Trip to Vegas turned out to be right move for comedian

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005 | 6:51 a.m.

Comedians from around the nation are converging on Las Vegas this week for The Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace and the Flamingo Las Vegas.

But one of the brightest comics can be found in Las Vegas year-round.

Kathleen Dunbar produces and stars in "Divas of Comedy" at 9 p.m. Mondays at the Sahara. The show also features Carla Rae and a third comedian chosen each week from a rotating cast.

Sometimes the third diva may be 6-foot Robin Cee or 3-foot-6-inch Tanya Lee Davis or anyone in between those heights.

Dunbar also hosts a revue at 10 p.m. Fridays at the Bootlegger.

She's popular with conventions, and she spends a lot of time at comedy clubs and other venues around the nation.

"I would love to be able to stay in Vegas and not travel," Dunbar said. "I didn't move here to play Omaha, you know."

She arrived in Las Vegas on May 1, 2002, driven by an overpowering urge to make people laugh somewhere other than in her native Milwaukee.

"Vegas was my big move," Dunbar said. "I don't know how to explain why I moved here instead of New York or Los Angeles. A lot of my friends thought that I was nuts -- but every comic I knew who moved to L.A. is now waiting tables or doing some other job outside of comedy to support themselves. Or they aren't doing comedy anymore.

"There's something about the city, the energy. It seemed so welcoming to me. I think this is where I needed to go when I left home."

The road from Milwaukee to Las Vegas was an unusual one.

Dunbar started out in the decidedly unfunny business of desktop publishing.

"I worked for a company that did the layout and design of technical documentation books," Dunbar said. "You know, when you buy a new car and there's this manual in the glove compartment? We did those in French, German and Portuguese."

Not exactly the best preparation for a career in comedy. Or maybe it was.

To relieve the ennui she clowned around.

"I was always the wise guy at work," Dunbar said. "If the boss asked if there were any questions I would ask insane questions. I was always getting 'the look' from the boss that told me to just sit down and shut up."

Milwaukee was the birthplace of ComedySportz in 1984, a comedy club and improvisational theater now in 22 cities.

The premise of ComedySportz's entertainment is comedy as a team sport -- two teams with a referee who play competitive improv games based on audience suggestions.

The theater conducts comedy classes, preparing team members for eventually performing improv at ComedySportz.

After a co-worker took the course, Dunbar decided to try it.

Most candidates spend six months in class, but after only six weeks Dunbar was invited to join the ComedySportz's cast.

"Even though they made me a player, they made me continue taking the class," Dunbar said.

While continuing to work in desktop publishing, she performed with ComedySportz and then with a murder mystery dinner theater in Milwaukee.

Eventually, she mustered up enough nerve to attend an open-mike night at a local club.

"I never thought I could do it," Dunbar said. "When I was doing dinner theater I was with three other actors -- there was somebody there to pick up the pieces.

"But stand-up -- you're out there onstage all alone with your guts and your heart in your hands."

Her first stand-up performance was on Feb. 3, 1999, at the Safe House in Milwaukee, one of the oldest bars in the country, she said.

"There were only 10 to 15 people in the audience," Dunbar recalled. She told three jokes and they all received big laughs.

"I looked down and saw my hands shaking," Dunbar said.

After three open-mike nights she found a booking agent.

She continued to spend her days churning out automobile manuals, but at night she would perform at comedy clubs in and around Milwaukee.

"A lot of us had a misconception about what comedians earn," Dunbar said.

For very little pay she put a lot of miles on her car as she traveled through all kinds of weather to various gigs around Wisconsin and in Chicago.

After nine years of flirting with comedy as a career, Dunbar quit her job, sold her house and moved to Las Vegas.

"I received a very cold reception," she said. "I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't know it would be that tough."

She was ignored by the five comedy clubs that were in town at the time -- the number is now down to three.

Dunbar credits her local breakthrough to comedian Cork Proctor, who was hosting a tribute show to comedian Bernie Allen about six months before Allen died in January 2003.

"Cork is a mentor," Dunbar said.

Proctor unexpectedly called on Dunbar to give a brief performance at the tribute and she was a big hit.

Local columnist Norm Johnson was at the event and was so impressed with Dunbar that he introduced her to the manager of the Comedy Stop at the Tropicana.

Before long Dunbar was performing at the Comedy Stop and other local venues, including the Greek Isles, where Ron Garrett was entertainment director.

When Garrett moved to the Sahara, he took Dunbar and "Divas of Comedy" with him.

"In some ways I've accomplished more than I thought I would," Dunbar said. "But it's not enough. I'm very goal-oriented. I will never be satisfied. I love to work."

KJUL booster

If you are having difficulty receiving the signal of the new 104.7 KJUL-FM station, Judi Booe advises fans to buy an FM radio booster.

Scott and Kurt Gentry, who adopted the adult standards format when it was abandoned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, said the signal from the station's tower would be weak until the tower could be moved.

The move could take up to a year.

Meanwhile Booe -- who organized a protest and started a petition drive when KJUL's format changed -- suggests buying a power booster, which can be found at Radio Shack and can be attached to the radio.

"There are different types of connections, so be sure you get the right kind," Booe said.

Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.