Show proves to have bottomless appeal

Friday, July 11, 2003 | 8:30 a.m.

Most of those who attended a recent performance of "The Best of Bottoms Up" hadn't even been born when Breck Wall debuted his risque, vaudeville production at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas in 1959.

On July 8 the show celebrated its 44th birthday.

Wall, a youthful 68, first brought "Bottoms" from Texas to the now-defunct Castaways, which stood where The Mirage now stands. Then he took it to the now-defunct Hacienda, where Mandalay Bay now stands.

It was at Caesars Palace for about two years before moving to the International Hotel (now the Las Vegas Hilton).

It played at the Flamingo for two years beginning in 1971, went to various other venues and then three years ago returned to the Flamingo, where it has been entertaining throngs of fans (of all ages) with its lowbrow shtick.

This ain't Shakespeare, but then Shakespeare ain't Breck Wall.

Although Shakespeare's productions have endured for hundreds of years, none of them have been performed on an almost continuing basis for 44 years.

Thumbs up to "Bottoms Up" for having it all over Shakespeare.

Perhaps if Juliet had been topless ...

While the four female dancers in "Bottoms Up" bare their breasts on a couple of occasions, the show is less about titillation than comedy.

It's crude, it's corny and it's often sophomoric, but it's funny.

In one scene, in which David Harris sings, "The Girl with Big Brown Eyes," the girls wear costumes that make it appear their breasts are eyes.

In another, Wall and Harris sit around a table eating beans and passing gas.

Wall and Harris pay tribute to prop humor during one portion of the show.

One scene, in which three men are standing in front of urinals, is crass but hilarious.

Puns play a major role in the show, but fans don't have much time to groan during this fast-paced, 70-minute production. Wall keeps the show moving at a fast clip (possibly on the theory that it's harder to hit a moving target).

One or two skits drag a little (one of them involving a little girl wanting to buy chocolate ice cream from a vendor), but often the humor is in the attitude of the performers and not the jokes or scenes themselves.

A lot is crammed into "Bottoms," sort of like "Laugh-In" on speed.

There are an ample number of one-liners, skits, dance numbers and jokes so that the cast is bound to touch someone's funny bone during the performance.

The cast includes Wall, Harris (with the show 32 years), Sue Metsiner (28 years), J. Dalton, Darlene Contino, Wes Sellick, Jerome Joubert, Kristy Clark, Carrie Proffitt and Tonya Tovias.

Wall warms up the audience with a few jokes that probably shouldn't be repeated in a family newspaper, then the dancers (skimpily clothed but not bare) do a number before the cast launches into a series of quick, blackout sketches that may date back to the real days of vaudeville.

"Doctor, doctor, the invisible man is in the waiting room," says the bombshell nurse. "What shall I tell him?"

"Tell him I can't see him," says the doctor.

"Your husband has sugar in his urine," says another doctor.

"No wonder this morning he peed in his cornflakes," said a wife.

There are innuendos, double-entendres and overt sexual references galore in "Bottoms," which closes with a series of spoofs on such celebrities as Celine Dion, Judge Judy, Cher and Tom Jones.

But it is all harmless fun, a formula that has helped "Bottoms Up" keep from going belly up during the past four decades.