The flamboyant, corpulent showman Jeff Beacher's Madhouse at the Hard Rock became one of the wildest and most talked about shows during the glory times of the Vegas VIP binge of three years ago. Madhouse was packed with circus acts and sexy dancers and, sprinkled throughout the audience, Beacher's collection of celebrity friends (the sort of people Eminem insults on disc). The pre-show of attractions and unrealistic contests and novelty acts made the event like a huge bachelor party even if the downside was that no one paid much attention to the comedians who were ostensibly the stars of Madhouse at the end. 

But mostly what made Beacher such an asset to Hard Rock was his flair for publicity (from Page 6 to TMZ to me) that kept the name of the show and casino buzzing. Beacher had feuds with PETA, the city of Boston and Donald Trump. All generated headlines. He even managed to have a feud with a little person Britney Spears imitator. Now Beacher is fighting Criss Angel about the ownership of a cat (Beacher and I have a strong disagreement on this one, as he told me personally that he gave the cat to Angel and now Beacher is claiming Angel stole the cat). Some of Beacher's stunts have backfired big time, like his plan to lose 100 pounds to run a marathon, and his vow of celibacy to get in shape for the run. He did not run the race and he simply stopped mentioning the celibacy. At the very least, Beacher always kept Vegas interesting. When I busted him for lying to me about his age (after he claimed to be 29 in one interview and repeated the claim in another interview more than a year later), Beacher immediately began holding his annual 29th birthday party.

But the Madhouse was a very successful promotion and not a money maker. After the Hard Rock changed hands from the Morton family to corporate ownership and the money drained out of Vegas, the new owners and Beacher quietly parted ways with a press release promising semi-regular shows that never materialized. Eventually Beacher took the Madhouse on the road. Yesterday I reached him in Atlantic City, where he had performed at Trump Taj Mahal the night before. Of course, in total Beacher fashion, he had managed to create an incident at the venue by being detained by security for eating a slice of pizza as a result he says of too much sex. Poor fellow.

According to Beacher the incident took place after his show at the property in the early morning hours: "I was by myself and I was a wreck. I had had more sexual activities than I have ever had in my life that night and I just wanted to be alone. So I went up to my room and on the way I stopped to get a slice of pizza. I was in my tuxedo [stage clothes] and I didn't have any money or ID on me and so I told the person to charge it to my room. But I was told I could not do that because I did not have my ID. But I had already started eating the slice of pizza. So, what are they going to do? Next thing I am surrounded by security and in handcuffs and taken to a holding cell. They held me for hours for binge eating a slice of pizza at 5 in the morning."

This typically Beacher story was not my reason for calling him though only a reminder of why I miss covering him. My reason for calling Beacher was to confirm rumors of his soon to be heralded return to Vegas. Beacher confirms he will be a doing a monthly Madhouse on the Strip. Amazingly, he is returning the Madhouse to the Mirage resort this time, which, of course, is an MGM-Mirage property. The oddity is that Beacher's first days in Vegas found him banned from all MGM-Mirage properties for breaking into an aquarium at MGM Grand wearing little beyond a sign promoting his Hard Rock show. That sort of behavior was unknown in Vegas at the time. And, MGM-Mirage was a very angry company. But time heals most wounds and in Vegas money heals all the rest.

According to Beacher, "The Mirage is going to build out the ballroom and we are going to do one-off  Madhouses monthly. It is a bigger room than we had at the Hard Rock. And, this is going to be a much bigger show. We have changed the show tremendously. I learned a lot being on the road about how to keep the energy up. The pre-show used to be the best part of Madhouse and now it is the whole show." So, no more comedians, just the insanity of the strangest party you have ever been to, including go-go dancers and circus attractions and the always the spotlight loving Jeff Beacher.

Welcome back, Beacher. You drive me nutty, but I have to admit Vegas is more fun to cover with you in town.

Photo: Jeff Beacher on stage. Credit: Sarah Gerke

"He is trying to sabotage mini-Britney," says Terra Jole, the original Mini-Britney.

Jole is talking about her former employer, Jeff Beacher, the impresario of Beacher's Madhouse at the Hard Rock.

Beacher has announced plans to replace Jole's popular Spears impersonation in his Madhouse this Saturday with a "New Mini-Britney."

I reached Jole by phone last night after her performance in Little Legends at Krave at Planet Hollywood.

Jole says of her act: "I've been doing this since the beginning of the year, long before I did it for Beacher. I developed Mini-Britney with my team. I studied Britney's voice. And then my amazing costume designer studied her videos and made my replica outfits. I just performed at Beacher's gig a couple times."

But whatever she thinks of Beacher's motives in offering a New Mini-Britney, Jole says she doesn't mind the competition.

"I am confident in my talent. No one else makes me worried."

In fact, she welcomes Beacher's New Mini-Britney. "There is more than one impersonator in Las Vegas. So, why isn't there more than one little-person impersonator impersonating the same person?"

(photo by Sarah Gerke)