Friday, April 4, 2003 | 8:49 a.m.
What: "Together Again."
When: 8 tonight and Saturday.
Where: Stardust's Wayne Newton Theater.
Tickets: $64.70.
Information: (702) 772-6111.
Rating: *** 1/2
For years comedian Tim Conway has performed an Old Man routine, in which he shuffles across the stage wearing a disheveled white wig and takes forever to perform a task.
Conway, 69, and longtime stage partner Harvey Korman, 76, are beginning to take on the persona of the Old Man for real.
They don't move as quickly as they once did, and their jokes are getting a little gray and wrinkled -- but like a pair of comfortable old shoes, the comedy team is nice to have around.
Conway, Korman and impressionist Louise DuArt, the young comic relief for the old guys, are at the Stardust's Wayne Newton Theater.
Judging by the size of the crowd at opening night, fans are not put off by the fact that two of the country's most prominent comedic figures are growing old in a world that idolizes youth and often wants to hide the elderly in a closet.
Granted, most of those in the audience (which included comedian Jackie Mason and "Laugh-In" producer George Schlatter) were on the older end of the age scale.
But there were quite a few in the 900-seat room who were years away from being born when Conway and Korman first teamed up on the long-running "The Carol Burnett Show." "Burnett" was on CBS from 1967 to 1979.
Conway, whose career spans more than 40 years, earned four Emmys with Burnett. He first came to national prominence as the befuddled Ensign Parker on the TV series "McHale's Navy" (1962-66).
Korman, who studied drama in Chicago's Goodman Theatre School, won five Emmys while with the series, plus a Golden Globe Award. One of the highlights of Korman's career was his role of prosecutor Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks' 1974 film classic "Blazing Saddles."
Conway was, and is, the buffoon in this act. Korman was, and is, the straight man who is constantly frustrated by the buffoonery.
After 36 years together, the comedians work effortlessly -- like a long-married husband and wife who can anticipate their partner's every move.
The show is filled with a lot of jokes about aging, which for some reason often revolve around urinating and the difficulty thereof.
Korman is first in the ring for this tag-team night of comedy. He immediately defuses the age issue in the evening's opening monologue.
"Lets take a little poll," Korman said. "How many of you think I haven't changed that much?"
There was thunderous applause, but obviously meant to be polite.
"Now, how many of you are thinking, 'What the hell happened to you?' "
Korman said he doesn't mind getting old.
"I just don't like how fast it happened," he quipped. "One day I'm looking in the mirror, 'Hey, it's little Harvey Korman from Chicago,' and the next day is Sam Jaffe from the movie 'Shangri La.' " (Actually, the movie is called "Lost Horizon," but we'll chalk the mistake up to Korman's age.)
Korman recited a long list of activities he could no longer do well, such as tennis, golf and soccer. Predictably, a fan shouted out, "What about sex?"
Korman was prepared.
"Sex? Are you kidding," he said. "I can't even get into my own pants."
Korman noted all of the problems of aging.
"I stopped growing hair on my head," he said. "Now it's growing out of my nose, my ears. I have to hot curl my eyebrows."
There were jokes about wrinkles and liver spots.
"I took a pen and connected the spots on the back of my hand one day last week," Korman said. "It spelled out 'Old Fart.' "
And jokes about urinating.
"I went to the doctor and told him I had bladder problems," Korman said. "I asked him, 'What should I do.' 'First,' he said. 'get off my carpet.' "
And about Viagra.
"My using Viagra would be like putting a new flagpole on a condemned building," he said. "Old guys just take Viagra to keep from rolling out of bed."
After the opening, Conway joined Korman onstage, and after a quick exchange, Korman left and Conway took over.
"He (Korman) has a computer now," Conway said. "The man shouldn't even have a can opener."
He said Korman bought cheap airline tickets using the computer.
"Last week we flew from Los Angeles to New York for $8," Conway said. "There were some restrictions. First, you have to leave on a Tuesday ... and second, we could not return, ever."
After Conway finished his allotted time in the spotlight, Korman rejoined him and they performed their classic "echo" routine, in which Korman plays the part of a retiring baseball player, and as he makes a farewell speech, Conway repeats some of the words with the effect of an echo.
There were several classic routines throughout the show, including one in which Korman gives a speech at a corn-growers' convention while Conway performs nonsense at the table beside him, and another in which Korman tries to buy an airline ticket from Conway, who does his Old Man shtick.
A show-stopper was Conway's hilarious dwarf golfer routine, where the lower half of his legs are hidden and golf shoes are attached to his knees to create the effect of a dwarf in golf attire.
They closed the evening with the legendary "dentist" bit, in which Conway accidentally deadens various parts of his body with shots of Novocain while trying to work on Korman's aching tooth.
Louise DuArt was an integral part of the show, performing at intervals throughout the night. She is a brilliant impressionist, doing such celebrities as Fran Drescher, Joan Rivers, Barbara Walters and Cher.
She also did a marvelous George Burns, another comedian who aged well.
Burns lived to be 100 and continued to perform well into his 90s.
Compared to him, Korman and Conway are still young.
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