Las Vegas Weekly

November 21, 2008 · 1:06 PM

An Ellen double take from the under-40 set

By Allison Duck, Deanna Rilling

Ellen DeGeneres with some of the cast, including Hans Klok in the background.

Photo: Tom Donoghue

The six most surprising events at Ellen’s "Even Bigger Really Big Show"

1. An impromptu boy band creation: When the stage manager asked people to get up and dance before the show started, four men took to the stage and desperately tried to coordinate their dance moves. One man even took the mic and got the crowd clapping along. When the N Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye” came on, they almost had a moment of unison until the one dude who had clearly never heard of the song continued to “free dance” while all the other guys did the song’s synchronized punches in the air.

2. Old people getting down: It was amusing to see the over 60 crowd dancing along to Usher’s “Yeah” and Flo Rida’s “Low” like they were their favorite jams of all time. The stage manager said we were at the “Ellen Club,” the coolest new hot spot on the Strip. So, how much is a bottle of Grey Goose going to run me?

3. Ellen talking about her underwear: Ellen mentioned a new thong she bought in Vegas with a poker hand on it – 10, J, Q, K, A which she said “ironically is a straight!”

4. An unusually close sibling performance duo: One act featured a brother spinning his sister high above his head on a pole. I wouldn’t want to be checking out my sister from below when she’s wearing a purple sequined thong, nor would I want to be seeing my brother in purple sequined spandex. Geesh.

5. Tourists can’t recognize the real Ellen when they see her: Ellen showed a clip in which she impersonated herself in a performance at the Legends in Concert show. People’s comments ranged from, “that Ellen was funnier than the original Ellen” to “she was better looking than the real Ellen.” Backhanded compliment?

6. Hans Klock’s bad magic: Of all the fabulous Vegas magicians they could have chosen, someone picked Hans Klock to be the magic portion of the variety show? Didn’t his show have a very short run? Didn’t he pretend to be getting down with Pamela Anderson for the publicity when he’s clearly gay? Didn’t anybody see his name on the talent list and go, “Really? That guy?” - Allison Duck

Wishing Ellen's "Even Bigger Really Big Show" was a bit smaller

Old people love Ellen, especially the drunk guy seated behind me on Thursday night. I may have been the only person at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace under 30 (save other media representatives). Nay, make that the only person under 40. Though I knew they’d be filming the performance for television (you can catch it on TBS in a few weeks), I didn’t realize it’d be less stand-up and more America’s got Talent wannabes.

The opening taped sequence had Ellen dancing—of course—through the mammoth maze that is Caesars, accompanied by every stereotype Vegas has to offer (think deliciously tacky bachelorettes and visor-sporting blue hairs in velour). The sheer size of Vegas mega resorts wasn’t lost on DeGeneres, and her opening routine was apropos in citing the ability to get lost on property, plus a few digs at those annoying auto-flush toilets. Another comedic highlight of the evening was a taped segment with Ellen infiltrating the Legends in Concert show and posing as an Ellen impersonator in front of an unsuspecting audience. However, the show went downhill from there.

From a lavender spandex wearing brother and sister team spinning one another on giant poles (insert your favorite incest innuendo here) to “random” audience dude spinning gyroscope style in a giant hula-hoop, a veritable hodgepodge of Vegas-y talent acts graced the stage. Yet, one couldn’t help but smile when an eight year old from Louisiana crooned out “Proud Mary” with all the gusto of Tina Turner herself (though the cartoonish visuals of a bouncing Bourbon Street behind her made me wonder if my assigned seat number of 420 was having trippy adverse effects on me during the show).

Probably the most hilarious performance on stage for the night was one that was unintentional. The show closed with magician Hans Klok… and a fan. Literally, an electric floor fan was placed on the apron of the stage and Klok would stand in front of it, his bleached blond tresses tantalizing (or in my case, amusing) the audience. I was surprised he was willing to perform the “I’m trapped in a box of water with lots of chains and locks” trick, for fear he’d ruin his perfectly coiffed wind-blown hair. How Ellen avoided poking fun at the Klok/fan combo, I’ll never know. There are only so many B-rate stupid human tricks one can sit through after living in Vegas more than 10 years. I honestly would have been happier if Ellen had gone with the "Much Smaller Just Me Show" and performed her own stand-up for the duration of the evening. - Deanna Rilling

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