Las Vegas Weekly

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Joe Brown

Mon, Apr 5, 2010 (3:40 p.m.)

If you asked me last year to pick just one show that represents the best of everything contemporary Las Vegas has to offer, I would have told you, without hesitation, Wayne Brady and his Making %@it Up act at the Venetian.

Photo: Beverly Poppe

In an era of entertainment specialists, Wayne Brady is an all-around performer who can do comedy, drama or music.

But then Brady canceled all his fourth-quarter dates at the Venetian because of “vocal strains” (though he continued to host tapings of Let’s Make A Deal at the Tropicana.

In one of the first bits of good news Vegas has heard this year, Brady is bringing his act back to his showroom at the Venetian starting May 27.

Like his hit TV show Whose Line is it Anyway?, the bulk of Brady’s Vegas show relies on standard improv games, using unpredictable suggestions supplied by the audience, which guarantees a substantially different show every night.

“Las Vegas and The Venetian have been a great home these past three years, and I love giving audiences a show unlike any other on The Strip,” says Brady. “No two shows are ever the same – my partner Jonathan (Mangum) and I, stage a new form of old school showbiz and make each show a one-of-a-kind experience.”

When I reviewed the show a year ago, I finished by saying "Refreshingly hip and atypically au courant, Brady’s Making %@it Up is that rare Vegas show that recognizes the existence of the current millennium and life outside the confines of the Strip. Hyperbolic words such as hilarious or hysterical aren’t necessary: Brady and his bunch are just solidly, consistently, memorably funny."

The Venetian dates: May 27–31, June 17–21, 24–28 and July 1–5. All performances begin at 9:00 p.m. in the Venetian Showroom. Tickets are $49, $69 and $89 plus tax and handling fees. A limited number of VIP Packages, which include front row seats and a meet and greet with Brady after the show, are available for $149 per person plus tax and handling fees. To make reservations venetian.com or call 414-9000 or (866) 641-7469, or visit any Venetian Box Office.