Wayne Brady: Making it Up!

Quick change artist

By Kristine McKenzie

He sings. He dances. He acts. He makes you laugh hysterically. He's able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Well, maybe he's not actually Superman, but Wayne Brady is one of the hardest working and most multitalented performers in the entertainment business and he manages to work singing, dancing, sketch and improv comedy all into his 90-minute show at the Venetian.

Brady is perhaps best known for the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," which also featured Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops and Colin Mochrie. Brady was a standout on the show and he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Series for his work.

The TV show featured fast-paced improv comedy and that's what Brady does best in his Las Vegas show, "Making It Up." The show, which lives up to its name, starts out with Brady literally making things up off the top of his head. After talking to an audience member for a few minutes, Brady and his talented assistant Jonathan Mangum create an impromptu mini rock opera based on the person's life story.

They go on to make up a scene from a movie, based on a suggested plot from the audience. The scene itself is funny, but turns hysterical when the audience calls out random movie styles such as Bollywood, Western and horror and the duo recreate the scene in the style of those movies, complete with sound effects.

In one sketch, audience members become the props and in another called "Forward/Reverse," Brady and Mangum act out a skit and do everything a TiVo might do, performing it in reverse, slow motion and more.

One of the funniest bits in the show is when Brady makes up new song lyrics to familiar tunes based on titles suggested by audience members. U2's "With or Without You" becomes a song called "Feels So Wrong." Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" becomes a song called "I've Been Thinking about Tacos." Not only does Brady imitate the singers' voices, he is a master at imitating their mannerisms, portraying stars like Prince, Justin Timberlake and Mick Jagger.

Brady has a powerful singing voice and closes the show with a series of musical numbers, paying tribute to Luther Vandross, James Brown and Sammy Davis Jr. He also shows off his considerable dance prowess along with a crew of backup dancers. The whole group is backed by a talented five-piece band.

The audience of Brady's show is an integral part of the experience. Since the majority of the show is improv, the suggestions and participation of the audience are key and result in a completely different show each night.

At the beginning of the evening, Brady promises a good old time variety show with a little bit of every kind of entertainment mixed in. Whether it's singing, impersonating or rapid-fire improv comedy, he delivers on that promise with superhuman effort.