VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Sleight-of-hand Mac is King of comics

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

Garry Trudeau. Gary Larsen. Bil Keane.

Add Harrah's headliner Mac King to the list. Well, add his cousin Bill King.

Mac King is now the subject of a nationally distributed comic strip to be syndicated by Tribune Media Services; it will be drawn by his cousin, Bill.

The official announcement and introduction of the "Mac King's Magic in a Minute" strip comes Wednesday morning at an unveiling at the Clint Holmes Theater at Harrah's.

He usually performs at the venue at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The strip debuts in the combined Las Vegas Sun/Review-Journal Sunday comics section on July 4, and is to run on Sundays.

King's act features an unusual combination of quirky humor, visual gags and sleight of hand. He is known for his engaging personality and original tricks.

The strip is based on his act and is expected to feature magic tips for kids.

But both Kings declined to talk about the comic strip in advance of Wednesday's official announcement.

Mac King got his professional start in the business during summer vacations from college performing in a two-person magic act with fellow Kentucky magician Lance Burton at a local theme park.

King is in his fifth year at Harrah's.

Can we talk?

After a nine-year absence, Joan Rivers returned as a Vegas headliner this week. We caught her act over at Stardust, where she continues through Saturday.

She made fun of people with Alzheimer's disease, cracked some jokes about the 9-11 attacks, did a 10-minute riff on Philippine cuisine ("Arf! Arf!") and mused on which first daughter was uglier, Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton.

She even made fun of the venue.

"They told me I was booked into the Bellagio! What am I doing here?" she said. "Do I look like Wayne Newton?"

Roger's star

Film critic Roger Ebert, whose reviews appear in the Las Vegas Sun, and several other folks with Vegas ties, will get stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it was announced this week.

Among the honorees set to receive their stars at sidewalk ceremonies on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street throughout 2005 are longtime Strip headliners Redd Foxx and the Righteous Brothers, and music producer Emilio Estefan, husband of Caesars Palace recurring headliner Gloria Estefan.

New bird

"The Partridge Family" is making a comeback.

"I wasn't lured by the money," show star and past Las Vegas resident and headliner David Cassidy told the Los Angeles Daily News.

"But what we're faced with in America and the world, I think, is not unlike the mood of the country when we were in Vietnam and 'The Partridge Family' originally aired. What we're experiencing now with Iraq -- it's time to get happy," Cassidy said.

Cassidy is a co-executive producer for both the reality-themed "In Search of the Partridge Family" for VH1 and a half-hour pilot for the rejuvenated sitcom to follow.

Cassidy and fellow original "Partridge" cast members Shirley Jones and Danny Bonaduce plan to scour the nation for the next generation of Partridges.

"The thing I like about the new 'Partridge' show is, to my mind, reality TV always equals unpleasantness -- who gets humiliated and voted off the island," Bonaduce said. "This might be the right time for a show where nobody gets voted off the island."

Cassidy and Bonaduce performed together in Los Angeles last weekend.

"He's an extremely funny guy," Cassidy said of Bonaduce, who is now an L.A.-area radio DJ. "I've always been one of his strongest advocates even when he made some poor decisions in his life.

"We genuinely care about each other. We have a very comfortable rapport that could be a bit like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis -- Dino was always the straight guy but very funny, and Lewis was a full-time comic. I don't know if I would go that far, but I love working with Danny."

Come back

There has not been a moratorium imposed on us regarding Robin Leach items, as some readers have hopefully suggested.

Leach has just been vacationing in Italy for a few weeks. But he returns stateside today and immediately goes to rural Pennsylvania to emcee a weekend birthday party for 84 Lumber baron Joe Hardy that will also feature performances by Dennis Miller, Joe Piscopo, David Spade and a concert by Lionel Richie.

Makin' waves

A Canadian yachting exec used a fairly unconventional manner to propose to his girlfriend the other day.

Bruce Charles hired Mobile Billboards, a Las Vegas company, to help him woo Stacey Potten in a larger-than-life way.

During a birthday dinner for Potten at McCormick & Schmick's, Charles popped the question after the 10-by-20-foot mobile billboard drove up to the restaurant and innocently parked outside. Charles directed her attention to the window, where the billboard blared: "Will you marry me, Stacey?" and the deal was sealed.

They later went to see Celine Dion, and the rolling proposal followed them to Caesars Palace.

Poker play

PartyPoker.com, which claims to be the world's largest online poker room, will be offering free poker lessons with 15 of the top poker pros at the Hard Rock Hotel at 5 p.m. today, prior to the start of a celebrity poker tournament.

Organizers expect Jennifer Tilly, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gary Busey, Vanessa Williams and poker pros Antonio Esfandiari, David Williams, Phil "The Unabomber" Laak and Chris Hinchcliffe to participate.

The 15-table tournament features a $60,000 prize pool, with a "bounty" on every professional poker player -- anyone who knocks a pro out of the tournament will win a $100 bonus.

VegasBits

Ghostbuster: Dan Aykroyd spent much of Wednesday night at Venus, the nightclub inside The Venetian ...

Celebrate: A big party at the Imperial Palace tonight celebrates the successful first year of their "Dealertainers" -- the celebrity impersonator blackjack pit. The event is free and open to the public ...

Celebrate, 2: Sen. Harry Reid and Judge Lloyd George top a scroll of 1,000 Opportunity Village supporters who will mark the organization's half century of service tonight. Bill Boyd, Kitty Rodman and Mike Morrissey will host the celebration at the Paris Las Vegas at 7 p.m.

From Sun wires

Rapper DMX arrested: Rapper and actor DMX was arrested on charges that he and another man tried to steal a car in a parking lot at Kennedy Airport in New York, authorities said.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, and Jackie Hudgins were arrested Thursday night after Port Authority police interrupted a dispute between the two and another man whose car they allegedly tried to steal, authorities said.