Schtick doesn’t stick in ‘Dean, Jerry and Friends’

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

What: "An Afternoon with Dean, Jerry and Friends."

When: 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Dark Mondays.

Where: Bourbon Street Showroom.

Tickets: $12.95.

Information: (702) 737-7200.

Rating (out of 5 stars): *

Jerry Lewis played the role of a schlemiel when he partnered with Dean Martin.

When the duo split, everyone thought they were schlumps for breaking up such a successful act.

Well, they have been reunited in "An Afternoon with Dean, Jerry and Friends" -- a show full of schmaltzy shtick that may have Deano reaching for a bottle of schnapps from the grave.

There is a lot of schlock in this bare-budget 90-minute production, which features Vince Palmieri as Dean and Craig Canter as Jerry in the prime of their careers.

The humor is made up mostly of cheap retreads of Martin and Lewis routines, without the charisma that was ignited when the originals were together onstage or on the big screen.

One might say the show is a work in progress. It debuted New Year's Eve in the 100-seat showroom at Bourbon Street.

Beverly Rogers, longtime manager of many Las Vegas entertainers, says the intimate venue is a good place to start -- somewhere that the show can be honed and prepared for a larger setting on the Strip.

It will require a lot of honing before it is ready for prime time.

The premise is good, reuniting one of the most successful comedy acts of all time. Las Vegas often clones hit shows, and so it is good to see someone come up with a clever idea that doesn't follow the mainstream.

Producer Chris Davidson did that recently with his takeoff on "The Tonight Show" at New Frontier. The production involved Johnny Carson impressionist Jeff Fairchild interviewing a series of guests (all impressionists) -- unfortunately, the showroom closed before the wrinkles could be ironed out.

Davidson's production featured one of the best Jerry Lewis impressionists around, David Wolf. Unfortunately, Wolf isn't in the show at Bourbon Street.

Neither is any number of excellent Dean Martin impressionists staggering around Vegas with oversized martini glasses in hand.

Palmieri and Canter have no physical resemblance to Martin and Lewis, who were quite thin in their heyday. Palmieri as Martin is round and fleshy, not tall and lean. And Canter as Lewis could slim down a little if he's going to portray an entertainer who appeared almost anorexic in his younger years.

The physical differences are distracting, especially since their impressions aren't good enough to catch you up in the moment and make you forget you aren't watching the real thing.

Palmieri has been a vocalist and an impressionist for more than 20 years, doing the same celebrities every other impressionist in the world does -- among them Martin and Jack Nicholson.

Canter does impressions of Lewis, Engelbert Humperdinck and Neil Diamond. His Diamond is better than his Lewis, just as Palmieri has impressions in his repertoire that he does better than his Martin.

And their Martin and Lewis impressions aren't strong enough to carry an entire show, at least not at this stage of development.

The production opens with a black-and-white videotape of the real Martin and Lewis performing on a television special in the '50s, giving the audience a taste of just how good the real McCoy was.

Palmieri/Martin and Canter/Lewis then hook up onstage to exchange banter that often falls flat, tripping over stale jokes about Martin's drinking habits.

Bringing relief to the Martin and Lewis routines are a number of guests, including ventriloquist Danny Countess and his dummy, Cecil, and Roger Wade doing a singing impression of Marty Robbins (and a decent one at that).

Other guests were impressions by Palmieri (as Nicholson, Paul Lynde, Ross Perot, Howard Cosell and Archie and Edith Bunker) and Canter (as Diamond and Humperdinck).

Spread out among the guest appearances were efforts by Palmieri and Canter to recapture the magic of Martin and Lewis.

However, unless there is a lot of improvement, that is one magic act that won't make it in.