Friday, Aug. 16, 2002 | 8:52 a.m.
It was inevitable.
With Las Vegas' steady growth in the number of tribute artists portraying legends of the entertainment world, someone eventually was going to come up with a tribute to the one who created many of those legends -- Johnny Carson.
Producer Chris Davidson slipped in a bare-bones production at the New Frontier about a month ago that features a faux Carson interviewing such celebrities as faux Jerry Lewis, faux John Lennon and faux Frank Sinatra.
While everything about "On the Air, Tonight's Show" is faux, the fun is real.
Davidson, who owns the Elvis-A-Rama museum on Industrial Road, has created a clever production based on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson, which ran on NBC for almost 30 years, from Oct. 2, 1962 to May 22, 1992.
The 7 p.m. show incorporates characters from Davidson's 4 p.m. production at the New Frontier, "Rock 'n' Roll Legends."
"Legends" features tribute artists who pay homage to such entertainers as Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Sinatra, Lennon and others. Those celebrities make up the guest list for "The Tonight Show."
The hourlong production is part slapstick, part stand-up and part music, all in the context of Carson's classic late-night format.
Jeff Fairchild portrays Johnny Carson quite effectively, nailing down a number of Carson's mannerisms (constantly pursing his lips, touching his tie) and his voice.
But the star of the show is actually Jerry Lewis, played with great accuracy by David Wolf.
Wolf opens the show with the hyperactive exuberance of a young Lewis, warming up the audience with "The State Song," in which he sings the name of every state and when people hear their state, they yell. It effectively gets the audience involved.
While most of the show is good clean fun and even corny at times, it has its risque moments. But those are not so offensive that you can't take the entire family to the production (one of those moments involved a rubber rear end, with Lewis wondering aloud who lost it in Vegas).
Some of the humor is sophomoric, such as Wolfe's joke about standing in line with a woman with a large tummy.
"I said, 'What's that?' " Wolfe, as Lewis, deadpanned. "She said, 'That's my baby.' And I said, 'Do you love your baby?' and she said,'Oh, yes.'
"Then why did you eat it?"
One of the real Jerry Lewis' most famous routines is miming typing on an old typewriter, a piece of office equipment that has to be explained to some of the younger members of today's audiences. Wolfe did a superb takeoff on the Lewis bit, then introduced Carson as the four-piece band played the familiar "The Tonight Show" theme.
Fairchild did a monologue similar to Carson's -- many of the jokes Carson told fell flat, so much of the fun is in watching him recover.
"I was walking down the Strip and I ran into my ex-girlfriend from high school," Fairchild said. "We went to Lincoln High School, where she was voted Miss Lincoln, because everybody took a shot at her."
The humor was reminiscent of Carson.
"Mr. Robert Blake, you know, the guy from 'Baretta' with a cockatoo," Fairchild quipped. "He was sentenced to prison. I'm sure he will find a cockatoo in there."
And, "I ran into Martha Stewart last night. We were at a party together. She was showing people how to turn subpoena papers into nice party hats."
After the monologue Fairchild sat behind a desk and interviewed several guests, beginning with Lewis, who was followed by Frank Sinatra (Jed Profeta).
The audience was then treated to a performance by Bobby Brooks as Jackie Wilson (Brooks was filling in for an ailing Justin Shandor, who portrays Elvis).
Brooks' portrayal of Wilson -- and then of Wilson portraying Sam Cooke -- was excellent. He bears a remarkable physical resemblance to Wilson and when he sings Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," you're left wanting more. He deserves to be a regular, not just a fill-in.
Rounding out the show were Rick Pierce as Neil Diamond, Frank Mendonca III as Paul McCartney and Shaun Friedrichs as John Lennon.
When The Beatles set was over, Mendonca and Friedrichs (who sang "A Hard Day's Night," "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude") sat with Carson, and Friedrichs helped with Carson's classic Carnac the Magnificent routine.
Holding an envelope to his head, Carnac gave the answer to the question "hermetically sealed" inside.
"Earth, wind and fire," Carnac said, ripped open the envelope and read the question: "What do you get from eating at the 99-cent buffet at the New Frontier?"
The Carnac bit pointed out one of the weaknesses in the show. In real life, Carnac was aided by Carson's sidekick, Ed McMahon.
The faux "Tonight" show has no McMahon, and no Doc Severinsen.
While Davidson has come up with a great idea, one that hopefully will catch on as word spreads, it's hard to accept Carson without McMahon and Severinsen.
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