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 Views,
Reviews, and Interviews
by Dianne R. Davis
diannerd@aol.com
Photos by Dianne or Burt Davis
Video
Interview with Terra Jole of Little Legends in the Harmon Theater at
Krave Nightclub
Terra Jole - Star of Little Legends
Up Close
and Personal with… Entertainer Ronn Lucas
Ronn Lucas is delighting audiences with his 3:00 p.m. show at the Luxor.
We sat down after the show, and after he had chatted and taken photos
with every patron who wanted one.
DD: Ronn, what are you? Are you a singer, comedian, impersonator,
personality?
RL: I am a comedy ventriloquist.
DD: What types of things give you the biggest kick out of your job?
RL: I think the biggest kick I get is just being with people. After the
shows are over, I go out front and talk. I do an autograph session. You
don’t have to buy anything. I just enjoy chatting with the people.
It’s fun to make an audience that’s from the Midwest, doesn’t know
anything about theater, sitting on their hands, laugh and applaud.
That’s a big kick.
DD: Are you happy with your career?
RL: Yes, I’m very happy with my career. There’s a lot of competition in
this town, so I’ve had some pretty good staying power actually.
DD: Is there a lot of competition for what you do?
RL: Well, there’s a lot of competition for shows and I’ve been here the
better part of five years now.
DD: Where did you come here from?
RL: L.A. I still have my home in LA. My wife Mary spends more time there
than she does here. She teaches figure skating.
DD: When did you know you would be a performer?
RL: I actually wanted to be a magician, but I didn’t live near where
there were magic stores. So I studied ventriloquism because I thought it
was more economical. I could just buy one puppet and do the show with
that. I always wanted to be a performer. I’ve known, since I was about
seven or eight that I wanted to perform. I’m from El Paso Texas and
attended the University of Texas at Austin.
DD: What was the magic moment for you?
RL: There have been several specific magic moments. One was when I got
my first agent, in El Paso. The other magic moment was when I was
accepted to work on a cruise line, Royal Viking. I spent the better part
of four years at sea.
Another magic moment was in 1981 when I won the San Francisco stand-up
comedy competition. I was the first variety act to do that. It was the
same competition that Robin Williams had won for or five years earlier.
It was the first year it was taken to Showtime. So they sent me to the
national laugh-off about six months down the road and I won the national
competition. You wouldn’t believe who I beat – everybody who has become
more famous than me. Harry Anderson, Seinfeld, and Eddie Murphy.
DD: What is your definition of success? Have you achieved it? And where
do you go from here?
RL: Well, I’d certainly like to have a little bit more money in the
bank. I think you have to keep setting a new definition of success. I
have performed for presidents. Reagan, Clinton, Bush, the queen of
England. Princess Margaret.
My definition of success is actually kind of weird. It is based on
stages. I have worked some of the coolest stages on the planet; from the
London Palladium to Broadway. I was in Sugar Babies. I performed
Wolftrap. Then I performed in a stadium at an Amway convention for
60,000 people in the Atlanta Dome.
DD: In a city where so many are trying to break into the business, what
advice would you have for someone entering the profession of
entertaining?
RL: Do your homework. Get all the schooling you can and take all the
business classes you can. Nowadays, you have to bring your whole package
in. You have to hire your own employees, pay rent to the theater.
DD: Where does your inspiration for creativity come from?
RL: I am a Pisces. Every time I am in water I come up with some really
excellent ideas.
DD: How do you prepare for a show?
RL: I need about 10 or 15 minutes to put my props together for a show. I
sing in the shower before the show. Try to warm up my voice for the
show. I basically try to comb my hair.
DD: What part does the audience play?
RL: The audience is a big part of the show because they have to feel
that they are seeing something special. So every single day I have to
find something unique and different to do so that it feels special for
all of us. And I do improvise during each show.
DD: After the show, what do you do to unwind?
RL: I can’t eat before a show, but I can certainly eat after. Afterwards
I am famished.
DD: What leisure activities do you enjoy?
RL: Backpacking and camping.
DD: Pet Peeves?
RL: People driving with cell phones. I want them all to get headsets.
DD: When you are out in public, do you want people to recognize you?
When should they approach you? When should they not?
RL: That’s a two edge sword. It’s nice to be recognized, but it also can
be annoying when you are so famous - which I am not by the way- that
people feel they know you or even own a piece of you and you have no
clue who they are. But it’s really nice when you are trying to get
tickets to the movies or a play or the ballet or tickets to a game. It’s
really nice when you are invited to nice parties and things like that.
That’s the benefit side of it. But all the celebrity in the world can’t
help me with my nieces and nephews when they are crying and want their
diapers changed.
DD: If you are out in public, do you want people to come up to you?
RL: Absolutely. They can interrupt me any time they want except during a
meal because I eat with both hands. (just kidding) I love meeting people
all the time.
DD: Who would you like to meet that you haven’t met?
RL: Oprah would certainly be one. The guy from Virgin Records – Richard
Branson. He seems like a character and he is so successful. I would have
loved to have met Mother Theresa.
DD: If you could get inside somebody’s head for one day, who would it
be?
RL: My answer would be John Malkovich.
DD: Family pets?
RL: We have five cats. Three are adopted. The other two we had
naturally.
DD: Dare I ask their names?
RL: They are named after my wife’s hobbies. Sampras, Decker, Conners,
Agassi, and McEnroe. The funny thing is that four of the five of them
are female.
Favorites:
Television show: Heroes
Movie: Field of Dreams
Food: Italian with whole wheat pasta
Movie line: I’m not telling you I’d like to build a summer house here,
but the trees are really quite lovely. (From Princess Bride)
Popcorn, peanuts, or pistachios: Definitely popcorn, buttered
Heroes: Thomas Jefferson. Bob Hope. Boy could he deliver a line. One of
my comic heroes.
DD: Who is the best comedian around today?
RL: Well, one is my comedy writer, Chris Clobber. He’s also the
co-author of my books. He is right up there to me with Robin Williams. I
definitely like Chris Rock. Cedric the Entertainer. He’s my favorite.
Very innovative.
DD: How would you describe your sense of humor?
RL: Quirky and eclectic. I loved [the movie] Knocked Up
DD: Best dish you fix in the kitchen?
RL: Oh man, I’m really good at salads and omelets
DD: If you could be invisible for a day, where would you go?
RL: I’d hang around the White House.
DD: Your show includes Scortch, a teenage dragon; Buffalo Billy, a self
described Nerf Person and West Texas Cowboy; and there is Chuck, a
monosyllabic punk with a Mohawk who literally comes apart at the seams.
How do you choose your characters?
RL: I think characters are sometimes like cats. They kind of choose you.
I come up with ideas occasionally. I put them down in a book and once or
twice a year I go over the list. To build a character from scratch is
very expensive and very time consuming. You have to go through several
variations to get it right. I try to think of aspects of my own
personality and if I isolate them and personify them, that’s how it
happens.
DD: Do you actually build them?
RL: I always build the first one and then contract them out to people
who do them better than I do.
DD: Are you going to be on the road?
DD: I’m gong to be here for the next 48 weeks.
DD: How do you want to be remembered in the future?
RL: I am basically a ventriloquist. I want to be remembered as creative
and innovative with hyper-animated puppetry and new ways of performing
such as having a casual relationship with the character.
How many ventriloquists are there in town?
DD: It is 2012, where are you?
R: I’d still like to be here, but I’d like to be doing a show at night.
A good adult show called Puppets
After Dark.
DD: What do you love to hear people say?
RL: The biggest compliment I’ve ever gotten is little kids and some
older people walk out and they don’t know I am listening and they say,
“Man, they were good.”
Ronn Lucas and friends are very good indeed. You can see his show at
3:00 p.m. daily except Thursdays in the Atrium Showroom at the Luxor.
Kids under five are not permitted. Ticket prices are reasonably priced
at $36.45 and $47.45 including all taxes and fees . For tickets, contact
the Luxor at 1 702-262-4400 or 1-800-557-7428 or visit their website at
www.luxor.com .
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