In Las Vegas, you never know what you are going to discover. I don’t find myself going to downtown Las Vegas much, but when I do, I always have a good time. This adventure was no different.
I was invited to see a show called Mike Hammer at the Four Queens about two years ago. So when I found myself at the Four Queens this week I decided I would finally check out this show.
Now to be honest I have met Mike on several occasions and we chat on Facebook. I had intended to see his show, and if it was bad I had excuses already planned of why I couldn’t write something to about his show.
Now this is where I need to eat crow and apologize for preconceived notions. I had assumed that if the show wasn’t in the new and shiny part of Las Vegas that it wasn’t worth seeing. Now if you share this preconceived notion I am telling you now, we were wrong, very wrong.!
First let me tell you how easy the showroom is to get to. Unlike the southern part of the strip, where you feel like you are walking for miles to find the showroom, you just park in the garage and go to the first floor. Walk inside, and poof the showroom is right there on your left. A person doesn’t even have to travel into the casino part of the Four Queens if they didn’t want to.
Walking into Mike Hammer’s showroom is like taking a step back in history. The theatre was designed to be a dinner theatre. Restaurant style seating is up on the top rows, then the room opens up and a stage is the middle. Seats and tables are placed in front of the stage. Oversized chairs skirt the outside fringe of the showroom giving it an old and eclectic feel.
Mike Hammer’s people had informed me that it would probably be slow on a Tuesday night but I was welcome to come. It turned out that it was pretty full. At the beginning of the show look at the monitors, they play out takes like America’s Funniest Videos. What I noticed is the one person in the crowd starts snorting and the rest of the audience look up from their phones to see what is so funny. By the beginning of Mike’s show the crowd is already laughing pretty good.
There was no awkward pause or shameless plugs, Mike Hammer jumped right in and started to hammer the audience with jokes. From the beginning to the end of the show Mike is very interactive with his audience.
It is one thing to bring a person up on stage, use them and toss them back in the audience. Mike Hammer does something a little more personal; he remembers their names, where they are from and a little bit about them. He uses this information throughout the show, so because you were picked once, doesn’t mean he won’t call on you again.
As the crowd is entranced by Mike’s quick wit and dare I say, charm, they are then blown away by his magic tricks. A few slight of hand tricks that seem to be there to prime the audience and then Mike pulls off some pretty interesting tricks that will blow your mind.
One such trick had me laughing so hard I almost forgot to shoot photos of it. Mike performs a “do what I do trick” with a newspaper. During the show a woman was brought on stage. What seemed to be simple concepts, turned out to hilarity for the audience. But that wasn’t the amazing part of it. Mike poured a cup of water into his newspaper without spilling a drop. The woman who was brought on stage, dumped her water into her newspaper just like Mike did without the same results. Water went everyone as she began laughing at her failure in performing the same trick.
Another tricked that wowed me was the one where Mike brought a person on stage that blind folded him with duck tape! I could tell you in detail what happened but I don’t want to ruin it for you. I will give you clues though, duck tape, magic markers, blowup doll. Perfectly clear to you now, right?
Though not all the magic tricks are tongue in cheek type of fun. Mike performs a trick where he swallows razor blades. This really got a loud response from the audience as they cheered him on after he completed the trick.
Mike Hammer’s show was wonderfully entertaining and fast paced and something I could easily see myself seeing again and again. After all, a new audience means a new and different show. After the show was done and I was talking with Mike, I witnessed several people coming up to him expressing how fantastic his show was. One couple from Wisconsin says they see his show every time they come to town.
The information you need to know about Mike Hammer.
Who: Mike Hammer (Actual Name M.C. Hammer – No lies)
What: Mike Hammer! Comedy Magic with an EDGE
When: Tues. – Sat. 7:00 p.m.
Where: Four Queens Hotel and Casino
202 Fremont Street
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Ages: Recommend 13+
Costs: Starting at $20.00
http://mikehammershow.com/the-show/
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