Carlin's ability to find the funny side of the most fundamental aspects of human behavior has enabled him to survive and thrive through seemingly endless comedy trends. His fearless approach has plunged him into controversy, yet he invariably emerges as a humorist ahead of his time.

In 1972, he released an album that contained his monologue on "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV," which resulted in a Supreme Court decision prompting the FCC to ban the words from TV and radio during certain hours.

Carlin's humor has been expressed in best-selling books, his latest being "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?," recordings and a dozen HBO specials. In 1975, he hosted the first-ever broadcast of "Saturday Night Live." He has been elected to the Comedy Hall of Fame and given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

AM at Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce in the Mandalay Bay opened earlier this month. This new after-hours nightclub is by the creators of other successful Las Vegas nightclubs. Tony Verdugo started Drais Afterhours and Alesium Afterhours at Seven and Gino LoPinto did Spearmint Rhino Afterhours, Rise and Shine, and GLO.

The new late night spot offers sounds by DJ's Scotty Boy and Graham Funk and features Las Vegas' first and only after-hours club to offer an old time burlesque show with a live band at 2:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. The club has a less than 400-people capacity and a lavishly appointed interior that provides an intimate atmosphere for true VIP service. This will be a hot spot for late night entertainment from 2 to 8 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.

This new late night show at the Rio has a lot going for it including its creative name that says it all "Erocktica Live." It is the first show to incorporate a live band into a late-night production show.

The show melds together classic rock music as a focal point with a four-member band situated on the main floor at the very end of the stage's runway and a sexy revue highlighting: dancers; singer, dancer and Italian bombshell Gabriella Versace; and lead vocalist Raymond "Ray-J" Jones.

The show's producer Greg Thompson, along with long-time choreographer, Mistinguett, have produced sexy late-night productions for Playboy, E! Entertainment Television, HBO, and "Skintight" at Harrah's Las Vegas.

The biggest challenge for the show's producer was assembling an all-star classic rock band. They succeeded with U.S.U.K. featuring Mono, comprised of American, Australian and British rockers.

Lez Warner on drums hails from London, England, where he powered the English punk rock band "The Cult" and recorded albums with Julian Lennon, Drain and "Motorbaby."

Wayne Carver on bass and vocals worked with the legendary Mudcat Blues Band and the recording of the number one selling CD, "Live at Mom's."

Russ Letizia is one of Las Vegas' premiere guitarist. He's performed with industry greats ranging from jazz-rock guitarist Larry Carlton to Nashville's Colin Raye.

Mono is lead vocalist, guitarist and bassist Bobby Thompson. He started out as an opera singer and was a male vocalist "Star Search" winner before winning a national guitar playing competition and finding rock 'n' roll and getting an RCA recording contract and national tours.

Shows are nightly except Tuesday at 10 p.m. Tickets are $49.95 plus tax with one beer included, call 702-777-7776. Tickets include free admission to the VooDoo Lounge or Club Rio immediately following the show.

Disney's character warehouse outlet store is back in town with a store at Las Vegas Factory Outlets at 7680 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

The Crown & Anchor Pub, a British pub located near the Strip at 1350 E. Tropicana Ave., is celebrating its ten year anniversary this month.

There will be a free karaoke contest at Main Street Station's Triple 7 Restaurant & Brewery on Friday, April 1 from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. The contest is open to the first 20 entrants who register by calling the Downtown Region's marketing office at 800-713-8933 or 702-386-4403 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

Boyd Gaming's Las Vegas properties including Coast Casinos are the sites unveiling International Game Technology's (IGT) new second Megabucks system, Penny Video Megabucks, with a jackpot starting at $10 million. The first jackpot on Video Megabucks will be the largest ever paid on a penny-denomination slot machine.

Boyd Gaming's properties participating include the Barbary Coast, California, Eldorado, Fremont, Gold Coast, Jokers Wild Casino, Main Street Station, The Orleans, Sam's Town, Stardust, and Suncoast.

Legendary rock band, Cheap Trick will perform at the Silverton's Hideaway Theatre on April 1. The high-energy country band Asleep at the Wheel will follow on April 2, and after four years away from the spotlight, multi-platinum 80's metal band Twisted Sister will surface once again on April 9. Tickets in group order are $35, $20 and $30, call 702-914-8557 or 1-866-946-4373.

Cheap Trick, most famous for their first Top Ten hit, "I Want You to Want Me," has been recording successful albums and touring the world for over 25 years. Working with prestigious record labels such as Epic Records, Sony Records and Warner Brothers, the band has created 27 albums in 26 years and sold over 17 million records worldwide.

Over the past 30 years, Asleep at the Wheel's ever-shifting lineup may have changed (featuring 80 members to date), but their mission has stayed the same: to bring big band western swing to the popular masses. The band has garnered much critical acclaim, winning nine Grammys to date - including one this year for best Vocal Performance By A Duo or Group for "Cherokee Maiden" from their album, "Ride With Bob."

Twisted Sister in 1976 with the arrival of the band's now singer and undisputed leader, Dee Snider, set club attendance records and captured the attention of Atlantic Records, who signed them to a major distribution contract a few years later. After selling millions of records worldwide, the group disbanded in the late 1980's, and reunited for the 1992 release of their greatest hits album, and then again in 2001 for their tribute album, "Twisted Forever."

The Cannery in North Las Vegas will flash back to the Ed Sullivan era with, "A Really Big Shew" on April 22 and 23, at 7 and 9 p.m. Admission with taxes included is $10 at the door.

"A Really Big Shew" brings back one of the longest running shows in television history, "The Ed Sullivan Show." Jerry Hoban has been portraying Sullivan for more than 20 years, and appeared in major television series, national commercials, and blockbuster motion pictures. Some of his credits include the feature film "Pulp Fiction" and Mercedes-Benz commercials.

The variety acts in the show will include The Amazing Dario, The Great Tomsoni and Company, comic-impressionist Janice Hart, Hillel Gitter as Mr. Balloon Man, Lance Lapinsky as Jerry Lee Lewis, and a special tribute to Topo Gigio.

As of March 29, "Forever Plaid" at the Gold Coast will have a new schedule. The 7 p.m. nightly show will be dark on Monday instead of Friday and a new matinee will be added on Sundays at 3 p.m.

A new 9 p.m. revue "Men of Krave" on Sunday nights at the Krave nightclub is choreographed by Michael Darrin and hosted by Kenny Kerr, whose "Boy-lesque" was the first drag show on the Strip.

On April 7, Krave will add an 11 p.m. karaoke night hosted by Los Angeles radio personality Kenny Morse.

Magician Nathan Burton successfully exited a Plexiglas box after a weeklong saga of no food or water and with 198 showgirls in groups of seven doing four-hour shifts from March 9-15 at the Desert Passage. Burton called it his "Vegas Showgirl Diet." Burton donated over $4,000 to Child Haven from having people take their picture with "The Magic Man" and the seven showgirls in a box. Robin Leach of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" acted as master of ceremonies at the event's conclusion.

Harrah's afternoon headlining comedian and magician Mac King has announced that his ticket price has gone from $16.95 to $19.95.

The Suncoast is located off the Strip in the west part of the valley and coming up with quite the variety of headlining names. Some of the names coming up include star impersonator Bill Acosta April 1-3, an unusual family show Aga-Boom, New Age Clowns April 15-17, The Osmond Brothers April 22-24, Debbie Reynolds April 29-May 1, and David Sanborn May 6-8.

Hawaii's number one morning show celebrities on KSSK radio, Perry & Price are bringing their "Aloha Spirit" to the California Hotel downtown where they will do their popular radio broadcast direct from the Ohana Room on April 1 and 2. Their "brunch" broadcasts are sellouts at Honolulu's popular eatery, John Dominis.

The broadcast on Saturday, April 2 will be open to the public and entertainers will stop by to chat with the pair. The $16.95 inclusive admission includes an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet. Tickets are on sale at the Cal's Players Gold Center, call 1-800-634-6505, extension 2705.

Perry, a former Naval officer turned actor, also hosts his own television show "The Hawaiian Moving Company." Price, a former L.A. Ram's player, also coached football and volleyball at the University of Hawaii.

The MGM Grand has introduced a new state-of-the-art Race & Sports Book, located near the Studio 54 nightclub. The Sports Book, with an adjacent Stage Deli, offers seating for 104 guests, 36 60-inch plasma televisions, eight 42-inch plasmas, three electronic display boards and 17 separate race and sports betting counters. The Race Book features 47 seats each with its own 10-inch color television,

The Sports Book is the first in the industry to offer "Skyboxes." Ranging in size from 300-325 square feet, four Skyboxes are equipped with the latest technology available including plasma televisions, surround-sound audio and a CD system. The Skyboxes offer a special second-level view and comfortably host eight to 10 guests.

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