Dr. Huxtable is very concerned. (Photo by Matt Weis)

Fresh off her NAACP Image Award win for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series late last month, Keshia Knight Pulliam was in town to celebrate both that and boyfriend Kaseem Penn’s 31st birthday and no matter how many times we type that it’s still going to be deeply disturbing to think of Rudy having a boyfriend. The House of Payne star went to see Believe at the Luxor last night, getting a shout-out from Criss Angel and a round of applause from an audience that hoped if they clapped long enough Denise and Sondra would come out too.

Over at Tao, Justin Timberlake kept his 901 Tequila celebration for the Nightclub & Bar Convention’s DJ Spin Off with the Crystal Method and Kid Capri. They had a tough crowd, though. Not only did they have to keep Timberlake happy, but they also had to perform under the withering gaze of DJ Pauly D. Venus Williams hit up Tao after spending time earlier in the night at Lavo with sister Serena where Asher Roth was checking out his DJ Wreckineyez on the decks for Label Junkie.

UPDATE: According to a site (that isn’t loading right now) called Flynet Online, JT brought back a couple of Tao go-gos to his suite.

By Jason Scavone

Everybody wants some … magic. (Photo by Tom Rutan. Additional photos by Ana Dobrijevic)

Eddie Van Halen spent his Friday night NOT rocking out with a surprise concert somewhere, which is an absolute tragedy. He should be required, by law, to make at least one surprise appearance per weekend at some little divebar in whatever city he happens to be in at the time. But instead, he went to see Believe at Luxor. That’s time that could’ve been much better spent playing “Running with the Devil” at like the Cheyenne Saloon or something.

Meanwhile, fashion designer Betsey Johnson was at Love Friday, dancing in the aisles to Beatles songs. When she went backstage, she stopped by the wardrobe department, snagged some fabrics from the costume shop and said the show inspired her next collection. Great. The next big thing in fashion is going to be running around with no shirt and painted up in spots. Can we wait for the summer line for that?

By Jason Scavone

Armband tat, huh? Nice. (Photo by Denise Truscello)

Teri Polo, of Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers took the time out of cavorting with Ben Stiller (delightfully awkward as always) to celebrate her 40th birthday in town. She started out Friday night with a showing of Believe at Luxor with her boyfriend and babydaddy along with two other couples.

She had dinner at Strip House inside Planet Hollywood Resort Saturday night before hosting at Prive. Oh, if only Bobby DeNiro had been there to glower disapprovingly. Well. Soon enough. You can only churn out so many Righteous Kills before you slip back into the warm and welcoming arms of another cash-in sequel.

By Jason Scavone

Yes, it’s awkward that he wears this everywhere, but, it’s a little more convenient than the Gumby suit.

Eddie Murphy turned up at Believe at Luxor last night with a girl believed to be his new girlfriend. They came into the show sucking on giant lollipops, and no, that’s not even a euphemism for anything. It’s only a few days after babymama Mel B’s birthday, but we don’t know if he got her anything. Like some actual set memorabilia from Boomerang. We hear that stuff if pretty valuable on eBay.

By Jason Scavone

Is the name some a vague hint that they’re the precursor to Cougar Girls? (Photo by Omar Williams | Cashman Photography)

A pair of Disney’s Cheetah Girls, Kiely Williams and Sabrina Bryan were at Believe at the Luxor last night with a group of girlfriends and Williams’ boyfriend. Which is conclusive proof that Disney hates its stars. The girls drank decidedly un-Disneylike vodka and sodas. They did, though, oblige a teenage fan who asked for a photo together. The fan was then beset upon by dancing, people-eating rabbits from the show. That’ll happen when the rabbit handlers miss feeding time. It’s kind of a tragedy.

By Jason Scavone

Huh. We always saw Believe as more of a Peter Criss kind of show. (Photo by Roman Mendez)

Gene Simmons was at the 9:30 p.m. performance of Believe at the Luxor last night. We’re going to go ahead and take that as prima facie evidence that he hates Perez Hilton and everything he stands for. Truth be told, a KISS show and Believe have lots in common. They both involve elaborate costumes and make-up, Paul Stanley and Criss Angel both have heavy New York-area accents, and they’re both boring as hell after the first 10 minutes.

Joining Simmons were Luxor President Felix Rappaport, Luxor Senior V.P. Jean George, Radical Comics Publisher Barry Levine, Alan Levine, Radical Publishing’s Jesse Berger and Senior V.P. of MGM-Mirage Marketing Joe Fertitta. They all took part in the “Preminition” routine at the start of the show.

If Simmons is hanging out with comic book guys, this could mean there’s a new line of KISS comics coming out. Hopefully, this time with even more blood in the ink.

By Jason Scavone

Frowny Perez is sad about Criss Angel. (Photo by Scott Harrison | Retna)

Call it the Queen of All Media vs. the King of All Vests with No Shirt Underneath. Perez Hilton was in town to be a guest judge at Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, but he got the most out of his weekend. On Friday, Hilton had dinner at Cathouse, then took in a show of Believe. When technical difficulty stopped the show, Criss Angel paused to shout out Hilton, who had been Twittering how much he hated Believe.

Angel called Hilton an “asshole” and a “the world’s No. 1 douchebag.” Hilton reportedly responded “Thanks for the free tickets.” Hilton was overheard telling the story at Blush inside Wynn Las Vegas later that night where he was laughing about it, probably because of the delightful pot and kettle ramifications. (Hilton also said Believe was racially offensive as well as bad. We’re surprised he didn’t say it would cause you to start hating puppies and want to set yourself on fire, too.)

On Saturday, Hilton was at the opening of Tao Beach, where, when asked about the incident, he said Angel had a small penis. There’s only one way we can settle this for sure, kids. In a word: Octagon. Come on Dana White, make this happen. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

Other kid-friendly parts of the show? Angel getting his skin electrocuted off. (Photo by Omar Williams)

Sugar Shane Mosley brought his three kids, Najee, Tai and Mee Mee, to Believe at the Luxor last night. The kids stood up and clapped, which kind of suggests which way the Cirque fixations should go. Maybe they’re just aiming this thing at the wrong audience. Instead of Criss Angel getting torn to pieces by evil rabbits in the first act (you know, for kids), maybe they should make it a little more youth-friendly. By having a Tickle Me Elmo get torn to pieces by evil rabbits in the first act.

After the show, Mosley and Angel chatted about boxing while the kids got the Mindfreak’s autograph. Guess we know what they’ll be looking at with a mixture of curiosity and disdain as they’re cleaning out a closet when they hit 14.

By Jason Scavone

Girl next door, guy next trap door. (Photo by Scott Harrison | Retna. Additional photos by Tony Tran | SpyOnVegas.com)

With one big splash before the steady march of 10 years’ worth of shows at the Luxor, Believe brought in a bevy of stars for its Halloween night premiere, where Criss Angel strolled the black carpet with Holly Madison, who’s his new girlfriend. Or not (WINK!). Or, whatever it is they’re doing that’s between them, God, Hef and the hundreds of doves Angel uses in the show.

Turning out for the premiere were In the audience at the premiere were Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, and a bunch of people who, unfortunately, weren’t Christina Hendricks. Lost’s Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan were there along with Justin Long, Neil Patrick Harris, Paula Abdul, Tera Patrick and Evan Seinfeld, Tila Tequila, Wilmer Valderrama, Siegfried Fischbacher, Penn & Teller, Mike Tyson, Jeremy Jackson, Joey Kern, Carrot Top, Clint Holmes, Frank Marino, Kerry Simon, Louie Anderson, Nathan Burton, Tanya Roberts and Vince Neil.

After the second show of the night, the afterparty was at the Luxor pool, where they Cirqued it up with acrobats, trampoline artists and assorted characters. Turning up for the party were Adam Shankman, Deborah Gibson, Jonathan Togo, Keir O’Donnell and Michael Johns. Of course, if you wanted to know what we thought of the show (and we know you do), you can check the review here. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

At least Holly Madison will love it. (Photo by Bryan Steffy)

Did you come away from your last Cirque show thinking, “That was good, but it needed more dick jokes?” Of course you did. Well your prayers have been answered, because Believe has six of ‘em. Six dick jokes. In a Cirque show. It’s about time.

So, here’s the deal. Criss Angel comes out and does a little audience warmup, and then they play the Mindfreak theme song and a montage of clips from the show on a video screen. The screen rolls up, and there’s Angel levitating in a beam of light in a callback to his Luxor levitation. This is about as Mindfreak-y as it’s going to get.

He launches into a spiel about how he’s going to re-enact the show’s Tesla coil trick on stage and something goes horribly awry. There’s your framing device. Cut to the dream world that’s the bulk of our show, and our first stop along the way involves cannibal rabbits. Well, not technically cannibals, we suppose. More like man-eating rabbits, like the one from Holy Grail. Admittedly, they would’ve made Donnie Darko actually tolerable, but it’s a strange way to lead off here. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone