Kathleen Dunbar, Las Vegas Sun, March 12, 2004

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Dunbar’s comedy gamble pays off Lisa Ferguson Friday, March 12, 2004 | 8:20 a.m. While it's not unusual to hear about a struggling comic moving to New York or Los Angeles to make his or her career dreams come true, it's not often you learn of one who relocates to Las Vegas in hopes of catching a big break. Meet Kathleen Dunbar. It's been nearly two years since the Milwaukee native packed up and headed West. "I came here as a complete unknown," she says, explaining how she had never even performed in Las Vegas before making the move. Of course, she had some hesitations: "I thought it was gonna be really rough" while attempting to break onto the local comedy scene -- and it was, for a little while. Early on, she recalls, area comedy-club bookers would say, " 'I'm sorry, what's your name? Never heard of you.' I couldn't get booked in any of the clubs here to beat myself to death." But the tide began changing for Dunbar last year, when she auditioned (alongside 62 other comedians) and won a local "Star Search"-themed talent show sponsored by KLAS Channel 8. Among the prizes: a weeklong slot performing last August in a show called "Kazam Komedy" at Sunset Station. Since then, the feisty redhead's career has been gaining momentum with gigs around town. Through Sunday Dunbar is on the bill at The Comedy Stop at the Trop. Meanwhile she is also the host of "Divas of Comedy," a show starring herself and other female comedians, which recently began a three-month run at 9 p.m. Mondays at Sahara's Casbar Theatre Lounge. Admission is free. "This is a dream come true for me," Dunbar said of the show in a recent call from her West Las Vegas home. "Of all the acts in town, they picked me? Wow! I'm so lucky; I'm so blessed." "Divas," which previously ran for nearly a year at Greek Isles, also features former local radio personality Carla Rae and a rotating roster of other women -- local comics as well as some of Dunbar's funny friends from around the country. "It's fun, it's light ... nobody's dirty," Dunbar says of the 90-minute show, though she reminds, "It's an adult show -- we're not talking about cupcakes." She views "Divas" as groundbreaking entertainment because all-female stand-up shows are a rarity at most clubs in the nation. "It's like that's too weird," she says. In Las Vegas, to "see good women comics shouldn't be a novelty, but I guess I'm glad it's a novelty because now I'm able to monopolize it." Dunbar (who declines to reveal her age) calls comedy "the last place women's lib has not touched. Just the way you're treated because you're a woman, you're treated less. I've taken classes on it, seminars on it at comedy festivals, and the big women in the business say, 'That's just the way it is. Don't whine about it; don't complain about it. Realize that you have to approach your reputation in a different way than a guy comic would' ... "It is a little crazy but, hey, that's the way it is so that's what you do -- you adjust." That's likely something Dunbar will be doing a lot of in the coming months, seeing as how she'll be juggling her "Divas" duties with other gigs she's scheduled to perform locally and in other states. (The Comedy Stop engagement, for example, forced her to miss this week's "Divas" performance). After studying and performing with a Milwaukee improv troupe, Dunbar spent nine years acting in a murder-mystery dinner-theater show. She first tackled stand-up comedy on a dare in February 1999, during an open-mike night at a club. Three weeks later she took the stage as the opening act for comedian Emo Philips. The single mom of an adult son uses her "sharp tongue" to touch on such topics as dating, raising children, her friends and moving to Las Vegas, among others. "People say to me all the time, 'What do you do about hecklers?' I go, 'What do I do? I make them cry, that's what I do,' " she quips. "That's why it's so powerful to be up there -- to be able to pretty much say whatever you want to say, and people take it as it's just part of your act." Another person who might have shed a tear over Dunbar is one-time "American Idol" co-host Brian Dunkleman. He was to have served as emcee during the "2002 Las Vegas Comedy Festival," but was relieved of his duties, and Dunbar was tapped "two minutes before the show started" to be his replacement. The switcheroo received some national press. "I'm like, 'This is too funny,' " she recalls. "If I ever run into him, he'd probably pop me right in the mouth." Though she has enjoyed some local success in a short time, Dunbar is not ready to rest on her laurels. "I don't feel like I've paid my dues, but I feel like I'm so lucky to have what I've got here now with this Monday-night show," she says. "I just feel like I've got a bright future. I'm very, very happy I made this move." Out for laughs Catch "The Comedy Buffet," an obscenity-free show featuring area comedians, musicians, rappers, poets, magicians and the like, at 9 p.m. Thursdays at The Boston, 1030 E. Flamingo Road. Tickets are $10. The show is hosted by zoot-suit-wearing local comic Dwayne Dukes, who co-founded it 1 1/2 years ago with a pair of business partners. "The Comedy Buffet" has previously been staged at other lounges in town, and Dukes says he is always looking to audition new performers (who are willing to work for free). For ticket and audition info, call 203-8394. Good news for a pair of Vegas frequenters is being reported in online comedy magazine Uproar (uproarmagazine.com): Country comic Rodney Carrington -- who typically headlines during the annual National Finals Rodeo festivities -- has landed a sitcom deal with ABC. Production is set to begin next month on the pilot episode of "That's Just Rodney." Also from this month's issue of the magazine comes word that later this spring, The WB will follow comedian Larry the Cable Guy (who has previously played area showrooms and comedy clubs), rolling tape at his various stand-up shows. The footage will be used for a forthcoming television project.