By Chuck Darrow
Proving once again that time does indeed fly (at supersonic speed), the very creative — and somewhat twisted (in a good way) — folks at Las Vegas-based Spiegelworld recently hosted a private soiree at Caesars Atlantic City. The bash included a pre-show dinner at Superfrico, S-World’s “psychedelic-Italian” restaurant, and a performance of “The Hook,” which marks its first birthday this week, and which remains Our Town’s first and only Vegas-style, full-time resident production show (its custom-built venue, which also houses Superfrico, is also called “The Hook”).
The celebration also offered this observer a chance to take another look at the program, which proved to be as raucous and entertaining as remembered.
If you haven’t yet seen it (you definitely should), “The Hook” is an adults-only affair that melds coarse, un-PC humor with turns by a roster of you-gotta-see-‘em-to-believe-‘em specialty acts. Think Borgata’s “The Burlesque Show” with contortionists, aerialists and jugglers as the featured acts instead of women stripping down to G-strings and pasties (although there is plenty of male and female flesh on display).
The show’s pretext is presented in a most spectacular way, staging-wise (more I cannot say lest I spoil it for those who haven’t yet attended a performance). From there we meet the presentation’s two comedy stars, Phil Nichols and Scout Durwood.
Nichols is a good, old-fashioned foul-mouthed jokester whose material is much like that of Chris Morris in “The Burlesque Show”—juvenile and unsophisticated, but consistently funny (at least for those who don’t mind four-letter verbiage and what used to be called “dirty jokes”). Durwood’s equally rib-tickling shtick is steeped in her feminist-lesbian point of view, which keeps “The Hook” from being a mere throwback.
The pair’s antics are interspersed with a series of segments featuring a variety of Cirque-style perform, all of whom are top-notch. Especially enjoyable is high-energy magician, Tan BA, whose stock-in-trade is the swallowing of seemingly-impossible-to-swallow objects (his turn includes a razor-blade-focused bit that is a variation on the needle-swallowing sequence that Teller (of Penn &) has been doing for some 50 years).
Although not for the overly squeamish, contortionist Nikita Gergert, who apparently has steel coils instead of bones, is absolutely riveting as he bends his body into ostensibly impossible positions.
And the team of Nate Armour and Kellin Quinn Hentoff-Killian delivers the single greatest juggling routine I have ever seen in more than 40 years of seeing gaming hall shows (including more jugglers than I could possibly remember).
The pair’s act finds them removing their jackets, pants and shirts and stripping down to their skivvies, then getting completely dressed again, all the while keeping three clubs airborne. It is simply a wonderful piece of stagecraft and an astonishing display of precision teamwork and concentration.
Increasing the enjoyment level is the show’s venue, a custom-built, ultra-intimate space with a horseshoe stage that is, at best, but 40 or 50 feet from the farthest seat. This means a total absence of “bad seats.” It also should be noted that audio problems that marred the performance I attended last July seem to have been rectified.
It all adds up to a knee-slappin’, eye-poppin’ extravaganza that shouldn’t be missed.
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
Bally’s rocks 45
Friday is the day Bally’s Atlantic City officially celebrates its 45th birthday. The festivities kick off at 11 a.m. with, among other things, a performance by the Fralinger String Band, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the new Park Place Prime steakhouse and VIP slot lounge, food sampling and a cake-cutting. The first slot machine ever played at the midtown gambling den will be unveiled for display.
As part of the celebration, you can book a weekend hotel package that includes a $45 food and/or drink credit. For more info, go to ballysac.com/45th.
