Penn & Teller again play the ‘Fool’; Globetrotter recalls unseen win

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Sat, Apr 16, 2016 (2:10 p.m.)

Scooter Christensen in Action

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Penn & Teller celebrate their 15th anniversary at the Rio before their show Tuesday night, January 5, 2016.

The Kats Report Bureau returned to the Rio on Friday night to witness the final taping of the third season of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.”

As John Lennon once said, “I play guitar, and sometimes I play the fool,” which fits some of the magicians who try to stump P&T. It doesn’t happen often, which is the artistic tension of “Fool Us,” which debuts July 11 on the CW with a new host, Alyson Hannigan of “How I Met Your Mother” fame.

A highlight of the shows recorded in the Penn & Teller Theater is an appearance by the Luxor headliner prop comic Carrot Top (adding “the” to his description seems to boost his status). He contributed to the show as a volunteer from the wings. Other visitors to the show (though not onstage) were actor Jesse Eisenberg and performance troupe Philobus, showing the great range of Penn & Teller’s fans and friends.

Away from the performance stage, P&T are again the grand marshals of the 26th annual AIDS Walk, held this year at Town Square beginning at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. P&T have lent their time and starry influence to the fundraiser for 15 years.

Sunday’s event features opening-ceremony appearances by Rachel Tyler of “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers,” who sings the national anthem (the American rendition), and performances by Melody Sweets of “Absinthe,” Human Nature, members of “Twisted Vegas,” “Vegas! The Show” and “53X” (the cast and the show’s host, Shangela).

Interested participants can still register or donate at AFANLV.org. You’ll find me near the stage enacting some Kats Report Bureau action.

• Scooter Christensen is one of the graybeards among The Harlem Globetrotters if being 37 qualifies for that subset. A graduate of Bishop Gorman High and a standout at the University of Montana, Christensen is playing in the first athletic event ever at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night as the Trotters take on the World All-Stars, the team that has supplanted the Washington Generals as the Trotters’ foil.

A point guard and shooting guard — or a “1” and a “2” for those well-versed in hoops — Christensen happens to hold the Guinness World Record for spinning a basketball on his nose at 7.7 seconds (achieved Nov. 12, 2015). Yes, Guinness seems to have a record for everything …

Christensen had only known of The Harlem Globetrotters through the players’ depictions on the cartoon series “Scooby-Doo.” But Christensen wound up hitting a team tryout in Phoenix when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns’ support staff — as the team’s video coordinator. He learned that the Trotters were based in Phoenix at the time, took a shot at landing an open roster spot and has since visited more than 80 countries with the team.

As Christensen says, “We are serious players. That’s what people don’t realize. A lot of these guys have been stars in college and played pro ball overseas. We can really play.”

A favorite Christensen story: In 2008, the Trotters were scheduled to play the Generals at the University of Notre Dame at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. They took the court for a practice the day of the game, and the Fighting Irish men’s team was just finishing its workout. One of the N.D. players remarked that he was surprised the Trotters were actually practicing basketball for their appearance that night.

“They were like, ‘You guys actually practice for these shows?’ I said, ‘Oh? Well, we haven’t even stretched. Get five guys together, and let’s go,’" Christensen said with a laugh during a phone interview Friday morning as the Trotters were traveling in Fargo, N.D. “We played for real, no warmups or anything. I don’t remember the exact score, but I know they didn’t score.”

Summarily impressed, members of the Fighting Irish showed up for the Trotters’ appearance that evening and sat near the sideline.

Bad idea.

“We gave them the whole treatment: the confetti bucket, the water bucket,” Christensen said. “They were like, ‘OK! OK! We get it!’"

The moral of this story? Don’t ever taunt a Trotter.

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Seth MacFarlane during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles.

• Quick quote from Seth MacFarlane, who is set to appear April 29-30 at Encore Theater in a revival of standards, some lesser-known numbers and reinvented adaptations of songs dating to the 1940s and ’50s with the “Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers” orchestra.

Family Guy

As the creator of “Family Guy,” MacFarlane is less known for his great voice and passion for vintage jazz, big-band and orchestral music. But his affection for the classics has occasionally been revealed in the animated TV series.

He once edited the song “Shipoopi,” from “The Music Man,” into an episode of “Family Guy,” as Peter Griffin performed a full account of the song after scoring a touchdown for the New England Patriots (Tom Brady was the guest voice in that show).

“We used the arrangement from the film, which had some great (effing) orchestration, with so much energy,” MacFarlane said in an interview Friday for an upcoming column about his Encore appearance. “It’s just one of those things that gets your blood going. The problem was, he had to go hunt for the charts because an orchestra hadn’t played it in decades. But when you hear it live, it’s just great, and we were fully committed to using it in the show.”

The newly recorded song, at nearly three minutes, aired in its entirety in “Family Guy.” As Griffin told Brady, “This calls for a victory tune!”

No, you don’t give short shrift to “Shipoopi.”

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Martin Kaye leaps during his big finish at Las Vegas Weekly's Unscripted Party featuring Stifler in the Havana Room on Tuesday, March 4, 2014, at the Tropicana.

• “Million Dollar Quartet” cast member Martin Kaye loves Las Vegas so much that he is performing all over the city. Updating the previous post about his musical “Bright Side,” that show at Art Square Theater has been moved back a week to May 19 and runs through June 5 (show times are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays). Hit CockroachTheatre.com for ticket and show info.

Kaye is beginning a run as the piano man in the Piano Bar at Harrah’s on April 26. He’s to perform from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leading to the “MDQ” performances in the showroom at 7 p.m. Kaye is booked there through Aug. 11.

And! Kaye also is testing his new Martin Kaye Trio at Parlor Lounge at the Mirage beginning tonight at 9 through 1 a.m. This, too, could wind up as a lengthy residency. As was once said about the British empire, the sun never sets on Mr. Kaye.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram at Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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