Wallace is highlight of good comedy month

By Jerry Fink (contact)

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 | 7:38 a.m.

It's a stellar time for comedy in Las Vegas.

Brad Garrett this weekend at the Mirage.

Dennis Miller from Thursday through Monday at the MGM.

And for the rest of this month, George Wallace and David Brenner share time onstage at the Flamingo.

One of the funniest lines of the Wallace-Brenner show comes from Brenner: "All Jewish holidays can be summed up in, 'They tried to kill us, we escaped, let's eat.' "

But this is Wallace's platform. He is into his third year of headlining at the Flamingo, and should be there for many more.

He frequently invites comedian friends to join him onstage, but Brenner is the first to do so for a month.

Wallace says if this partnership works, there may be more long-term dual engagements in the future.

You shouldn't pass up the opportunity to see these two comics performing in the same room - it's like getting two shows for the price of one. Each spends about an hour delivering material that will have you in tears.

Brenner, who recently completed a long-term engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton, opened the show.

Although some of his material is dated, the bulk of it comes from the daily headlines and is as fresh as today's - or yesterday's - news.

In contrast, much of Wallace's material comes from the audience. Although he has jokes, his interaction with the audience is often priceless.

"Most entertainers ask, 'Where're you from?' I could give a (expletive) where you're from."

"Is anyone having a birthday? Did they sing happy birthday to you? No. Well you're ... out of luck on that, too."

When a couple walked in shortly after the show started, Wallace brought them into the spotlight.

"Where the hell you all been?" he asked. "I'll tell you what - I'm different from most entertainers. Most get ticked off if you walk in late. Me, I don't care if you walk in 10 minutes before it's over. As long as you paid to get in here, it's fine with me."

Then he focused on two men in the audience.

"Where are you two from - Brokeback Mountain?"

Wallace's observations are hilarious, such as one about a teenager who wore his pants extremely low: "I wanted to kick his (expletive) but I didn't know where it was."

And the one about punishing children, in which he emphasized that his mother did not spare the rod.

"She took me to the graveyard and showed me a plot she bought for me," Wallace said. "She told me, 'You can use it now or you can use it later, but you're not going to talk back to me.' "

Today's children, he noted, are given "time out."

"Momma had time out - she would take time out from whipping our (expletive), and then she would do it some more."

Wallace said teachers tell children who are being beaten at home to call 1-800-CHILD ABUSE.

"Momma would tell us, 'You dial that number, I'll be out of jail long before you get out of the hospital.' "

While Wallace sometimes seems harsh with some of his fans, it's all in good fun.

And near the end, he brings several fans onstage to pass out gifts, which range from CDs to an ocean cruise.

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