Emcee's zingers spare none in Las Vegas charity roast
Thursday, Dec. 03, 2009
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LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 02: NASCAR driver Greg Biffle holds up a cupcake as he attends a NASCAR Evening with Emeril Lagasse at Delmonico Steakhouse in the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino during day one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champions Week on December 2, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Getty Images for NASCAR
LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 02: (L-R) Nicole Biffle, chef Emeril Lagasse and NASCAR driver Greg Biffle pose as they attend a NASCAR Evening with Emeril Lagasse at Delmonico Steakhouse in the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino during day one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champions Week on December 2, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 02: (L-R) NASCAR drivers Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya laugh at Las Vegas Motorspeedway for the Roast of four time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson during Day 1 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champions Week on December 2, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 02: NASCAR driver Carl Edwards attends a NASCAR Evening with Emeril Lagasse at Delmonico Steakhouse in the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino during day one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champions Week on December 2, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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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