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| May 23-29, 2002 | ARCHIVES |
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| "It's The Norm" - Recent Entertainment Events in Las Vegas | |
Went over to Palace Station the other night to see a fairly new stand-up comedian at Laugh Trax. Well, to be honest, he is a veteran of the genre but has sorta been absent from live performing of late. Gabe Kaplan of televisions classic and legendary "Welcome Back Kotter" fame made his debut in the re-named Gabe Kaplan Laugh Trax room. Unlike the stand-ups of today, who seem to feel they have to use a lot of four, six and seven letter words, Kaplan is from the good old days of working clean and more or less telling a funny story. And he is great at it! I enjoyed his nearly 50 minutes of telling little vignettes of growing up in New York, being on television and his 20 years of being known as Kotter. Gabe is a definite storyteller. Of course he has a few one-liners like all good comedians. But where he shines is in telling a story... quite a few memorable ones too. One funny story was when he was being sought by an advertising agency to do a Viagra commercial. "They were going to do something like Welcome Back Viagra. They were not sure exactly what they wanted to do, but they were sure I would work out great. From a racecar driver to Kotter. That's quite a switch." Of course the story continued for at least another five minutes. Another really funny story was about adoptions. "I finally asked my dad, Ling Ching, if I was adopted." From there it just kept getting funnier and funnier. Another interesting aspect of his routine was how he worked the characters from Kotter" into a story. He describes the real life guys and gals he grew up with the guys and gals on the TV show and how they were created. Also his routine about "a very special napkin" combined with his mother's Thanksgiving dinner was truly a classic. |
We understand Kaplan will be appearing at Laugh Trax periodically for a week at a time. So, gang, the next time he s in town do yourself a big, big favor and drop in at the Palace Station to watch a master at work. You ll be glad you did! Got invited to the Public Library at 5175 E. Tropicana to see some interesting oil paintings of a few famous racecars, along with some very beautiful models of various racecars, boats and airplanes. I was not sure exactly what to expect, but once there I was glad I went. Jeff Carter is the artist involved in the exhibition, which takes place at the Whitney Library through June 7th and then moves to the Sunrise Library on July 18 for a 30 day run. During my visit to the gallery there was about 15 oil paintings being displayed along with about 10 racecar models, a beautiful award winning boat and two remarkable racing airplanes. Born in Southern California, Carter was raised around cars, boats and airplanes. He really got indoctrinated in the sport of auto racing by his next-door neighbor, the late great Mickey Thompson who owned the Fontana Drag Strip. "I got it in my blood once I attended my first drag race," Jeff said. "And with Mickey I got to go behind the scenes, where most kids never got to go. I guess that was the catalyst of my desire to participate by painting what I saw." Jeff has been honored with over 50 first place and Best of Show awards over the years. One of his favorites tracks is the new "The Strip" at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I really look forward to the spring and fall NHRA meets as I can get my adrenaline fix without having to drive for hours to California or Arizona," he smiled.
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