Archive for June, 2009

Holly Madison, Josh Strickland and Shoshana Bean will star in the sequel to Peepshow, "Threesome." Not really. (Photo by Erik Kabik | RETNA | erikkabik.com

Things you should know about Peepshow, the topless revue now playing at the CHI showroom inside Planet Hollywood:

• Despite the top-billing, advertising face time and press coverage given to Holly Madison, who replaced Kelly Monaco’s role in the show, the real star of Peepshow is Shoshana Bean, formerly of Broadway’s Wicked, currently occupying the lead singing/dancing role abandoned by former Spice Girl Mel B. Shoshana is funny, charming, spunky, cute and can sing the hell out of anything.
• Though the show’s title and sometimes-topless cast of dancing beauties would lead you to believe good ol’ fashioned boobies are the draw of the show (and, specifically, the artificial ones supported by Madison’s tiny frame), the surprising truth is that the singers steal the show. At least for me, they did. Led by Bean, a few non-stripping female singers, male lead Josh Strickland and the occasional topless rapping hottie belt out tunes with such chutzpah you’d swear you just hear a subway train rumble past.
• Aside from a few slow spots (notably the opening number featuring the show’s eponymous theme song), the 80-minute production buzzes by quickly with mercurial energy. It balances well the erotic, the humorous and the silly. A particularly creative number involves three nearly-nude women inside a giant glass vat filled with “milk”; another features a particularly buff dude performing slippery antics on a suspended cable above a bathtub.
• As with almost every other striptease-type show I’ve seen, an “audience participation” segment breaks up the bouncing bosoms of the show with some well-placed light comedy. I put that in quotes though because, like many “volunteer” situations, the audience participants are plants. I don’t have a problem with that practice, it’s entertaining, and I like comedy. Just sayin’.
• The biggest disappointment? Madison. I said it. Holly Madison is adorable. She is down-to-earth, unassuming and very considerate. The character she plays should be perfect: An innocent, shy girl looking for love. But Madison is completely uncomfortable on stage. Actually, you can tell she’s even a bit awkward in front of the camera, too, but that’s a discussion for another time. Madison distractingly plays with her hair, tugs at her robe and stumbles around for most of her limited appearances in the show. And when it’s time for her to come out of her shell, after being prodded by Bean’s character and seduced by buff bathtub guy, the excitement over her spotlight performance has nothing to do with her dancing or acting — it’s more like an elevated sigh of relief that FINALLY, HOLLY IS NAKED. But the odd thing is, despite her Barbie looks and perfectly crafted breasts, Madison is just not sexy. Especially not in comparison to the caramel beauty who rocked the hell out of “Brickhouse” or the cat-like redhead who practically made love to a car. No, Madison tries hard to shashay and work her fluffy, white boa, but especially put next to the professional entertainers surrounding her, she comes off looking as if she’s the lucky hottie drawn out of the crowd at random to join the cast on stage for one night.
• Given the last point, Peepshow still ain’t bad. It’s naughty enough to work well for a bachelor (or bachelorette) party, but polished enough for a guilt-free date night. And I didn’t fall asleep during the first 20 minutes, unlike a certain show starring Madison’s ex-boyfriend Criss Angel.

Because it's better than looking at my mug again ...

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here about that rock band in which I bang on various items, but that doesn’t mean we broke up or anything. Just been busy with, you know, other things, and haven’t really had time to randomly blog about anything, even if it’s to promote one of my copious creative projects.

But anyway, as long as we’re here, let’s talk about the last-minute show we booked for Tuesday, June 23 at Gallo’s Pizza Kitchen in northwest Las Vegas. Yes, that’s tomorrow. See, we ordinarily wouldn’t have jumped on board a midweek show at an oddball venue (though we’ve heard good things about it!). But we were invited by The Day After…, one of my absolute favorite bands in Las Vegas, about which I’ve written numerous times in publications such as CityLife, Las Vegas Weekly and Rolling Stone. So of course I easily said “yes,” and so did the rest of As Yet Unbroken.

If you find yourself hungry Tuesday night and want your dinner accompanied by original, live music, then I do suggest coming out to Gallo’s. It’s located at 3250 N. Tenaya Way at Cheyenne Avenue in the Target shopping center, just off the I-95. The show starts at 8 p.m., and the $10 cover gets you all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta, bottomless soft drinks, and if you’re 21 or over, your first beer or wine free. Really, how can you beat a deal like that? The nearest casino buffet will cost you $15 easily, and won’t be accompanied by the soothing sounds of modern rock. Really.

Because it's better than looking at my mug again ...

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here about that rock band in which I bang on various items, but that doesn’t mean we broke up or anything. Just been busy with, you know, other things, and haven’t really had time to randomly blog about anything, even if it’s to promote one of my copious creative projects.

But anyway, as long as we’re here, let’s talk about the last-minute show we booked for Tuesday, June 23 at Gallo’s Pizza Kitchen in northwest Las Vegas. Yes, that’s tomorrow. See, we ordinarily wouldn’t have jumped on board a midweek show at an oddball venue (though we’ve heard good things about it!). But we were invited by The Day After…, one of my absolute favorite bands in Las Vegas, about which I’ve written numerous times in publications such as CityLife, Las Vegas Weekly and Rolling Stone. So of course I easily said “yes,” and so did the rest of As Yet Unbroken.

If you find yourself hungry Tuesday night and want your dinner accompanied by original, live music, then I do suggest coming out to Gallo’s. It’s located at 3250 N. Tenaya Way at Cheyenne Avenue in the Target shopping center, just off the I-95. The show starts at 8 p.m., and the $10 cover gets you all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta, bottomless soft drinks, and if you’re 21 or over, your first beer or wine free. Really, how can you beat a deal like that? The nearest casino buffet will cost you $15 easily, and won’t be accompanied by the soothing sounds of modern rock. Really.

Photo by Botielus

Today’s random-ass photo comes courtesy avant-garde mixed media artist Cybele, pictured to the left of me in the home-made playing cards dress. You gotta love that kind of creativity. Or fear it. Whatever. This was taken at some sort of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy-sponsored party at Ghostbar atop the Palms in 2006. I don’t know who the other middle-aged ladies are, but they were obviously drawn to my platinum smile. Or something.

Now with 100% more trench coat action!

As I threatened a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to slightly modify the posting schedule of my weekly webcomic, The Utopian. Previously, I was promoting two pages as “episodes” released every Wednesday. Due to the restrictions of the ComicPress template I am using, what was actually happening was the posting of one page on Tuesday, one on Wednesday and then a bunch of confusion among people who go directly to theutopiancomic.com looking for the start of a new, two-page episode but actually get the second page.

So to undo that confusion and, honestly, make it easier for me to write, draw, letter and color two pages a week, I’ve opted to post one page every Wednesday and Friday instead. Yes, it’s the same number of pages weekly, but it allows traffic to spread out across the week AND hopefully will increase the quality of the strip and leave me more time to work on other things, like, you know, freelance writing, playing music and even top secret comic projects. Yep.

Of course, if you subscribe to the RSS feed for The Utopian, none of this matters to you, because you will get the updates as they drop anyway, right? RIGHT. OK, as you were.

A special MOUSE ART THEATRE edition of The Two-Penny Review:

I gave it a try. I really did. But … X-Men Forever just isn’t good. After all these years, I realize now that, despite the downward spiral of suck the X-books (and the rest of the comic book industry) slipped into during the 1990s, writer Chris Claremont was probably best off ending his legendary 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men when he did. ‘Nuff said.

Photo by Erik Kabik | RETNA (www.erikkabik.com)

Last night was the opening film, opening party and opening ceremonies of the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. The film, Saint John of Las Vegas, was also enjoying its world premiere at the CHI Showroom inside Planet Hollywood Resort, Hotel, Casino, Film Location and Mall. I won’t attempt a review of the Steve Buscemi-starring indie movie. It was good, funny in the right places, though not great, but my buddy Josh Bell can tell you more about what did and didn’t suck (though he may have missed the allusion in the story to Dante’s Inferno).

I was invited to the opening night festivities (including the after-party at Prive nightclub), but unlike the last few years, I opted not to get press credentials for the festival. This is no slight against CineVegas, but rather an indication of how limited my time is right now: I have just enough to maintain the level of output musically, journalistically and, uh, comic book .. er … y (?) as I have been for these past few months with a little wiggle room for TOP SECRET PROJECTS. But, y’know, that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn down an invite from my peeps at CineVegas.

The premiere of Saint John was attended by most of the cast, director Hue Rhodes, the usual crop of Vegas headliners (creepy-ass Carrot Top, future Peepshow star Holly Madison, a bunch of unrecognizable dudes presumably from song-and-dance shows featuring the music of the 1950s/60s), CineVegas royalty (i.e., Dennis Hopper) and, um, me. ME. And a lot of rubberneckers mobbing the velvet rope outside the red carpet.

I didn’t stay for the after-party. It’s been a long week and I wasn’t feeling it. Plus: I have another CineVegas party to attend on Friday, so I will gladly drink their free booze then. And I will also gladly eat and drink sin dinero at First Food & Bar on Friday for that grand opening. Oh, and maybe enjoy a Foster’s or two tonight at the Rio’s Voodoo Beach, where Cracker is playing one of those free show things. Yeesh.

Also, in between all the event moochery, I found time to write a new article for your consumption in this week’s Las Vegas Weekly. It’s about long-time local band Cherry Hill, which, in what is either marketing genius or idiocy, is releasing its brand-new album at a show this Saturday billed as the group’s “final performance.” I know, right? Read all about it, kids.