Another typical Las Vegas weekend...

What is it with people???  Saturday morning my friend Lisa Gioia Acres and I attended a memoir panel as part of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. Lisa nudged me and pointed toward the end of our row of seats to a man who sat there CLIPPING HIS FINGERNAILS.  (It's a miracle I didn't hear that clicking sound first--UGH!)  Yes, evidently this guy decided that was the time and that was the place to take care of some personal grooming. Personal grooming that is best taken care of in the privacy of one's bathroom. With the door closed.

I just can't imagine.  

Anyway... on Sunday Lisa and I went to the 17th annual open house of the Hammargren Home of Natural History in celebration of Nevada Day.  Lonnie Hammargren is a former lieutenant governor of Nevada and a neurosurgeon who has a crazy collection of... everything... in three adjacent homes.  An Apollo space capsule, dinosaur skeleton, Liberace's staircase--anything you could think of.  We're talking 12,000 square feet of junk--probably what our house would look like if I let Mike stop at every friggin' estate auction and garage sale he passes--and it's inside and out.

Doesn't everyone have a round bed on a revolving platform surrounded by carousel horses?

NOT the centerpiece I'd want for Thanksgiving dinner

No, Mike, that would NOT look good in our living room

If you drive down Sandhill between Tropicana and Flamingo, you can see some of the stuff in his yard.

Sometimes you don't know what you're looking at

On the right, that's a roller coaster with headless mannequins

There's even crap in the pools!

The entertainment was great, too!

Lonnie in front of the stage in his yard

You know I'm a minimalist--I like order and I can't stand junk all over the place. And I can truly say I've never seen so much junk in my life.  But despite my palpable uneasiness with all the clutter, this place was definitely worth seeing.  If you haven't been yet, plan on going next year for sure.  It's indescribable.  For more, check out this site and watch the video. 

Anyway... I got a text to do another set for the Late Night Comedy Show at the LVH (former Hilton) last Thursday and then ended up performing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, too.  A couple of nights I got there a little early and watched the last half hour of Rich Little's Jimmy Stewart and Friends show from up in the balcony, where I and the other comics hang out waiting for our show to start. Those of us born before 1960 remember watching Rich Little on TV, maybe on Laugh In or The Dean Martin Comedy Hour.  His show at the LVH is excellent--very well done, and full of memories for the older folks... like me.

I got to meet him up in the balcony last night after his show and before ours. He was very personable and relayed this little gem: "Did you know Abraham Lincoln was Jewish? He got shot in the temple." And then he said what EVERYONE says to comics, something that makes every comic roll his or her eyes: "You can use that." Hahaha!

On Saturday night there was a special guest in the audience: Louie Anderson, who's had a show for ages over at Palace Station.  I got to talk with him after the show and he gave me some really encouraging feedback and some pointers on how to improve my performance. 

Forgive me, I know I've said it before, but I have to pinch myself sometimes. I look at the stuff I'm telling you and I can't believe I'm talking about my own life.

I started my new job today. In my pajamas.