Basile makes a big entrance at Tropicana

Joe Delaney

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 9:05 a.m.

The Tropicana Comedy Stop will soon celebrate its 11th anniversary in Las Vegas and 17th at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Both Comedy Stops usually go all out on an anniversary week. The Las Vegas branch would be hard-pressed to put together a show with more laughs or three comedians more compatible than the mono-named, bombastic Basile (pronounced "Bay-zill"); soft-spoken British import Scott Angrave and personable opener Scott Bruce.

Bruce has a quick wit and a knack for reading his audience quickly. Very few comedy club comics are really adept at the "Where are you from?" bit with an audience. Bruce rates with the best. The fact that there was a large group of locals down front did not deter him. Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada were present and dealt with nicely.

Angrave was introduced at the 15-minute mark. More formal in his attire and approach, mannered, yet warm and at ease -- an effect he has upon his audience as well -- his material dealt with the differences between the British and ourselves. Words and their usage were made very funny as he managed to be graphic but never offensive.

Basile entered from the audience, a bull of a man in a leather jacket, smoking a cigarette, to a recording of "Born To Be Wild" as though setting the audience up for a larger edition of Andrew "Dice" Clay. Not so. His mime was excellent. After divesting himself of the jacket, he proceeded to tell of his plane trip from Reno to Las Vegas -- different and often hilarious.

With a rubber face and expressions that are his own, but reminiscent of Shecky Greene, plus a voice that often cracked and popped and, at times, sounded like a short-wave radiocast, his performance became as physical as it was vocal. He referred to his Greek heritage and the contributions of his antecedents to the world of art.

Basile really hit home when he spoke of his mother and his childhood, particularly with the manner in which his mother "screwed up" the various American holidays. Taking his niece and nephew to Chuck E. Cheese and Toys R Us were other near-classic depictions. Immense potential here. Write his name down if you can't make it to the show this weekend.