Emcee's zingers spare none in Las Vegas charity roast
Thursday, Dec. 03, 2009
Comedian Kevin Burke, best known for his one-man show "Defending the Caveman," stole the show during his stand-in role as emcee of the Jimmie Johnson charity roast on Wednesday.
Burke was a huge hit with the audience, but the roasters went away grousing they got it worse than the roastee.
''Carl Edwards just called me a son-of-a-bitch," Burke told me minutes after filling in for Carrot Top at the Chasers for Charity Fanfest in the Neon Garage area of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Edwards may have been kidding, or maybe not – not after Burke described the toothy NASCAR driver as "the love child of Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Elway" and also teased him about his risque photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine.
The Excalibur headliner reminded Edwards, "Here lap traffic means something altogether different."
No one escaped Burke's bruising zingers, not even Tiger Woods, who undoubtedly heard worse in the last week.
Burke, in introducing cantankerous driver Tony Stewart, said three things in Las Vegas might run forever: "Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group and Tony Stewart's mouth."
Burke introduced former champ Greg Biffle as "Al Gore without the charisma."
The NASCAR drivers are in town for awards week, which was moved here after years in New York City.
Carrot Top, the Luxor headliner, had to back out because of the death of his grandmother.
Courtesy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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