“Hypnosis gives you… a license to do goofy things that you probably would not have done before.”

— Michael Johns, co-host “Hypnosis Unleashed”

Above, a hypnotized male volunteer shows off his dance moves along side a cast member during Marc Savard’s show at the V Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Michael Johns

When standing in front of a room full of strangers you probably wouldn’t act out your audition for a role in an adult film, but at a Las Vegas hypnosis show, behavior like this can make you a star.

Hypnosis shows are the only ones in town that encourage audience members to lose their inhibitions on stage. What better place to do this than in Vegas?

“I think inside everybody there’s this person that wants to be in front of people and just wants to cut loose. I think that’s what hypnosis gives you,” said Michael Johns, a comedian and hypnotist who co-hosts “Hypnosis Unleashed” at the Tropicana with Terry Stokes. “It gives you the opportunity to be a part of the show and get up there and have a little fun. It gives you a license to do goofy things that you probably would not have done before.”

There are several hypnosis shows on the Las Vegas Strip, each of them flavored by the unique personalities of their hosts. With Johns’ show, like most of the hypnosis acts in Vegas, he puts his volunteers in a series of outrageous and often adult-oriented scenarios.

“I always like to say we’re going to step over the line in good taste. That’s what we’re going to do in the show, but you’re not going to have to move out of your hometown or anything like that afterwards,” said Johns.

He started his career as a stand-up comedian and then changed his act after seeing a hypnosis show.

“I was the star of the show, and I’m the kind of guy that didn’t believe he could ever be hypnotized so it was amazing to me,” said Johns.

Anthony Cools

Afterwards, he studied under a hypnotherapist in Florida and incorporated his new skills into his comedy routine.

The basic setup for every hypnosis show is the same. The host and hypnotist greets his or her audience and does a brief explanation of hypnosis and the show. During this “pre-talk,” as it’s called in the industry, the hosts are trying to both educate the audience and make them feel trusting enough to volunteer to be hypnotized.

“It’s live performance, and you have to get people to like you in 10 or 15 minutes, get them to trust you to come up on stage. Then you have to hypnotize them, and then you have to choreograph a show out of that,” said Corbin Craft, who co-hosts “Naughty Boys Hypnosis” with Rolan Whitt at Harmon Theater at Planet Hollywood. Hypnotist Anthony Cools, who performs at Paris Las Vegas, agrees.

“You can’t rehearse a hypnosis show because it’s based on audience participation. It’s done on the fly,” said Cools.

Comedy Stage Hypnosis in Las Vegas

While relying on audience participation is always an unpredictable element, Craft explained that it’s one of the main draws of hypnosis shows. People come to Vegas to go crazy and hypnosis shows give them that option.

“This is an excuse for them to let their hair down, it totally is. It’s like ‘ok I’ll let these guys hypnotize me and then whatever I do I can just blame them,’” said Craft.

One of the unique aspects of “Naughty Boys Hypnosis” is that the show incorporates a lot of elaborate and naughty props, a tool Craft and Whitt learned from the original Dr. Naughty, Dean Stirling, Craft’s late father who also performed as a hypnotist in Vegas.

“He’s the one that taught us how to use props and the value of them and how much further you can go with the comedy with a prop and how real it makes the bit, not just to the people that are on stage because they’re hypnotized, but it brings a sense of realism to the people in the audience as well,” said Craft.

Before hosting the show, Craft and Whitt learned how to do hypnosis by working on Dr. Naughty’s show. Whitt used to perform comedy as the opening act, and Craft did sound and lighting. Craft is a certified clinical hypnotist and Whitt is in the process of getting his certification.

While Cools doesn’t use an assortment of props, his show is equally outrageous. It starts with a 3-D movie and bikini-clad female comedians who start the show with a few jokes before Cools performs. Well known as one of the edgiest hypnosis acts on the Strip, Cools explained that sometimes guests are apprehensive about getting on stage.

“I’m definitely at the forefront of the nastier shows in town, and I think people are warned,” said Cools.

Marc Savard

Even if you don’t volunteer to be hypnotized, hypnotist Marc Savard said people like watching hypnosis shows because they can relate to those on stage.

“There’s something about the phenomenon of hypnosis that adds an element of raw laughter and spontaneity. You can go to a comedy club and watch some comics and sometimes you identify with the comic and sometimes you don’t … whereas with hypnosis it’s always the people from the audience and you can identify with them because they’re real people,” said Savard, who performs at V Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Along with his adult humor, Savard’s show features showgirls who perform dance numbers and, in some of the scenarios, interact with hypnotized volunteers.

Savard first became fascinated with hypnosis when he attended a show while trying to get into medical school. Afterwards, he started researching it and practiced hypnotizing friends before performing in front of an audience.

When he was 23 he used his skills on himself after being hit by a drunk driver. He suffered a broken back and fractured skull and used his mind to control his pain and make a rapid recovery just six months after the accident. Now he is a certified hypnotherapist and has a school where he teaches stage hypnosis to other up-and-coming hypnotists. Despite his certification, Savard explained that learning to hypnotize people is the easy part of doing stage hypnosis because people are naturally suggestible.

“We think in words. Once you change those words and those ideas, you can cause organic change in the body, and it really comes down to one thing. Where the mind goes, the body and the emotions follow,” said Savard.

Hypnosis is a natural state of consciousness between being awake and sleeping where people are highly suggestible. When you watch a hypnosis show, not only do you get to watch people do something out of the ordinary, but you’re also getting a glimpse of that person when they aren’t feeling restricted by social norms.

“It allows us to be our truest self. It allows our truest personality to come out without consequence,” said Savard.

This is only to a certain extent though, because he explained, that even while hypnotized, people have what’s called a subconscious watchdog that prevents them from doing anything against their morals or beliefs.

Along with getting people to do things for entertainment, being hypnotized can also help people make impacting life changes, explained Dr. Scott Lewis who has a show at Riviera. A former chiropractor, Lewis started doing clinical hypnosis 22 years ago.

“I got interested in hypnosis because I was 41 pounds overweight. I learned how to do hypnosis and lost the weight, and then I started incorporating it into my practice. I’ve been performing for eight years,” said Lewis.

He was featured on “Inside Edition” for a hypno-diet therapy he did with Vegas showgirls who needed to get back in shape after their pregnancies. Aside from his show he continues to do private hypnotherapy sessions. He also performs his show on cruise ships and does seminars on weight loss.

In his show, Lewis both entertains and educates his audience on the power of hypnosis and how it can change people’s lives. His show is more family-friendly than some of the other hypnosis shows on the Strip.

“I like having the clean alternative and just really showing people what else can be done with hypnosis and still have a very funny and entertaining show,” said Lewis.

If you want to be a spectator or you want to be the star, hypnosis shows offer an experience that can’t be compared to any other show in Vegas.

“The show is people. You get to see what people are like when they are not inhibited. You get to see a very charming side of people… It’s just very empowering, and people love seeing people at their best,” said Lewis.

This advertising supplement was written by Caroline Fontein and prepared by the VEGAS.com staff and did not involve the reporting or editing staff of the Los Angeles Times. To reach VEGAS.com, e-mail story@vegas.com. Visit us online at www.lightsvegasaction.com.

Click Here to View the Original Article

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The self-described “bad boys of hypnosis,” Michael Johns and Terry Stokes, celebrate a milestone tonight (Thursday) with their 2,000th show — now the longest continually running hypnosis production in Vegas. And for the first time ever, they will put each other “under!” Since landing here in early 2001, Terry and Michael have bounced around at five different venues — but never skipped a night or a show of their Dirty Hypnosis Unleashed.

They began at the Bourbon Street, moved onto the Tuscany Suites & Casino, then the Empire Ballroom, onto the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, then the Stardust before it was blown up, and finally –- and permanently — at the Harmon Theater alongside Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile. Now that’s a journey!

Michael told me: “We have been very fortunate to have had such a long and successful run even with all the different showrooms. Now we’re looking forward to another 2,000 shows. Since we’ve been in Vegas, there have been nine other hypnotists over seven years and we’ve outlasted them all! The Harmon Theater is reminiscent of Old Vegas. It’s an intimate theater that lets the audience be a huge part of the show.”

Terry added: “We’re the only dueling hypnotists show in the world and for the first time tonight we will both hypnotize each other. We’ve never done that before so it will be very interesting to see what happens tonight!” Their show mixes mind-blowing hypnotic antics coupled with hilarious comedy — and the extraordinary and surprising behavior of the real-life audience volunteers who perform some of the wildest — and naughtiest — hi-jinx imaginable.

Here’s our conversation, “before they put me to sleep!”:

Michael & Terry: Everyone can be hypnotized but not always during a stage show. People become hypnotized every day of their lives. They don’t realize it, but they do it when they’re watching a TV show or reading a book. Ever been watching a TV show and someone walks into the room and asks you a question and you answer it, five minutes later after the show ended you say, “Did you say something to me?” A lot of folks call that marriage. But if you think about it part of your mind heard a question, analyzed it, thought up an answer, delivered the answer and you didn’t even have a clear memory of doing it. So everyone can be hypnotized, but during a stage show, no you can’t, we usually get about 80 percent of the audience who can be put right out.

Robin Leach: Looking back over 2,000 shows, and I want to come to the funny bits and the heart break bits in a minute, have you used different methods of hypnosis I think of the man with the dangling watch or stare into my eyes routine. How do you hypnotize somebody?

Michael: You talk to them, Robin; it’s a focused concentration. And to get them to focus enough on just what you’re saying, again going back to the analogy of the TV show, when you’re so focused on one thing that you don’t hear that, surrounding things don’t bother you so the dangling watch is the focal point but basically if you’re standing in front of them and you’re doing it properly you’re their focus point, you are the dangling watch. We don’t have to lower our voices or deliver the words in a softer or more monotone way. It’s just regular conversation.

RL: Is it a miracle to achieve 2,000 continuous shows in Vegas?

Terry: I think so, we’ve been very fortunate, we’ve had some great showrooms and we’ve had a great following for a long, long time. So yeah, I think it’s kind of a miracle and we’re lucky to be where we are.

We’ve also been very careful, you know a lot of shows come into town and they say, you have to have a half a million dollars to get your show launched and well, we didn’t know all that so we went ahead and made a profit our first week. We had not been told to spend this much money. We waited and when we had enough money to buy a billboard, we bought a billboard and so we have never been in panic mode. The shows have always been good and the crowds have always been good. But I see so many shows coming in and they ask, don’t you have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a show, well that’s one way to do it, but for me it’s not the smart way to do it.

RL: You must have had really funny moments, strange moments and even heartbreaking moments?

Michael: I was a standup comic and went for hypnosis to make the act better. But once I’d been helped I saw it as the only form of entertainment I wanted to perform. I used to do fairs and travel all over the country and I had a bit that was basically the talking teddy bear and it’s cute, everybody liked it. I had the prop up on stage one night and decided to try something a little different with it and Robin, it became my signature bit, and the guy would wake up and there would be this teddy bear next to him and he thinks it’s a cute bear and when he looks over a few minutes later the bear is looking up at him, smiling and then the guy who happens to be an expert on the subject of sex decides to instruct the bear in the proper ways to do it. It’s a sick moment but we also average about eight people a night howling on the floor from laughing so hard.

Terry: We had one regular lady come to see she and then us stopped. She was away for a while having heart surgery. She came back to us nightly just to laugh to make her feel better. Her daughter wrote us a beautiful letter saying that her mother had died after being taken ill at one of our shows -– but she died doing exactly what she wanted to do -– laughing and being happy.”

RL: Is it safe to say that the people who come are totally skeptics or are they in the zone to be hypnotized?

Terry: It totally depends on your crowd, but you do get a lot of skeptics up there that say, “I’m going to get up there and I don’t think this is going to work but I’m going to give it a shot.” And they turn out to be the stars of your show 100 percent of the time.

Michael: The people who say they can’t do it, they’re my favorites because a lot of people will come back three and four times to see if you’ve got the same people on stage or if you’re using plants.

RL: So there’s no green house effect on your show with plants?

Michael: People will come back night after night and finally they will say, “Well, hell, if these guys are making enough money that they can hire actors every night, or is it for real, and they end up being the funniest, stars of the show.

Terry: I was a skeptic before I got into this business. I saw a hypnotist on my Spring Break and said he couldn’t be real; so I went onstage and he turned me into a stripper on a pool table. I even made $20, and when I knew it was for real I changed my major to “behavior modification” studies. Now we can use it for entertainment and for teaching. We’ve hypnotized people very successfully and given them good advice to stop smoking, get weight under control and motivate them for success and relieve their stress. So that’s all good.

What: “Dirty: Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis”
When: 11 p.m. Sundays through Fridays
Where: House of Blues
Tickets: $42.95 to $53.45; 632-7600
(Please keep in mind these are old show dates. View our Show Schedule for our current show dates, times, and locations.)

From clean to dirty, the House of Blues is covering all bases.

While the atmosphere in the magic show is wholesome, bright and untainted by four-letter words, the hypnosis show is laced with profanity, provocative and adult on every level.

“Before we came here our show was very risque,” says Michael Johns, whose co-star, Terry Stokes, was performing out of town. “This show, ‘Dirty,’ has taken that to a whole other level.”

The first 25 minutes of the show – the part where Johns prepares the audience and the volunteers for what to expect – involves a lot of comedy.

“I come from a stand-up background,” Johns says. “In my show you’ve really got to pay attention because I’m always throwing out one-liners.”

He says because of his unusual background the show is a blend of hypnotism and stand-up.

“The combination of the two makes it different from anything else in Vegas,” Johns says.

Also making a difference is Stokes. He isn’t as raunchy as his partner and carries a different air about him – sophisticated to Johns’ streetwise persona.

When Stokes is out of town Johns carries the show. When Stokes is in town the two usually rotate nights. In the past they have sometimes shared the stage, playing off of one another.

“It’s a good partnership,” Johns says. “Sometimes we do a two-man show … we try to outdo each other onstage.”

Johns says adding a live band to the mix has been a big improvement. The group plays several rock numbers while the audience is being seated.

“The energy level in the room is unbelievable,” Johns says.

A dozen or so people are brought to the stage and hypnotized. They simulate smoking pot, watching porn, sitting in vibrating chairs and performing other actions of an adult nature.

“But there’s no nudity,” Johns says. “We don’t humiliate anybody. A lot of shows will get somebody onstage and trash them. We never have and never will, but we do step over the line of good taste.”

Copyright and Published by the Las Vegas Sun on August 2, 2007

Just call it the House of Laughter.

Two comedy shows – one magic, one hypnotic – have taken up residence in the House of Blues, better known for concerts by top blues, jazz and rock artists.

“We’ve never gone in this direction, not totally,” Las Vegas House of Blues General Manager Greg Encinas says. “What we try to do is offer a wide variety of entertainment. But looking at what the consumer wants in the Las Vegas market, I think they want some standard entertainment and also some things with twists and turns.”

Enter “Keep It Funny starring Tim Gabrielson,” a family-friendly afternoon show, and “Dirty: Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis,” an adults-only late-night show featuring Michael Johns and Terry Stokes.

Gabrielson is a sleight-of-hand magician who blends wholesome humor with magic.

Johns is an X-rated stand-up comic who adopted hypnotism later in his career. He and Stokes, a comedic hypnotist for about 40 years, joined forces more than three years ago.

“What we’ve done here is we have gone after a totally new angle or tack on some existing style of shows in Las Vegas, and I think we’ve put that House of Blues touch to it,” Encinas says.

The venue hasn’t abandoned anything. There are still major concerts. The regular lineup includes the acoustic music show “Unplugged,” hosted by Michael Soli, on Thursday nights; Prince tribute artist Jason Tenner on Sundays; Boogie Knights on Saturdays; and Rockstar Karaoke on Mondays.

But “Dirty” and “Keep” are more like ongoing Las Vegas production shows.

Gabrielson, who began at the House of Blues July 14, was filling in for comic magician Mac King at Harrah’s when Encinas first saw the performance.

“He had that thing you can’t put your finger on,” Encinas says. “He was extraordinarily interactive with the crowd, and they were so warm to him. It was a very good show, entertaining. He did some different things I haven’t seen in magic shows.”

He said Gabrielson’s clean act was perfect for an afternoon show.

“That time of day you have people coming back from the pool that are wanting to relax, stay inside and have a cocktail, looking for something to do,” Encinas says. “This is an opportunity for them to see a show. The interesting demographic is the families. Vegas has opened up for families, and this offers wholesome entertainment for them – and for couples who want to have a margarita, sit back, relax and enjoy a comedy magic show.”

The flip side of the coin is the adult show put on by Johns.

“In Las Vegas I think there are about, if I’m not mistaken, about 13 hypnotist shows in town,” Encinas says. “This one is pretty good. It’s entertaining and it’s edgy.”

Perfect for the late-night adult crowd.

Encinas added the House of Blues touch to the late show with a four-piece band, led by Bonnie Mizell. The house band plays a couple of opening numbers and then plays music cues during the show – a departure from canned music.

“I thought that would be a perfect marriage – an adult show with live rock ‘n’ roll music built around it,” Encinas says. “It’s become a rock ‘n’ roll hypnotist show.”

Copyright and Published by the Las Vegas Sun on August 2, 2007

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been a showgirl,” said Johns, whose show is built on such audience participation.

Snippit published on Monday, March 26, 2007 by John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun in his original article titled “John Katsilometes reports on a unique wedding ceremony for a similarly unique couple in the downtown arts districts.”

HYPNOSIS UNLEASHED! is a perfect description for comedian/hypnotists Terry Stokes’ and Michael Johns‘ Vegas show. Your jaw will drop (just like it may have years ago when you very first, naively had a glimpse of one of the Girls Gone Wild-video advertisements.) You will find yourself saying: “No way-he’s gonna actually do it!” The hilarious, adult fun can be seen by both comedian hypnotists as they share their venue and perform individually on separate nights. Their comedic style is very different, which makes it fun to go a second time, not only to get a chance to see both performers, but you’ll also see a whole new gang of participants. Maybe you, yourself, will decide to join the hypnosis hilarity and jump up on stage and become a star in the show.

SLV found out some interesting background history, while interviewing these two hilarious showmen.

SLV: After high school you joined the Army. Was it difficult to suppress your comedic personality during your military years?

Michael: You know, I was always in a lot of trouble. I was never the kind of guy who knew when to keep his mouth shut. I did a lot of push-ups. When I got out, my upper body, I was pretty ripped.

SLV: (laughter) When did you decide that you wanted to be a hypnotist?

Michael: I was actually doing stand-up. When I was in the army, in Georgia, they had a little comedy club in Columbus, and I would go do Open-Mic there. And when I had a little time off I would go do Open-Mic in Atlanta, too. And then one night, I got hypnotized on stage-and I was just going up to help the guy out. I didn’t think it would really work. But he was a nice guy, and I figured I’d just help him out, and at least just fill a chair for him – because nobody was getting up there. And the next thing I know-it’s an hour and a half later-I’m opening my eyes-and I was the star of the show. So after that, I said, “I have to learn how to do this.”

SLV: Did you wonder afterwards, if you did anything embarrassing?

Michael: I don’t get embarrassed easily, but I did a lot of things that I would not ordinarily do. In my show, we step over the line of good taste a lot-but I don’t think anybody has anything they need to be humiliated about. If you have a good sense of humor, you’re gonna really enjoy being a part of the show.

SLV: What method did you use to educate yourself about hypnosis?

Michael: I went to Miami, Florida and I learned from a guy there who’s name is Gerald Kine, and he is probably one of the top Hypnotherapists on the planet-doing this for 40 to 50 years. He’s made some incredible discoveries and breakthroughs. So I took what he taught me and I applied it to the stage. With the comedy background, it was a natural progression.

SLV: Do you have any extra sensitive abilities, or just great showmanship?

Michael: It’s the comedy and show-I love the “performance,”-and I love the challenge. You never know the kind of people you’re gonna get on stage-and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s always new-it’s always fresh.

SLV: That must make some difficult nights for you.

Michael: Some nights you get an audience that doesn’t realize that it’s an audience participation show, and that they need to get involved. We take what we get on stage. We
make a show out of it. We never use plants or shills. We’ve never done that-and we never will-and quite frankly, that’s cheating.

SLV: The Adult-Rated comedy in your show-in particular-makes it uniquely hilarious. What are some of you comedic influences?

Michael: I love all different kinds of comedians. I don’t care if it’s dirty, if it’s clean… I love Seinfeld, a guy named Brian Regan-he’s absolutely brilliant. I also love guys like Carlin. And another guy, he’s dead now, he’s probably the greatest comedian who ever lived. His name was Bill Hicks. He would come on stage and tell you why you were stupid, how stupid you were, and you’d sit there and laugh at, ‘cause you’d say, “Yeah, this guy is right.” He was so funny. He was probably one of my biggest influences.

SLV: Do you have a favorite personality-style for a volunteer?

Michael: I would like to say the really, highenergy, fun people, but sometimes you get people on stage that are really timid and really quiet until you get them hypnotized-and they’re just insane.

SLV: I noticed the female volunteers seemed to really lose their inhibitions. They had like a “come-hither” look on their face. And then the male volunteers went to this innocent, trusting, child-like look.

Michael: Exactly-you never know. And other nights it’s exactly the opposite. (laughter)

SLV: Have you ever used your hypnosis techniques on a girlfriend, for your personal pleasure?

Michael: You know what? I think I can’t incriminate myself and answer that.

SLV: I had to ask…

Michael: No-I’ve never actually done that. Maybe I need to give that a try.

SLV: What do you like to do on your day or night off work?

Michael: I’m a single guy-kind of private. I’m waiting for Paris Hilton to come around. (laughter) I love the Vegas lifestyle. I like the restaurants, movies. I’m a sports car fanatic. I like to hit the interstate and drive as fast as I can… SLV

Click HERE to read Terry’s interview with SLV.

Hypnosis Unleashed!
Harmon Theater inside Krāve
(Valet parking on Harmon Ave. at entrance of Desert Passage and Aladdin)
3663 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Showtimes: 9:00pm • 7 nights a week • Ages 21+
702-836-0836 • PURCHASE TICKETS

Michael states, “I come from a stand-up background, so there’s a lot of comedy in my show, off-the-cuff stuff. In my show I never try to embarrass anybody. There’s a line I refuse to cross. Nobody is going to walk off my stage and feel ashamed!”

What is also great about this show is Michael is having as much fun as the audience! Go, have a fun night and watch suggestions become reality right before your very “laughing” eyes!

by Robin Roth, The Blonde from The Blonde and The Maven
Contributing Writer for South Florida’s Entertainment News & Views Magazine
View Full Article: http://www.entnews.com/Archives/February2006/newtravel.html

Paid more than $100,000 to host Tao nightclub’s party, she was a no-show for the midnight countdown when Michael Buffer of “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” fame ticked off the final seconds of 2005.

Spies tell me her Greek shipping-heir boyfriend, Stavros Niarchos, 19, was initially turned away from the club because he’s on the radar of state liquor watchdogs.

Paris did a countdown, but it was in Tao’s restaurant, and she and Stavros were seen going into the nightclub about 12:30 a.m.

When they arrived at the nightclub, he was holding a champagne flute filled with what appeared to be orange juice.

In August 2001, The Venetian’s C2K nightclub played with fire by allowing Britney Spears, then 19,and boyfriend Justin Timberlake, then 20, in a VIP area from 2:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

SIGHTINGS

Stevie Wonder, a surprise arrival at Pure (Caesars Palace) at the midnight roofdeck cork-popping of a 20-liter megamagnum of Cristal champagne, hosted by Nicky Hilton and her boyfriend, Kevin Connolly. Paris and Stavros, along with her parents, Rick and KathyHilton, joined the Pure party. Wonder showed up at the door with his wife and bodyguard, asking if they could see the fireworks. … Denver Broncos All-Pro defensive back Champ Bailey was on the terrace with friends, checking out the fireworks as a heavy beat version of “What a Feeling” from “Fame” blared over the sound system. … Kanye West and Fantasia, his opening act, leading the New Year’s Eve countdown at Curve, the nightclub at Aladdin/Planet Hollywood after their concert. In the crowd at the concert: the Rev. Al Sharpton and Tichina Arnold of “Everybody Hates Chris”… Egged on by ghostbar VIP host Marko Greisen, Kelly Clarkson and her galpals sang her hit “Since You’ve Been Gone” when the fireworks show ended. Also at ghostbar and Rain: Terrell Owens and his agent Drew “Next Question” Rosenhaus, Javon Walker of the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees reliever Shawn Chacon and NBA vet Anthony Peeler. … At Mix (The Hotel at Mandalay Bay): Kenny G and Rob Lowe, hanging out together. … Shannon Elizabeth of “American Pie,” finishing first among 83 players, including pros, in the grand-opening celebrity poker tournament in the new poker room at Caesars Palace. The win was worth $55,000. Among the field: George Eads of “C.S.I.,” Lance Bass of ‘N Sync and poker professionals Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, David Williams and Layne Flack. … Paula Abdul, shopping in high heels at Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance near Anthem on Saturday. She bought a flat iron for hair. … Susan Hawk of “Survivor,” being hypnotized by Michael Johns on Friday during “Hypnosis Gone Wild” at the Stardust. Later they all went to New York-New York for the dueling pianos at Times Square. … Monte Carlo headliner Lance Burton will be performing his magic on the FTD float today in the 117th annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

THE PUNCH LINE

“With grades like that, you’ll be able to operate any Slurpee machine in town.”
– Roseanne in “Roseanne,” to her daughter Darlene (Sara Gilbert).

Copyright and Published by Las Vegas Review-Journal on January 01, 2006
Written by Norm Clarke

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-02-Mon-2006/news/5166865.html