Some shear evidence that Vegas knows how to give

For many years -- let’s say 48 years -- Las Vegas has been saddled with this reverse-Rickles reputation of being willing to take it but not dish it out. (That’s a reference to charity work, and also to legendary insult comic Don Rickles, who is playing at The Orleans Showroom from Friday through Sunday.)

But we do give in Vegas. We give our money, our time, our skills and even our hair.

I’ve attended a pair of fundraisers over the past two weekends (and also one NASCAR race, which was not in and of itself a fundraiser, but wow was it hair-raising). The first was the Keep Memory Alive “Power of Love” gala at the Bellagio. The second, Saturday night and into Sunday morning, was the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser at McMullan’s Irish Pub, where hundreds of temporarily hairless participants shared a healthy buzz.

These two fetes could not have been less alike. The “Power of Love” event raised $12 million and was featured in a lengthy clip Friday night during ABC’s “20/20” special about Siegfried & Roy. St. Baldrick’s raised a fraction of that, but was infinitely more ribald, held as it was in the overstuffed back room of a pungent, Irish-themed pub. To compare the fare: “Power of Love” attendees dined on slow-and-low braised Kobe short rib with truffled celery root puree, Hudson Valley foie gras broth, crispy confit pearl onions, mustard greens and pistachio crumble. McMullan’s offered some awesome Little Bits O’ Fish.

Quinn’s Irish Pub at Green Valley Ranch was also a St. Baldrick’s venue, as a collection of GVR and Quinn’s execs were shorn to raise money to fight childhood cancer (and if you think one’s appearance can’t be enhanced by a hairless dome, check out Brett McAfee’s video for evidence to the contrary).

But McMullan's is the original Vegas St. Baldrick’s location, where the organization’s follicles are rooted, so to speak. The event was launched three years ago in Vegas by club co-owners Brian and Lynn McMullan, who lost their daughter, Kyra, to brain cancer at age 2 1/2. She would be 15 years old today.

“It took a long time for us to get over her loss,” Lynn said, struggling to be heard amid the din of the party. “It’s really gratifying to see how this has grown, even with the economy the way it is. It’s really, really grown.” (The great Ginger Bruner pulled double-duty, wielding the bass with members of Killian’s Angels as part of the entertainment and shooting pictures as the house photographer. Her work is included in this posting.)

Fueled by adrenaline and a steadily stocked bar, St. Baldrick’s partiers leapt forward into daylight-savings time at 2 a.m. and beyond. More than 300 shavees took to the chairs on the makeshift stage, including a couple dozen Cirque du Soleil participants who raised more than $26,000 to go Ali Velshi. The longest hair of any participant was the nearly 2-foot-long braids of Nine Fine Irishman sous chef Jo Jo Bernardo, who waded into the crowd taking any donation -- $5, $10 -- to finish the clip job. As Bernardo thoughtfully noted from the stage, “Yeaaaaah! Baybeeee!”

Pledges and money collected from the event is still being counted, but the total could well exceed $200,000 and surpass the Baldrick’s record in Vegas. “I hate to say we’re going to get to $200,000,” Brian McMullan said, “because if we don’t make it, it might seem disappointing.”

Nah. Whatever the number, it was a great night for the cause, a great night for our town.

Loo follies

During the party at McMullan’s, I wound up in line (yes, a line in the men’s room) behind Steve McCoy, whom I recognized as the Tom Jones impressionist in “Legends in Concert.” “Hey! I’ve interviewed you!” I called out (which is a good way to bring an uncomfortable silence to a men’s room). I’d talked to McCoy about a year and a half ago at the Imperial Palace. McCoy looked at me, then started singing, “It’s not unusual, to be loved by anyo-o-o-o-one!” He was joined swiftly by the man in front of him, who was (and still is) Frankie Scinta. As David Byrne once said, “You may ask yourself, how did I get here?”

Bye-bye Bobby

Pitbull comic and, I must say, a close personal friend, Bobby Slayton has timed out at Hooters. His 500th and final show was Sunday night, but Slayton is not finished in Las Vegas. He’s moving a couple of cartwheels west to the Tropicana. As he told the audience, he’s starting a regular gig there in late April or early May, at the Comedy Stop space, which I hope works out for him. I love his act. One non-sequitur sampling, “There’s NO Anal the Clown!” Good luck at the Trop, Bob.

Adelson’s news

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson, who as of today no longer has Bill Weidner in his employ, was interviewed by Newsweek for its latest issue. It’s a Q&A piece, with Adelson representing “A.”

A sampling:

Q: “Las Vegas was hit terribly by the recession. Can it reinvent itself?”

A: “I'll quote Popeye the Sailor Man -- I yam what I yam what I yam. Las Vegas is a city of entertainment, and that's what it is. Everyone wants to diversify. Clinics are coming to Las Vegas, and a lot of people want to change it into a medical-research city. God bless them, I hope it happens. But when we have a generic synonymity with entertainment, how can we say we're an academic breeding ground for scientists? Not in my lifetime, and not in my children's lifetime.”

Read into that what you will, backers of the Ruvo Institute. Click here for the full give-and-take.

Rat Pack road kill

“I got Frank Sinatra confused with Dean Martin,” a friend told me this morning. What was he talking about? Being misdirected on a couple of only-in-Vegas roadways.

Double Down turns 3

P Moss and a group of merry pranksters from Vegas celebrated the third anniversary of Double Down Saloon New York on Saturday night. A news release(!) on behalf of the club reports that “topless go-go dancers, a chainsaw juggler and a fire eater by the name of Insectavora kept the guests in amazement by showing off their talents.” Then, it got weird. Let’s take this show to London, or Tokyo, or both.

Hi, ate us?

Ira David Sternberg’s popular simulcast interview show “Lunchtime With Ira at the Las Vegas Hilton” has been on hiatus since the show airing the week of Jan. 19. No word, yet, on if/when it will return.