applause.

Pibbets is currently funding her new solo TV talk-show project, “The Penny Pibbets Show,” on Kickstarter (run an Internet search for “Kickstarter Penny Pibbets,” and you’ll land there). The goal is for $19,990 and the campaign ends Nov. 20, so get on it.

At this writing Pibbets has raised about $13,500. A launch of the program is set for Dec. 21 at Art Square Theater in the Arts District. The idea is to stage the series regularly at Art Square over a 13-show run.

The TV project was unveiled just as Pibbets released a CD by her band Koocheekoo, aptly titled “Loose Screws,” another one of her side projects, a terrifically inventive slice of music. Meantime, The Gazillionaire is eight episodes into his own self-propelled SpiegelworldTV You Tube series, title of “Gazillionaire,” which has been released in installments each Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Line up all this activity, and it does seem Gaz and Pibbets are planning for life away from “Absinthe.” The tea leaves — I think they are tea leaves — say it’s just a matter of when.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.