Month: December 2017

This week, Ira spoke with Gordie Brown. To listen to the interview click below.

Master Impressionist Gordie Brown, headlining at Hooters Casino Hotel every night at 7:30 except Tuesday and Friday, was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec.

Brown got his start working as a political cartoonist for the Ottawa Sunday Herald. When his co-workers entered him into a talent contest, he won first place and that, he said, is when he caught the entertainment bug.

Once he pulled together enough money, Brown ventured to Las Vegas in hopes of working with fellow Canadians Paul Anka and Rich Little. Before he knew it, Brown was opening for Anka and Little as well as other stars including Celine Dion, Jay Leno, Louie Anderson, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Barry Manilow.

He moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in stand-up comedy where he had his first national television debut on A&E’s “Evening at the Improv.” After co-hosting NBC’s “Friday Night Videos,”

Brown later wrote and sang the theme song for the Emmy-award winning animated series, “Life with Louie.” Brown has made several appearances on “Hollywood Squares,” and also landed a starring role of Mr. Jones’ caretaker of souls who encourages pivotal second chances, on Pax Television’s “Twice in a Lifetime,” a weekly hour-long drama series.

http://www.hooterscasinohotel.com
http://www.gordiebrown.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Tony Orlando. To listen to the interview click below.

Tony Orlando, who will be bringing his “Tony Orlando’s Christmas Show” to the South Point Casino, December 21-23, is one of America’s most endearing and enduring iconic stars.

Few entertainers have excelled in so many realms as Orlando: a top selling recording artist, songwriter, concert headliner, network television star, Motion Picture actor, Broadway performer and author. He was also GM and Vice President of CBS-Music Division April-Blackwood Music from 1966-1970. Orlando represented such songwriters as James Taylor, Laura Nyro, Blood Sweat and Tears and signed and produced Barry Manilow’s first recording while working for the legendary Clive Davis.

Orlando has sold millions of records, including five number-one hits: “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round The Ole Oak Tree,” “Knock Three Times,” “Candida,” “My Sweet Gypsy Rose” and “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You).” “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” was the number one Billboard Song of 1973 and became Orlando’s theme song, and grew into an American anthem of hope and homecoming, reunion and renewal. He has 2 Platinum albums, 3 Gold albums and 15 Top 40 Hits. Tony Orlando and Dawn rank among the Top 100 Billboard Magazine artists of all-time.

He is a recipient of three American Music Awards and two People’s Choice Awards for best male entertainer. For outstanding achievements to the entertainment industry, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

http://www.southpointcasino.com
http://www.tonyorlando.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Paul Shaffer. To listen to the interview click below.

Legendary bandleader, instrumentalist, singer, composer and comedian Paul Shaffer, performing with The Shāf-Shifters in Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace December 21-23 & 28-30, and January 4-6, served as David Letterman’s musical director and sidekick for 33 years.

Shaffer began his career in 1972 as musical director of the Toronto production of “Godspell.” He played piano in “The Magic Show” on Broadway in 1974, then spent the next five years with the original “Saturday Night Live,” where he played keyboards, composed special musical material and, in 1980, became a featured performer.

In 1977, Shaffer took a brief break from the show to star in the CBS comedy series “A Year at the Top,” produced by Norman Lear and Don Kirshner. After his return to “Saturday Night Live,” he collaborated with Gilda Radner on the songs for her Broadway show, in which he also appeared. He served as musical director for the Blues Brothers – John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd – for their triple platinum album and national tour. His guest starring television appearances include “Ed,” “The Sopranos,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

Shaffer starred with Bill Murray in and was musical director for the Netflix special “A Very Murray Christmas,” directed by Sofia Coppola, for which he received his fourth EMMY nomination.

In addition to recording his own albums, Coast to Coast (1989) and The World’s Most Dangerous Party (1993), Shaffer recorded with such diverse artists as Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and Robert Plant’s Honeydrippers. He composed the LATE SHOW theme song and, with Paul Jabara, wrote the Number One ’80s dance hit “It’s Raining Men,” performed by the Weather Girls and re-recorded by Geri Halliwell for the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” soundtrack, topping the British pop charts in 2001. In 2002, he received his first GRAMMY, “Best Country Instrumental,” for the Earl Scruggs and Friends album, and co-produced an avant-garde jazz album for his mentor, Tsziji Munoz. His latest album, Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band, was released on March 17, 2017 and features such diverse guest vocalists as Bill Murray, Darius Rucker, Jenny Lewis, Dion, Shaggy, and Valerie Simpson.

http://www.paulshaffervegas.com
http://www.theworldsmostdangerousband.com

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This week, Ira spoke with Tom Green. To listen to the interview click below.

Comedian, actor, and broadcaster Tom Green, who performs in “The Tom Green Show” in the Back Room at Bally’s Las Vegas Sundays through Wednesdays, is widely known for his innovative, anything-goes run as the most unpredictable personality on MTV, and his roles in film comedies including “Road Trip” and “Freddy Got Fingered.”

He was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, commandeered the guest-host chair on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and conquered the World Wide Web with his free-wheeling, popular internet talk show, “Tom Green’s House Tonight.”

That was followed by three seasons of the AXS-TV interview series “Tom Green Live,” the interactive variety show “Tom Green’s Web-O-Vision” at TomGreen.com, and “The Tom Green Radio Show” podcast via iTunes.

Today, Green tours around the world, performing standup at sold-out venues. He first captured his unique brand of onstage hilarity on video in his one-hour comedy special, “Tom Green Live,” taped at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. The program premiered on Showtime in early 2013 and continues to re-air on the premium cable channel (and is available on Netflix).

In 2012, Green headlined at the celebrated Edinburgh Comedy Festival to sold-out audiences and rave reviews. He has continued to tour the world, including shows that feature him performing rap music along with comedy, such as his recent gig at Snow Jam 2017 in British Columbia. This summer, Green’s globe-spanning Comedy Road Trip 2017 brought him to Israel, Ireland, Scotland, England, Holland, and Sweden.

Green also is currently writing a situation comedy in partnership with Producers Project 10 (the company behind the hit CBC show, “Schitt’s Creek”). He can been seen in the new Sci-Fi movie “Iron Sky: The Coming Race” due out in 2018.

http://www.TomGreenVegas.com
http://www.tomgreen.com

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