Las Vegas Weekly

November 20, 2008 · 11:29 AM

Ellen DeGeneres kicks off first day of Comedy Festival at Caesars

By Robin Leach

Ellen DeGeneres.

Comedienne and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has landed some “really big names” for her “Even Bigger Really Big Show” that tapes tonight to kick off the 4th Annual Comedy Festival in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. In a sense, it’s a salute to Ed Sullivan, the master Sunday night showman and his beloved variety show of years past.

The Emmy Award winner and Oscar and Emmy hostess will welcome a slew of stars, including former Planet Hollywood headliner magician Hans Klok, who has flown in from Europe on a 48-hour round trip just to appear -- and probably make Ellen disappear! Current Planet Hollywood headliner Irish hypno-magician Keith Barry had been set to drive a high-speed car blindfolded with Ellen as his nervous passenger for a pre-filmed segment in Los Angeles. However, because he’s shooting his own one-hour HD TV special tomorrow and Saturday nights at the Stomp Out Loud theater there, his and Ellen’s schedules couldn’t work to coincide!

Her taping will run some 90 minutes and be edited down for this weekend’s primetime comedy broadcast on TBS. I’ll be there to watch all the action, and we’ll have that Morning Call first thing tomorrow. Ellen’s show will also include a videotaped segment she shot while in town recently for Justin Timberlake’s charity golf events. She plays herself pretending to be a look-alike comedy impersonator joining the celebrity imposters at Imperial Palace across the Strip.

Her show is being talked up as an all-star extravaganza that promises to be an extraordinary Las Vegas night to remember, and Ellen herself joked: “When I said I wanted to do a really big show, I never intended for it to be this big. It has gotten out of control.”

Last year Ellen, 50, instructed Comedy Festival organizers to scrap plans for a media tent meet-and-greet for photos and interviews. It will be interesting to see if she goes ahead with it tonight as currently planned. Ellen isn’t overly press-friendly and probably doesn’t want to have to deal with California political questions about same-sex marriage or her wedding to actress Portia de Rossi.

Photo: Crystal Allen

Is that a mouse on your hat or are you just happy to see Josh Blue?

Also on deck this evening at Caesars Palace are two of the most popular comedians from Last Comic Standing: Josh Blue and Ralphie May. Outrageous standup comic Jim Breuer follows them at the Palace Ballroom. Joan Rivers had been set to host “Comedivas” in the Augustus Ballroom presenting Kate Clinton, Suzanne Westenhoefer and Jim David. We believe Tom Arnold will play last-minute host in Joan’s absence. A Triple Threat Comedy show with innovative funnymen Jamie Kennedy, Mitch Fatel and Danny Bhoy wraps the night also in the Augustus.

Check back here tomorrow morning for our overnight photo report and the rundowns of the Friday and Saturday festival highlights. Remember, as Vegas DeLuxe editor John Katsilometes reported yesterday (click HERE), the 11:59 p.m. Katt Williams show scheduled in the Colosseum has been canceled, and ticket buyers may obtain refunds.

Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, is looking forward to the festival this year more than ever. “I’m very fired up for it this year because I think we have our best diversity of talent,” Steve said. “What we’ve had in the past -- and we’ve been very pleased with the past -- is we’ve kind of had a who’s who of comedy. To me, what was missing was a bit of the volume of the festival, where there’s high-end, low-end, there’s diversity, there’s youth, there’s golden oldies, there’s expensive and there’s free.

“And all those different dimensions make a festival. I think the facilities in Vegas are second to none. I also think Vegas connotes entertainment. I think people want to go to Vegas to laugh and to escape. And I think laughter is the best form of escape. As the world kind of gets angrier and angrier, laughter really is the best medicine.”

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