Las Vegas Weekly

June 4, 2009 · 1:06 PM

Strip Scribbles: Annie Duke’s red carpet date? Joan Rivers, aka Frank Marino

By Robin Leach

Frank Marino and Annie Duke.

Photo: Frank Marino

By now, most TV viewers know about the ugly showdown between comedienne Joan Rivers and our Las Vegas poker professional Annie Duke when they battled on Donald Trump’s recent Celebrity Apprentice. Can we talk? Upon returning to Sin City, Annie completed her charity bid by teaming up with Frank Marino, the world’s most famous Joan Rivers impersonator, at a special ESPN event to sell lemonade for Refugees International at World Series of Poker events underway at The Rio.

Frank will escort Annie on the red carpet to the Main Event of WSOP on July 2. Frank is no stranger to Joan, who sued him in 1986 for $5 million for impersonating her. Laughed Frank: “Thankfully, we settled it because I came up $80 short! After all, back then it wasn’t easy for a 21-year-old kid to look like a 57-year-old woman.”

*Worth Magazine Publisher Randall Jones set out to find the 100 towns of America with the greatest success stories. He wound up with three of our local heroes in the Top 10: Phil Ruffin, 74, from Wichita, Kansas, who owns Treasure Island; Bruton Smith, 80, from Charlotte, N.C., who owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway; and Kirk Kerkorian, 91, the Beverly Hills billionaire who is the largest single stockholder of MGM Mirage here.

*Jabbawockeez became an overnight sensation when the all-male dance crew won Randy Jackson’s MTV competition America’s Best Dance Crew in March 2008 at the end of the show’s first season. The 11-man crew is unique in that they wear white masks and white gloves while performing. They are currently on tour with New Kids on the Block, but they took time out with Donnie Wahlberg for a brief Las Vegas break and performed at Jet in The Mirage, which was captured by our ace contributing photographer Denise Truscello.

*One of the world’s greatest skateboarding events kicks off today when 20 of the Maloof Money Cup’s top skate stars join forces for the official launch conference at the Palms. Owners Joe and Gavin Maloof will welcome pro skaters P-Rod, PLG, Jake Brown and others at Moon.

*In a new book from National Geographic titled My Favorite Place on Earth (www.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.comwww.myfavoriteplacenatgeo.com), Monte Carlo headline magician Lance Burton tells about his first visit to Las Vegas -- a “magical, mystical place” -- when he was only 21. For the book, award-winning travel writer Jerry Camarillo Dunn rounded up 75 people, ranging from the Dalai Lama to Will Ferrell to Jane Goodall, and asked them a simple question: What place do you love most in the world? Their answers range from a lost city in Sri Lanka to the Pasadena Rose Parade to a wild dog research camp in Botswana. Lance is joined by singer James Taylor, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, mind-body medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra, actors Morgan Freeman and Natalie Portman, newsman Tom Brokaw, “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, writer Ray Bradbury, filmmaker George Lucas and many others.

*For the first time since 1965, bullfighting is returning to Las Vegas in September at South Point, but this will be the first time it will be bloodless. Our contributing photographer Erik Kabik snapped the bullfighters, including handsome Federico Pizarro and the legendary Eulalio “The Zotoluco” Lopez, and their “Suit of Light” uniforms when Don Bull Productions President Pedro Haces Barba announced fights to coincide with the Mexican Independence Day set for Sept. 14-15 and 27-30. Handsome matador Jorge Hernandez Garate demonstrated how fighters will use adhesive, Velcro-padded banderillas instead of swords for the bloodless bullfighting! Bullfighters from Spain and Mexico will fly here for the events.

*Mark Jenkins is in charge of the props department for The Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil at The Mirage, but in his spare time, he’s become an incredible artist. Tonight his dream comes true of opening his own Mark Jenkins Fine Art gallery downtown. The Cirque du Soleil community will be there to show support for the local artist who recently won first place in the Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art’s juried exhibition. Thursday Nights takes place monthly before the popular First Friday celebration. Over at the Las Vegas Art Studio, friends Jonathan Scott and Laura Henkel present the opening night of an exhibit by Francois Dubeau, Bobby Logic and Ross Johnston.

Tonight’s tips

Porn princess Tera Patrick hosts her Lingeriegasm fashion show party at Tao in The Venetian, with a $1,000 prize to the sexiest lingerie-clad lady. … The CineVegas From the Vault series continues at the Clark County Library with Georgia Lee’s Red Doors, which explores the bonds that keep Chinese-American families together. … The Share Our Strength: Taste of the Nation fundraiser features more than 30 chefs and restaurateurs donating their time for a good cause at the Hard Rock Hotel. It’s a night of the city’s finest cuisine paired with wondrous wines. Holly Madison is set to conduct the auction and is included among the items for the highest bidder in the name of charity.

Tomorrow’s teases

Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler gets ready to celebrate her 100th show this weekend. … More than 30 NFL stars from a dozen teams invade Las Vegas this weekend for a fun-filled shopping, dining and nightclub trip, and we’ve got all the names, plus another star-filled weekend led by Julio Iglesias. Then Monday we’ll get ready for the midweek start of the 11th Annual CineVegas Film Festival as Hollywood stars and moviemakers come to the Palms to celebrate celluloid!

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.

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