Up until yestrerday, and even though I have lived in Las Vegas over 3 1/2 years, I have never heard of the Royal Resort, which is located on Convention Center Dr., just north of the Encore. I also never heard of Larry G.Jones who is an impressionist. After tonight, there is no way I could ever forget the two, as Larry and Red Skelton impersonator, Brian Hoffman put on a great show. It proves, you don't have go to a big venue on the Strip to see a fun show.
When we first arrived, it was pretty cool to have Red Skelton selling tickets to the show. Red (Brian) was very personable and was starting to get into character when selling the tickets. Classy.
When the show started, Hoffman came on stage and impersonated Skelton. If you are a fan of Skelton, you know Hoffman nailed Skelton's mannerisms and on-stage persona. While many of the jokes were corny, that was the beauty of Red Skelton. Skelton was easy going on stage with the silly grin and laugh. It also showed you don't need to cuss to be funny. It was a very good opening for Jones.
After about 15 minutes of Red Skelton, Jones came on. There was no break- it flowed from Skelton to the 50's music.
Jones is a very energetic singer and entertainer. His show, about 1 hour and 15 minutes was continual energy. There were no breaks and Jones connected to the audience.
To see how a performer is doing with the audience, look around, as I did. The audience was of all ages, from kids to people in their 80's and everyone in between. A young lady sitting in front of us was a soldier in the Army stationed at West Point and she had the greatest time. The audience was concentrating on the performance, with a lot of smiles and interaction with the performer. The standing ovation at the end of show proved that Jones connected with the audience.
Back to the show, Jones performed many impersonations- male and female, from the 50's to the 90's. He also did some presidential impersonations which were cute. Can't wait to see him do Obama in the near future.
The Rat Pack imitation was top notch. I did wish he would have done Michael Jackson and Elvis, but he may do that in other shows.
While Jones didn't nail every voice perfectly, some were right on. I loved his Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Diamond. After the show, he posed for pictures, talked to the audience and signed free autographed pictures, which was classy.
So, if in Vegas, take the time to join about 75 other people and go to the show at the Royal Resort. The cost is about $45-50 dollars. Jones and Hoffman prove that you don't need show girls, a 10 piece band and loud music to put on a very good show.
Jones web site: http://www.larrygjones.com/
Brian Hoffman's web site: http://redskeltoncomedyshow.com/
I had often thought about going but didn't think it would be any good since I had never heard of the Royal. Thank you for the insite.
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