You will pay the price if you get chatty during this man’s set. (Photos by Glenn Pinkerton | Las Vegas News Bureau)

While the Lounge at the Palms may be roughly 80 percent less Gossy, the Playboy Comedy Club is stepping in to fill that fedora-shaped hole in our hearts. Radical Gossectomy leaves scars. We’re just trying to heal.

Relaunched as a three-day, four-show a week showcase, the club brought in veteran Nick DiPaolo this past weekend for its new campaign of higher profile comics. DiPaolo, for his part, was aces. His set mixed old staples — like his riff on homeless guys being able to sleep anywhere — with sizzling crowd work. When a live band celebrating Chinese New Year right outside the theater doesn’t take you off your game, the mouthy broads at the back of the room sure as hell won’t

“We’re really excited. Three nights a week has really helped us a lot,” said Paul Hughes, who along with Cort McCown, are the brains behind the show. “The consistency of being here every week, but we’re getting different comedians I think is really going to help people get behind the show. Now that we’re going three days a week, the Palms is very excited. We knew if we payed a little more money for some of these guys, in the long run, the consistency would work better. It’s worked out so far. That’s why the Nick DiPaolos could come now, the Marc Marons, guys who we can afford who before we wouldn’t be able to afford.”

Maron is slated for a March 4 to 6 run, while other headliners to come include Jim Jeffries, Nick Thune, Harland Williams, Al Madrigal and Robert Kelly. Hughes said in the future, they’re trying to track down the likes of Sarah Silverman, Jeff Ross, Greg Proops and Rainn Wilson.

Plus, on Saturday, they brought in Miss March Kyra Milan to sign copies of the new issue of Playboy. They’re planning on regularly featuring current Playmates with the show. The 20-year-old (who shot her pictorial when she was 18 and had been waiting two years to get the call that her spread was going to run) signed copies of the magazine that Hughes handed out after the show, giving the club another hook to capture the elusive comedy fan/perv demographic.

“The great thing about this place too, is the Playboy brand, you get a combination where it doesn’t just have to be about how big a star a person is, but as big a talent,” Hughes said. “That’s the key to the whole thing.”

Tickets start at $39.99, and go up to $59.99 for general admission seating for the show, plus entrance to the Playboy Club and Moon. VIP packages are available for $79.99, but the real deal is $19.99 tickets for locals to the Thursday show. Showtimes are 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with an 8 p.m. early show as well on Saturdays. This weekend’s headliner is Sebastian Maniscalo.

By Jason Scavone

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