David Cassidy on the Web
Carey's 'Vegas' Special Is a Sure Bet
June 26, 1997
By David Bianculli
New York Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/
HBO COMEDY HOUR: THE MR. VEGAS ALL-NIGHT PARTY STARRING DREW CAREY. Saturday, 10:30 p.
HBO 3 STARS THE FINALE of this weekend's "HBO Comedy Hour," a variety special starring Drew Carey as a smarmy alter ego named Mr. Vegas, presents something I thought I'd never see: Wayne Newton trading lines with, among others, David Cassidy and a rock group called The Muffs in a rousing rendition of Sly & the Family Stone's "I Wanna Take You Higher.
" Watching Newton sing "Boom-shocka-locka-locka" definitely qualifies as a showbiz first. And even if Newton and the rest alter the chorus to an all-"locka" rendition, this hour's choice of material, and performers, nevertheless qualifies as a real "shocka.
" In "The Mr. Vegas All-Night Party," Carey, as a sort of one-man Rat Pack, is stepping into Andy Kaufman and Martin Mull territory. He's creating an alternate persona and wallowing in it and, in the process, freeing himself from the prime-time sitcom restraints of ABC's "Drew Carey Show.
" As Mr. Vegas, Carey is so vulgar that most of his opening monologue is unfit to be quoted in a family newspaper. Mr. Vegas is so retro-hip that he introduces his fellow performers while juggling a cigaret and a martini, in the best Dean Martin style. And he's so well connected that he can talk Newton into performing a duet with him on Newton's 1963 hit, "Danke Schoen.
" After taking a verse away from Newton and singing solo, Mr. Vegas says to the audience at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Cafe, "You can put that into your record collection next to William Shatner singing 'Rocket Man.
' " Carey, who's also the executive producer of "The Mr. Vegas All-Night Party," establishes a character that is part Kaufman's Vic Ferrari, part Mull's Barth Gimble and part raw, naughty, insensitive Carey. Genuinely entertaining performers (like the Rev. Horton Heat, who starts the show with a hot version of "Martini Time") are interspersed with such tongue-in-cheek, intentionally lame acts as that of magician Chipps Cooney, who uses a car antenna as his sword-swallowing prop. David Cassidy sings "Ain't No Sunshine," and singer Laurence T. burns through "Tobacco Road" and steals the finale from all the other vocalists. A closing-credits film sequence shows Mr. Vegas hitting the Strip with a friend and two sultry Vegas ladies and follows them until sunup, by which time their respective romances have eroded. On pay-per-view TV, at about the same time this "Mr. Vegas" special premieres on HBO, another event is emanating from Vegas: live coverage of the boxing rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Vegas at ringside but for my money (and both of these shows come with a price tag), Carey's "Mr. Vegas" is the guaranteed KO.
