Columnist Joe Delaney: Comedian Sinbad took long road to stardom

Joe Delaney

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 9:14 a.m.

Joe Delaney' column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@lasvegassun.com

Comedian Sinbad will be performing 10:30 p.m. shows tonight and Saturday in the Mirage's Danny Gans Theatre ... Gans, off tonight, returns Saturday for his regular 8 p.m. performance ... Sinbad is one of six children in the family of Dr. Donald and Louise Adkins of Benton Harbor, Mich. ... He is a comedian who doesn't tell jokes and never curses.

His role model is Bill Cosby because "I want people to bring their whole family to my show" ... In a recent interview, he was asked why he chose Sinbad for his professional name as a comedian.

"I renamed myself Sinbad because Sinbad is bad. He could hang out with both rogues and kings. He didn't have the physical strength of Hercules but he could outwit anyone. His name symbolizes strength, adventure and optimism."

Anyone who watched the Kennedy Center Honors television special in 1998 will attest that Sinbad is funny and has the intestinal fortitude to go beyond the pale as he paid tribute and, at the same time, cut up one of the honorees, his mentor Cosby ... In the hands of one less gifted, his contribution to the proceedings that night could have been a disaster.

Growing up, his first love was basketball ... He was awarded a basketball scholarship at the University of Denver, hoping to one day play with the Harlem Globetrotters ... At age 27, in 1983, he decided on a career as a comedian and embarked upon what he now refers to as his "poverty tour."

He toured the country riding on a Greyhound bus, playing comedy clubs in each city along the way for the price of a meal ... His dressing room was the hotel room or a club's men's room ... This could also have been called a make-it-or-else tour ... He survived long enough to be selected as a challenger on Ed McMahon's "Star Search" television show.

Never a top-prize winner, he did last for seven appearances and made it to the finals ... This led to a host stint for "It's Showtime at the Apollo" on cable, which, in turn, led to his hosting a 1991 Share the Dream Tour of black colleges, sponsored by Coca-Cola, United Airlines and the BET cable network, plus numerous TV ad exposures in the 1990s.

He prefers to narrate real-life experiences, poking fun at human foibles ... His comedy is large, impetuous, with a phrasing that is musical, at times manic, almost jazz-like in its style and timing ... Nothing is written in advance ... Sinbad prefers to take a subject, a bare outline, and let it develop itself onstage.

You are in for a special treat and a lot of laughs if Sinbad at the Mirage is on your list of shows to see this Super Bowl weekend.

Weekend wrap-up

"Splash," along with "Crazy Girls" and "An Evening at La Cage," starring Frank Marino, at the Riviera was an inadvertent omission in listing shows to see in Thursday's Sun column ... In our review of the Tropicana Comedy Stop, below, those with keen ears will detect that very funny headliner Basile was the voice of Universal Studio's Bullwinkle J. Moose character.

The Actors Repertory Theatre production of "Art," a recent hit on Broadway, starts tonight and continues through Feb. 4 (dark Jan. 29) at the Summerlin Library Theatre ... The Sierra Winds' "Happy Birthday, Mozart" concert is Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Winchester Center.

Our present feeling is that the Giants will win the Super Bowl straight up, and that 33 points is a low under-over figure, but please don't let this influence you. We went 0 for 4 on our last parlay ... Enjoy the weekend -- and the game -- and we'll see you here next Thursday.