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Marty Allen<br />
Marty’s Top Ten<br />
Hello Dere<br />
Bill Caserta<br />
You Have to Laugh<br />
Bill’s Blurbs<br />
Evan Davis<br />
The Show Must Go On<br />
I Know a Place<br />
1. My friend Harvey said the only thing<br />
he has in common with his wife is that they<br />
were both married on the same day.<br />
2. My other friend Larry said:<br />
“I’d like to throw something<br />
over those girls<br />
who wear topless<br />
bathing suits –<br />
me!”<br />
3. I once<br />
knew a girl<br />
who was<br />
picked up<br />
so many<br />
times, she<br />
began to<br />
grow handles!<br />
4. Why do people point to their wrist when<br />
they ask for the time, but when they ask<br />
where the bathroom is, they don’t point to<br />
their pants?<br />
5. Why do people order double cheeseburgers,<br />
large French Fries with a Diet coke?<br />
6. When the young, beautiful showgirl<br />
found out her handsome millionaire boyfriend<br />
was fond of hunting, she told<br />
him she was “game!”<br />
7. A career girl’s mind<br />
moves her ahead, while<br />
a stripper girl’s<br />
mind moves<br />
her behind.<br />
8. One<br />
reason for a<br />
man to stay<br />
single – you<br />
can leave the<br />
toilet seat in<br />
any position<br />
you like.<br />
9. A wife that is “made to order” can never<br />
compare with a “ready maid.”<br />
10. If you want your wife to pay undivided<br />
attention to every word you say, talk in your<br />
sleep.<br />
For over the past decade, Marty Allen has performed with his on and off stage<br />
singing partner Karon Kate Blackwell.<br />
Friends Through the Years: Two guys<br />
grew up together, but after college, one moved<br />
to New York, the other to California. Every ten<br />
years, they agree to meet in Chicago and play<br />
golf. They would finish their round and go to<br />
lunch.<br />
When they turned 30, the conversation<br />
went like this: “Where you wanna go? “Hooters.”<br />
“Why?” “Well, you know, they got the<br />
broads and the tight shorts. And the legs…”<br />
Ten years later at 40: “Where you wanna<br />
go?” “Hooters.” “Why?” “Well, you know,<br />
they got cold beer and the big screen TVs, and<br />
everybody has a little action on the games.”<br />
At 50: “Where you wanna go?” “Hooters.”<br />
“Why?” “The food is good and there is plenty<br />
of parking.”<br />
At 60: “Where you wanna go?” “Hooters.”<br />
“Why?” “Wings are half price.”<br />
At 70: “Where you wanna go?” “Hooters.”<br />
“Why?” “They have 6 handicapped spaces<br />
right by the door.”<br />
At 80: “Where you wanna go?” “Hooters.”<br />
“Why?” “We’ve never been there before.”<br />
The Magic Room: A young Amish boy<br />
and his father were visiting a shopping mall for<br />
the first time. They were amazed by just about<br />
everything they saw, but especially by two shiny<br />
silver walls that could move apart and then<br />
slide back together again.<br />
The boy asked: “What is that father?” The father<br />
(having never seen an elevator) responded:<br />
“Son, I have never seen anything like that<br />
in my life. I don’t know what it is.”<br />
While the father and son watched in amazement,<br />
a fat, old lady in a wheelchair moved up<br />
to the silver walls and pressed a button. The<br />
walls magically opened and the lady rolled into<br />
a small room.<br />
The walls closed and they saw small numbers<br />
above the wall light up. They continued to<br />
stare until it reached the last number and then<br />
“somehow” the numbers began lighting up in<br />
the reverse order.<br />
Finally, the walls opened up again and a gorgeous<br />
blond stepped out.<br />
The dumbstruck father, not taking his eyes<br />
off the beautiful woman quietly said to his son,<br />
“Go get your mother.”<br />
(A big Bill Blurb thank you to Renee<br />
Riendeau for her contribution.)<br />
Theater Seats for Seniors: An old man<br />
lay awkwardly sprawled across three entire<br />
seats in the movie theatre. When the usher<br />
came by and noticed, he whispered to the old<br />
man, “Sorry sir, but you’re only allowed one<br />
seat.”<br />
The old man didn’t budge. The usher became<br />
impatient. “Sir, if you don’t get up from<br />
there I’m going to have to call the manager.”<br />
Once again, the old man just muttered and<br />
did nothing. The usher marched back up the<br />
aisle, and returned with the manager. Together<br />
the two of them tried repeatedly to move the disheveled<br />
man, but with no success.<br />
Finally, they summoned the police. The officer<br />
surveyed the situation, then asked, “All<br />
right buddy what’s your name?” “Fred,” the old<br />
man moaned. “Where you from, Fred?” asked<br />
the police officer.<br />
With a terrible strain in his voice, and without<br />
moving, Fred replied, “The balcony…”<br />
(A big Bill Blurb thank you to George<br />
Meese for his contribution.)<br />
When I moved to Vegas in 2008, I entrenched<br />
myself in the local entertainment<br />
scene. At first it was just helping to send out a<br />
few flyers promoting some local entertainers.<br />
Soon I was receiving requests from dozens<br />
of performers to help them promote their<br />
gigs. Gradually my email list ballooned from<br />
a hundred to a few thousand, and I was off<br />
to the races.<br />
Club and restaurant owners started asking<br />
me if I could bring some entertainment to<br />
their facility to help stimulate their business.<br />
Gradually, I started booking and promoting<br />
performers.<br />
I set up a music blog and included a calendar<br />
of local entertainment. Wanting to<br />
keep things current, I asked the performers<br />
to update me weekly on their shows.<br />
Soon thereafter, The Vegas Voice asked me<br />
to be their Entertainment Editor. I wasn’t really<br />
interested until they said, “we want you<br />
to also produce our shows.” Now that interested<br />
me!<br />
Let me tell you the chronology of producing<br />
a show. You begin by locking in a venue,<br />
Your Vegas Voice host with performers<br />
Rosanna Telford and Denise Rose<br />
date and time. Then you need to put a band<br />
together.<br />
I was very lucky to meet Grammy Award<br />
winner Gary Anderson, who is now our musical<br />
director. Without him, I probably would<br />
have thrown in the towel long ago.<br />
But let’s get back to how a show is put<br />
together. Once Gary and I decide on the band<br />
members, I now go to work choosing which<br />
performers would be best suited for the show.<br />
I try to make sure the entertainment covers<br />
different genres. Of course, this is when<br />
The Vegas Voice is doing a variety show.<br />
Things change a little if it’s a theme show<br />
or a tribute show.<br />
But the basics are the same. Get the<br />
venue, the band and the performers. But<br />
that’s the easy part.<br />
I need photographs of all the performers<br />
to put the show flyer together. Load<br />
in times for the band has to be set up<br />
along with coordinating with the sound<br />
and lighting guys before anyone steps on<br />
stage.<br />
Sound checks, rehearsal times and<br />
making sure all the entertainers can<br />
make their run through times.<br />
Juggling is a required skill in producing<br />
a show. Once you’ve set up their rehearsal<br />
schedule, you need to follow a pretty firm<br />
timeline. And by the way, this all happens<br />
only a few hours before show time.<br />
Did I mention that there is always, an “opportunity”<br />
that arises? I learned that with my<br />
very first show.<br />
A problem came up and I thought we’d<br />
never get the show going, but I found out, it<br />
always works out.<br />
I’m also promoting the show on every<br />
social media available. Sending out emails<br />
and stopping by as many places nightly as I<br />
can to get the word out.<br />
Whether it is a free sponsored show or ticketed<br />
show, I’m always concerned about having<br />
a good turnout. What day is best to have<br />
a show? What time is best?<br />
How’s the weather? How’s the traffic? Are<br />
the holidays too close? Are the holidays too<br />
far away?<br />
I can go on and on, but you know what<br />
they say: “The Show Must Go On.” And it always<br />
does!<br />
Evan Davis is the entertainment editor of The Vegas Voice. You can read his<br />
entertainment blog and sign up to receive his free email weekly Calendar of Events at<br />
www.EvanDavisJazz.com. You can also email him at: evan@thevegasvoice.net.<br />
Bill Caserta is the Project Director for The Vegas Voice and has a very “unique” sense of<br />
humor. He welcomes all funny submissions at: billbuck52@hotmail.com.<br />
6 www.thevegasvoice.net<br />
january <strong>17</strong><br />
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