Review: Gordie Brown at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas

The "Gordie Brown Show" in Las Vegas had its good moments-but they didn't take place until the last 20 or so minutes of the performance.

My husband and I had never heard of the Canadian entertainer. He was one of the "2for1" choices at the Tix2Night discount sales booth we were waiting in line at. He and the "Blue Man Group" are the headlining acts at the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

The woman helping secure our show for the evening told us she had seen him on her birthday and enjoyed him immensely. "He's absolutely wonderful-funny, good voice-easily the new Danny Gans".

For those who haven't been to Las Vegas, Danny Gans has been voted "Entertainer of the Year" by the local magazines for several seasons running. He sings, dances and does incredible imitations.

So off we went with great expectations for being amused. As we left our under qualified reviewer added "Pay close attention, you'll be laughing so hard, you could easily miss something!"

When the act began and the said Gordie Brown entered the stage, he exuded confidence. My husband nudged me, "if he's as good as his confidence, we're in for a good time".

Uh-oh, it seemed good old Gordie thought a bit too much of himself and not enough of his act. Twenty minutes in and he was doing totally unrecognizable imitations. Even the rather good-looking Brown didn't know who he was "doing". This was by his own admission. At the thirty minute mark he made the comment "I'd better get started soon or all of you will be heading over to watch the "Blue Man Group""

Oh dear. Not funny, not entertaining. What had we just blown $100 on??? And what we had paid was half price. We felt sorry for those who paid double what we had for the same experience.

Finally, he put on a Michael Jackson get up and began to actually show the audience some talent! He really was good. Dancing, singing, being funny-just like we had been promised! Many of us started clapping. I think it was out of relief that we hadn't popped this much moola for nothing. Moving on, he did several big name impressions "auditioning for a new Batman movie". His best ones were of Robin Williams and Sean Connery.

Going for the last 15 minutes, he slipped into doing his Elvis impression and took requests from the audience using a roll of toilet paper in place of the signature silk scarves to give to the ladies.

The show lasted and hour and fifteen minutes. The last 20-25 were what I would call worthwhile.

Will Gordie Brown topple the throne of Danny Gans? Hard to say. It's not that he doesn't have the stuff to become "Entertainer of the Year"-but he does have to learn how to show that talent throughout the entire time he's on the stage and not just as the audience is about ready to walk out.