Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 10 . LAS VEGAS AFTER DARK
Moments
Lounge Lizard Supreme
All those faux-hipster artists doing woeful lounge-act characters in
Hollywood and New York only wish they could be Mr. Cook E. Jarr,
whose sincerity and obvious drive to entertain puts mere performance
artists to shame. With George Hamilton’s tan, Cher’s first shag haircut
(it’s certainly not his factory-original coif), and a bottomless, borderless
catalog of rock, pop, soul, swing, and standard favorites, he’s more
Vegas than Wayne Newton.
Cook has a cult following of blue-collar casino denizens and the
youthful cocktail set, who listen enraptured as he plays human jukebox,
complete with karaoke-style backing recordings, terrible jokes, an array
of disco-era lights, and (his favorite) a smoke machine. He’s actually a
solid, throaty singer, with a gift for vocal mimicry as he moves from Ben
E. King to Bee Gees to Tony Bennett turf. And his tribute the night Sinatra
died—a version of “My Way” in which he voiced, alternately, Sammy,
Dino, and Elvis welcoming Ol’ Blue Eyes to Heaven—was priceless.
He moves around a lot but lately you can often catch him on Friday
and Saturday nights, late, at Harrah’s Carnaval Court Lounge at 3475
Las Vegas Blvd. S. (& 702/369-5222). Don’t miss him! (And if he has left
there by the time you read this, try to track him down.)
and ask them to send you a free copy
of Showguide or What’s On in Las Vegas
(one or both of which will probably be
in your hotel room). You can also
check out what’s playing at www.vegas
freedom.com. It’s best to plan well
ahead if you have your heart set on seeing
one of the most popular shows, or
catching a major headliner.
The hotel entertainment options
described below include information
on ticket prices, what’s included in
that price (drinks, dinner, taxes,
and/or gratuities), showroom policies
(whether it’s preassigned or maitre d’
seating, and smoking policies), and
how to make reservations. Whenever
possible, reserve in advance, especially
on weekends and holidays. If the
showroom has maitre d’ seating (as
opposed to preassigned seats), you
may want to tip him to upgrade your
seat. A tip of $15 to $20 per couple
will usually do the trick at a major
show, less at a small showroom. An
alternative to tipping the maitre d’ is
to wait until the captain shows you to
your seat. Perhaps it will be adequate,
in which case you’ve saved some
money. If not, you can offer the captain
a tip for a better seat. If you do
plan to tip, have the money ready;
maitre d’s and captains tend to get
annoyed if you fumble around for it.
They have other people to seat. You
can also tip with casino chips (from
the hotel casino where the show is taking
place only) in lieu of cash. Whatever
you tip, the proper etiquette is to
do it rather subtly—a kind of palmto-palm
action. There’s really no reason
for this, since everyone knows
what’s going on, but being blatant is
in poor taste. Arrive early at maitre d’
shows to get the best choice of seats.
If you buy tickets for an assignedseat
show in person, you can look over
a seating chart. Avoid sitting right up
by the stage if possible, especially for
big-production shows. Dance numbers
are better viewed from the middle of
the theater. With headliners, you
might like to sit up close.