John Katsilometes explains why comic Dave Chappelle failed to make festival gig

Friday, Nov. 17, 2006 | 6:58 a.m.

An ad in Thursday's newspaper was a puzzle of sorts: Guess which of the six comics pictured in the advertisement for the Comedy Festival is not, in fact, part of the festival. Those photographed were Dave Chappelle, Bill Maher, Dave Attell, Louis C.K., Mario Cantone and George Lopez.

The answer is Chappelle, and today we have an explanation as to why.

"There were some contract issues that didn't get resolved in a manner timely enough for Dave to prepare and perform in Las Vegas," Carla Sims, spokeswoman for Chappelle, said Thursday afternoon. Comics often like to warm up their stand-up act at clubs prior to major gigs such as the Comedy Festival, which runs through Saturday night at Caesars Palace. (The nature of the contract issues was not specified; efforts to reach a spokesperson for HBO, which co-sponsors the event with AEG Live, on Thursday were unsuccessful.)

Chappelle - who does reliably fill his stand-up performance commitments, his departure from Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" last year notwithstanding - was booked to headline Thursday at the 4,000-seat Colosseum. He and Maher, who did make his performance that night, were late additions to the lineup, and they were announced, in tandem, on Oct. 26. But on Monday the festival announced that Chappelle would not perform, the only defection in the four-day event. Organizers offered refunds for tickets to his show, which ranged from $60 to $145.

NoteMart

Stars aplenty: The ninth star to be issued this year on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars will go to Vicente Fernandez, the "king of ranchera music." Fernandez will be honored before his Nov. 25 show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center ...

It's a gun, and they are reaching: "Phantom - Las Vegas Spectacular" lead Brent Barrett returned to the Broadway production of "Chicago" Wednesday for its 10th anniversary performance. A former Billy Flynn, Barrett returned to the role and performed "We Both Reached for the Gun" with Brooke Shields, as Roxie Hart on his knee. Others taking part in the special performance were former cast members Marcia Lewis, D. Sabella, Melanie Griffith, Wayne Brady, John O'Hurley, Huey Lewis, Marilu Henner, Gregory Harrison, Tom Wopat, Lynda Carter, Chita Rivera, Charlotte d'Amboise, Ruthie Henshall and Ashlee Simpson ...

Lucky 13: Liza Minnelli, who headlines again at the Luxor Nov. 23-25, played at a bat mitzvah over the weekend. As the New York Post reported Wednesday, Minnelli sang five songs at a gala for Charlotte Kassimir, the 13-year-old daughter of hair transplant guru Dr. Joel Kassimir, at the posh club Marquee. The Post reports that Minnelli played the gig for free, and a source told the Post, "Liza is an old family friend and did it as a favor. She can command $250,000 a show and usually doesn't get out of bed for less than that." No word on Minnelli's snooze-button fee ...

Sometimes, you just have to ask: This week I sent an e-mail to Clark County Department of Public Works Public Information Coordinator Bobby Shelton, asking why the county has never fixed one of its more egregious typographical errors - the "Caesar's Palace" street sign on Flamingo Road, just west of the Strip leading into Caesars Palace. Shelton responded, "We have checked out the misspelled sign, and will try to get it corrected as quickly as possible." Yes, making the world a better place, one sign at a time, here at Fab LV ...

He/she did it for me! A vanity plate on a new Mustang: DDIT4ME.