Las Vegas Weekly

August 4, 2009 · 6:47 AM

Wayne Brady says Las Vegas is a family-friendly place

By Robin Leach

Wayne Brady.

Photo: Kwaku Alston

While Mr. Vegas DeLuxe Robin Leach is on vacation and attempting to work as little as possible from afar, Vegas DeLuxe will be featuring celebrity guest columnists for the first half of this month until Robin’s return. If you’re knowledgeable about Las Vegas, the names should be familiar. Today, it’s multitalented entertainer Wayne Brady, whose Making It Up is at The Venetian.

By Wayne Brady

Hello, dear readers,

This is your friendly neighborhood Las Vegas headliner/TV guy Wayne Brady filling in for the esteemed Robin Leach. I am actually dictating this piece to you as I am driving in from Los Angeles on a beautiful, beautiful hot Thursday afternoon to head over to The Venetian to do my show Making It Up.

This column is supposed to be about something that I’ve done or something that is connected with my show or that’s really caught my eye and that I’d like to share with you. I’ve decided to share with you what I did last week with my family while they were in town. I had a big group -- approximately 15 people -- staying in my place and staying with me at The Venetian. Sounds like a lot of people, but we’re close family, and we don’t mind double bunking.

People don’t often think of Vegas as a family-friendly location where it’s OK to bring kids, especially when so many shows are topless and there are people standing on the street handing out fliers with topless ladies on them, promising a great evening of entertainment if you happen to call a magical number. But I am here to tell you that Vegas is actually amazing for family entertainment.

Photo: Courtesy

Wayne Brady at Pole Position Raceway.

We did three things that I’ve got to recommend to any tourist reading this or to any local. We went to Pole Position Raceway for indoor mini racecar driving. Absolutely incredible! It’s clean, it’s fun, and we were able to do a private room and a family package, and we were able to let loose our familial aggressions on one another in the confines of a safe track. Not too many bumps and collisions, but what a great time. Nothing like seeing your 65-year-old grandmother race against a 7-year-old and, sadly, driving the exact same speed. What a great time!

And then the family went indoor skydiving at Vegas Indoor Skydiving. Being able to experience the joy of flying around without actually jumping out of a perfectly good plane -- worth every cent! And everyone was able to do it -- from the 6-year-old all the way up to the aforementioned grandmother.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Wayne Brady at the 70th birthday celebration for Mayor Oscar Goodman at the Golden Nugget on July 31.

Finally, we also went trampolining at Skymania Fun Center. The kids were able to jump around -- back flips, front flips, dodge ball, kids being hit with balls, the cries of joy and some of pain. And all the ones of pain came from me as a bunch of kids threw rubber balls at me. I still have the bruises to prove it.

But, all in all, those were just three incredible things the family can do! And at the end of the night, they came to see my show. I also sent a couple of the family members over to see Love and to check out Phantom -- the Las Vegas Spectacular and Jersey Boys.

Photo: Kwaku Alston

Wayne Brady.

So to anyone who says Vegas isn’t meant for families, poo poo on that! You’ve got great daytime family stuff, and at night, you’ve got great shows, including yours truly. So what more can you ask for?

This is Wayne Brady, signing off.

It was recently announced that Wayne will be returning to the airwaves Oct. 5 as host of an updated version of Let’s Make a Deal on CBS.

Tomorrow: Vegas DeLuxe’s celebrity guest columnist is Mirage headliner Terry Fator.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter HERE.

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