Friday, Oct. 31, 2003 | 10:42 a.m.
Putting aside those pesky felony indictments -- and his upcoming criminal trial -- hypnotist Marshall Walter Sylwesterzak, aka Marshall Sylver , is returning to the Las Vegas stage.
The Palms announced Thursday that Sylver, a former Strip performer, late-night infomercial star, self-help guru and accused money scammer, will perform Friday and Saturday nights during November in its Key West room.
In April, Sylver was indicted by a Las Vegas grand jury on nine felony counts of theft by obtaining money under false pretenses. He was subsequently arrested and released on bail.
The indictments were the result of a Nevada attorney general probe into allegations Sylver charged participants in his Millionaire Mentorship Program $5,000 each and promised he'd double their money through his investment strategies -- or they'd get their money back.
The indictment alleges Sylver refused to honor his money-back guarantee, that he did not provide the promised mentoring and that he did not pre-interview anyone for the Millionaire Mentorship Program, as he had claimed.
Attorney general spokesman Tracey Brierly told VegasBeat that even though the case against Sylver was still open, there are no legal barriers to his performing.
She said that Sylver's trial is scheduled to start Dec. 1 in District Court in Las Vegas.
There is no local telephone listing for Sylver, or Sylwesterzak, and the Palms' public relations manager, Vanessa Thill, said she could not find any contact information for him.
Sylver performed his "World's Fastest Hypnotist" act at the Sahara and Stratosphere in 1997 and 1998.
Sylver's act will be the hip hotel's first attempt to mount anything resembling a regular headline show. Hotel owner George Maloof has said that next year the hotel will likely break ground on a 300-room addition, which might include a legit theater.
Good one
Overheard at the opening cocktail party for the Las Vegas Comedy Festival at Stardust on Wednesday night: "I bet that Nelly was going, 'We got Molly Sims, but where is James Caan when you need him?' "
Cann plays a casino surveillance and security expert in the new NBC series "Las Vegas." Sims plays his daughter on the show.
Nelly, of course, had his Aladdin Hotel room burglarized of more than $1 million in jewelry during the "NBC Radio Music Awards" Monday night. Sims was a presenter on the telecast.
Changes
Breck Wall reports that the Riviera revue "Men, the Show" is leaving the hotel by Dec. 5, and will be replaced by a new show starring Charo.
Steve Darling, a spokesman for the bombshell, confirmed that there was an active move for Charo to return somewhere as a Vegas headliner, but said no deal had been finalized.
Wall, meanwhile, is getting ready to mark some important milestones of his own.
The Flamingo Las Vegas afternoon show he produces, "Bottoms Up," is set to mark its 45th anniversary and its 16,000th performance. Both will be celebrated -- along with Wall's 69th birthday -- at a party Nov. 14.
Growing up
Amazing how far some people can progress from the ol' sandbox.
VegasBeat caught up the other day with one of our preschool pals, Cass Calder Smith. He is now one of San Francisco's top architects, and was in Vegas to check on his latest project, a Mandalay Bay restaurant he is designing for celebrity Chef Rick Moonen.
Moonen started years ago at La Cote Basque in New York, cooking alongside another future Vegas mainstay, Charlie Palmer.
Moonen and CCS Architecture are putting finishing touches on plans for Moonen's 16,000-square-foot, two-story, 450-seat eatery complete with a magnificent interior waterfall.
Another playmate from Greenwich Village's Washington Square Park was future best-selling author Naomi Wolf ("The Beauty Myth"). Perhaps her views were influenced by us throwing sand at her.
Fawcett sings
Las Vegas resident and former "Puttin' on the Hits" host Allen Fawcett was doing some singing of his own at the Bootlegger Bistro's karaoke night on Monday.
And since Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton were in the house videotaping karaoke singers for a segment of the upcoming Las Vegas ONE morning show, "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton," soon Fawcett's vocal skills will be seen by a larger audience. (The show is set to debut Monday morning on Las Vegas ONE, and Clinton is the announcer. For a preview, see Jerry Fink's story on page 1E.)
Fawcett actually is a Broadway veteran of six musicals -- he was the first star of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and was replaced by David Cassidy -- and his pipes are pretty sweet.
VegasBits
On the air: Camera crews from "Extra" were filming Andre Agassi and the kids from his charter prep school this week. The segment, as well as a feature on Las Vegas restaurants that attract celebrities, is slated to air at 7 p.m. Saturday on KXNT Channel 13 ...
Different story: Nelly's personal publicist, Juliette Harris, called VegasBeat on Thursday to say that her client did not ask for a $20,000 appearance fee to show up at an "NBC Radio Music Awards" afterparty Monday night at Prana (Aladdin), as a club promoter told us. She also insists there never was a deal for him to appear, and that the club was premature in advertising the appearance. Event organizer Marklen Kennedy stands by his story that there was in fact a deal ...
Maximum exposure: Award-winning Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Mike Smith has signed a deal with King Features Syndicate, the nation's largest. He had been with United Features. In addition to his editorial drawings, a Smith NASCAR cartoon will be part of a racing page that goes out weekly to more than 350 papers.
From Sun wires
An inspection of a Honduran factory that produces a clothing line for rap music mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs did not uncover the kinds of labor abuses alleged by activists, the country's labor minister said Thursday.
German Leitzelar led inspectors on a six-hour visit of the Southeast Textiles factory in Choloma.
"I think things have been overblown," Leitzelar told reporters afterward. "If there are any irregularities, they are not like what was contained in the accusations."
The anti-sweatshop National Labor Committee released a report Tuesday alleging poor working conditions at the factory, most of which is used to produce Combs' Sean John clothing line.
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