Columnist Joe Delaney: Lucas raising the bar for afternoon shows

Joe Delaney

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 8:59 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at joe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4066.

Multitalented comedian and ventriloquist Ronn Lucas is another excellent example of the recent return to a policy of building identification with a hotel by entertainers, as well as production shows ... Lucas played a three-week afternoon engagement at the Rio in September ... At that time we predicted he would "return for an extended run."

Lucas returned Nov. 16 and is performing at 3 p.m. daily (dark Mondays) through December in the Rio's Masquerade Showroom (formerly called the Copacabana Showroom) ... As I wrote in September, his performance is an amazing mixture of stand-up comedy, improvisation, audience interaction and extraordinary ventriloquism ... Even his "friends" are departures from the norm.

Billing himself as "The Man Who Can Make Anything Talk," Lucas can and will make a basketball yodel or heckle the audience while he blows up a balloon ... He can make a toaster sing, or be interrupted by his microphone then engage it in a hilarious dialogue ... He often closes the show by randomly selecting an audience member and making that person a "dummy" who talks, sings and dances.

Constantly redefining his art, seeking to go beyond the usual audience perceptions, Lucas gave up the conventional wood and plastic dummies in favor of his own elaborately conceived creations, many of which do not even resemble humans ... Lucas' favorite, a crowd favorite as well, is Scorch, the teenage dragon who refers to himself as "Kermit the Frog on acid."

Buffalo Billy is more human but no less a rascal, another major contributor ... A brash, Western type, Billy may often contribute a number of choruses of "The Auctioneer," each one at a more rapid tempo than the one before ... Another favorite is George the Turtle, with a body that was actually created by Lucas' grandfather ... There's so much more, both funny and heartwarming.

Lucas was just 7 when he saw a television show on which the late Edgar Bergen apparently made a baby talk, then brought on his caustic wooden companion, Charlie McCarthy, with very funny results ... Lucas then went out and purchased an album, "Instant Ventriloquism," by Jimmy Nelson, best known for his Nestle television commercials.

A multi-award winner, Lucas is as well known in Europe and elsewhere abroad as he is the United States ... He hosted a weekly television variety show in Great Britain for four years ... Lucas has raised the standard of afternoon entertainment in Las Vegas to the next plateau ... The Scintas will also play the Rio's Masquerade Showroom through this year.

The Rio's parent hotel, Harrah's, is another example of performer identification with a hotel by continuing Mac King, afternoons, and Clint Holmes, evenings, into 2006 ... Siegfried & Roy and Danny Gans, in separate Mirage theaters, and Lance Burton, midway through an 11-year deal at Monte Carlo, are other examples.

Female performers are making similar commitments ... Rita Rudner, after a long, successful run at MGM Grand, recently renewed for three years at New York-New York ... Sheena Easton will play the LV Hilton NightClub through December, and Marlene Ricci started a long-term run Tuesday at the Riviera's LeBistro Theatre ... Gladys Knight does likewise at the Flamingo Las Vegas, starting Feb. 12.

Weekend wrap-up

The Las Vegas Philharmonic Youth Orchestra with the Tucson Philharmonic Orchestra as its guest performs Saturday at 7 p.m. in University Nevada, Las Vegas' Ham Hall ... The Charles Vanda Master Series presents mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, tonight at 8 in UNLV's Ham Hall ... Check out all of the various hotel Super Bowl parties ... Go, New England Patriots ... See you next Thursday.