Monday, April 24, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.
Penn Jillette has a message for all of the individuals, organizations and institutions targeted by "Bull----," the Showtime series he co-hosts with performing partner Teller.
"If you want to put us out of business, give $5 million to the AIDS Walk," Jillette, the speaking and juggling half of Penn & Teller, said Sunday morning at the 16th annual AIDS Walk in downtown Las Vegas. "That would do the trick."
As they have for three years, Penn & Teller pledged to at least match any donations made online or at their registration booth for the annual AIDS fundraising event. By signing up a well-populated walking team - about 180 participants signed up on behalf of Penn & Teller - and accepting donations of any denomination, the Rio headliners raised about $25,000 for Sunday's 2.5-mile walk.
"We try to keep involved in the community, and when you do a skeptical TV show you have to pick your spots," Jillette said between posing for photos and signing autographs. "We do this and our annual blood drive (which takes place around the holiday season), which keeps us a bit involved."
Aid for AIDS of Nevada Executive Director Caroline Ciocca said this year's event should bring in an all-time high of $250,000, $10,000 more than it raised a year ago.
"The biggest challenge is getting the word out," Ciocca said. "We should be as big as (events in) L.A. and New York. We are still trying to find new ways to reach out."
Other teams taking part ranged from cast members of the Luxor musical "Hairspray" to the Sin City Rollergirls Neader Dolls roller derby squad. Walkers along the route were entertained by choirs and percussion teams from the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts.
NoteMart
My Cherry amour: Cherry, the ultraclub at Red Rock Resort operated by nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber, opened Saturday night/Sunday morning with an exclusive VIP event.
Celebs who joined Gerber and his wife, Cindy Crawford, at the resort for the weekend's festivities (as we list alphabetically) included Pamela Anderson, Kylie Bax, Jim Belushi, Jerry Cantrell, Kenny G, Harry Hamlin, Anne Heche, Peter Horton, Tommy Lee, Rob Lowe, Lisa Rinna, Slash and Matt Sorum. Cherry is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.; cover is $10 ...
PAC woman: UNLV's Performing Arts Center presented another topnotch performance Saturday night with an appearance by Bebe Neuwirth at Artemus Ham Hall. Beating back a case of "Vegas Throat" by sipping from a bottle of water (it was the first visit to Las Vegas for the 47-year-old Tony Award winner), Neuwirth sang from the songbooks of Kurt Weill and John Kander and Fred Ebb. Backing her were members of the UNLV Jazz Ensembles and the UNLV Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Leslie Stifelman.
Spotted in the audience was Brent Barrett, who will star in "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular" at the Venetian; and Joe Ann Fogle, who directed Neuwirth in "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" ...
Sign up: Las Vegas' most famous sign designer, Betty Willis, has not yet seen the new Las Vegas 2007 NBA All-Star Game logo - which cops from her legendary design for the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign - but she likes it anyway.
"That's why I didn't copyright it, so it could be used to promote the city," said the 82-year-old Willis, whose diamond-shaped design on the south end of the Strip has said hello (and goodbye) to Vegas visitors since 1959. "My dad (Steve Whitehead) was president of the Chamber of Commerce in '05, and I think he'd be proud of what I've done to publicize Las Vegas. So I think it's a good thing. The more it's used, the more good it does." ...
Pen and Geller: Hoping to ink a deal to purchase Elvis Presley's Memphis house - the one that isn't Graceland and the first Presley ever owned - is psychic Uri Geller.
Geller has reportedly made a bid of $407,000 on eBay for the four-bedroom home Presley owned in 1956, and plans to turn the property into a museum that will include, as Geller said in published report, "all the bizarre things Elvis believed in," including UFOs.
Geller met Presley in Las Vegas in the '70s while Presley was headlining at the International Hotel (now Las Vegas Hilton) and owns a collection of Elvis memorabilia. (Geller will need to boost that bid; as of Sunday afternoon the price had climbed to $410,000.) ...
Singing for us: Vegas-based clothing magnate and recording artist Fred Nassiri has announced plans to release a "cross-cultural" song and album called "Love Sees No Color" in July. He intends to sing the song with a choir of children from around the world as part of Nelson Mandela's 88th birthday celebration on July 29 in Capetown, South Africa ...
Hey, the Venetian is pretty gaudy: After a recent visit to U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait, comic Kathy Griffin told People magazine that Al Faw Palace in Baghdad is "not unlike a very gaudy version of the Venetian." ...
One-stop philanthropy: This week is National Volunteer Week, so it is fitting to note that NevadaGives, an initiative of the Business Community Investment Council and the Nevada Community Foundation, has developed the Web site www.NevadaGives.org. The site has been created to assist individuals or organizations looking for information and resources (including an events calendar) related to philanthropic efforts in Southern Nevada ...
Fuel for thought: Passed along at the AIDS Walk on Sunday were two license plates spotted on hybrid cars: ECOGRL and FOPEC.
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