Las Vegas Weekly

November 21, 2008 · 1:47 PM

Stars ready to sling insults at Cheech & Chong roast; plus, Seinfeld’s double-header

By Robin Leach

The superstars of comedy really get the laughs rolling this weekend as the fourth annual Comedy Festival continues rolling along at Caesars Palace. Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, the Cheech & Chong Roast and biting ventriloquist Jeff Dunham all headline with sell-out shows.

It really is a case of where to turn tonight. Here’s the rundown:

Dane Cook plays Saturday night at 11.

*The smart, sophisticated and always reliably funny Jerry Seinfeld starts two nights of shows in the Colosseum. Dane Cook, with his movie-star good looks, will follow with his energetic physical comedy and clever wordplay at the Colosseum in a late-night show that will go past midnight! Dane, just 36, has sold out Madison Square Garden four times already!

*Mid-evening up at the Palace Ballroom, everybody from Penn & Teller to Geraldo Rivera and Tom Arnold will roast counterculture comedy stoners Cheech & Chong, as Brad Garrett hosts the insult-laden dinner that will be smokin’ hot! Then wildly talented In Living Color star David Alan Grier follows with his comedy and skills that have earned him a Tony Award nomination and other accolades.

*Over in the nearby Augustus Ballroom, there are three back-to-back comedy shows. It all starts with Jim Norton, Robert Kelly and Russ Meneve in “Down & Dirty,” then Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels’ discovery The Kids in the Hall with their sketch comedy on everything from hookers to drug users to the half-human Chicken lady to the chauvinistic Cabbage Head! The evening there wraps with Russell Peters and his friends -- he is the first South Asian comic to sell out Madison Square Garden.

*Cast members from TBS’ 10 Items or Less will join with our hometown illusionists Penn & Teller for a bagging contest in front of the Palace Ballroom at Caesars at 6:30 p.m. Mad Men actors Aaron Staton, Vincent Kartheiser and Alison Brie will compete against My Boys stars Kyle Howard, Michael Bunin, Jamie Kaler and Kellee Stewart. Regulars John Lehr, Kim Coles, Robert Vaderrama and Greg Davis Jr. will show their skills at bagging while Mark DeCarlo hosts the celebrity contest. They will all be judged on speed, weight and accuracy of technique.

Tomorrow it’s just as powerful:

Jeff Dunham and his skeletal friend.

*Jerry Seinfeld again holds down the early evening slot at the Colosseum, but then the eagerly awaited and much-anticipated, hip-biting ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, with his extraordinary puppets of Achmed the Terrorist, elderly curmudgeon Walter and the talking Jose Jalapeno on a stick, takes the stage! He’s been performing 250 shows a year in his 40 weeks of nonstop touring and has been voted both Comedy Channel and the American Comedy Awards top standup of the year!

Funnyman Tracy Morgan.

*Up in the Palace Ballroom, Tracy Morgan hosts “Laffapalooza” with comics Earthquake, Corey Holcomb, Lavell Crawford, Mark Curry and Sheryl Underwood. Foul-mouthed funnyman Andrew Dice Clay follows with his outrageous controversial humor, and then the rapid fire of Dave Attell wraps up that triple punch.

*In the Augustus Ballroom, John Oliver of The Daily Show is joined by Rob Riggle and Rory Albanese for a showcase of evil satirical comedy. They are followed by Caliente Comedy with Gabriel Iglesias, Pablo Francisco and Anjelah Johnson. The evening ends with one of the funniest film actors on screen, Mike Epps, who early next year will be seen starring with Ice Cube in Janky Promoters.

Our excellent editor John Katsilometes will be on duty at Comedy Festival headquarters along with our legion of lens men to bring you breaking stories and photo updates all weekend long -- so check back here often over the next 72 hours for everything that’s funny on the farm!

— From Vegas Deluxe

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