LAS VEGAS–Tight schedule and fight card Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino prevented me from personally checking out old pal Iron Michael Tyson’s one man stage show across The Strip at sister property MGM Grand. But, lo and behold as I was perusing Review Journal entertainment critic Mike Weatherford’s mostly rave review of Tyson’s two hour long at McCarran Airport in the wee hours Sunday, I bumped into Showtime shutterbug Tom Casino. A fight photog for the cable network for 20 plus years now, the Nutley, NJ, resident flew in to catch Tyson’s show along Mario Costa, Tyson associate who helps the former heavyweight champion with his pigeon racing hobby among other things. Casino waxed just an enthusiastic about the Tyson tour de force as the R-J writer, even more so. Weatherford labeled the autobiographical attraction as “compelling, if uneven” and said producers, including Tyson’s wife Kiki, are trimming its unwieldly length. “I thought it was great,” Casino said. “They’ve got photos, videos and some great musical bits including this singer (Sabrina Carten) and a five piece band. The singer is great, she reminded me of the famous backup singer, Merrie Clayton.” (Clayton is the main backup crooner on The Rolling Stones classic, “Gimme Shelter.”) Casino said the pace of the show moved briskly and never seemed to drag. “It’s just Mike being Mike and he drops some real verbal shots on (ex-wife) Robin Givens and on (ex-promoter) Don King. I enjoyed it immensely. It was worth the flight,” Casino said. Tyson’s checkered life provides great raw mtaerial for such a presentation and it sounds as though Tyson isn’t sugarcoating any of it, including his Indiana rape case prison term. Tyson said he deserved to go to jail for many things he did in his life “but not for this.” Of course, Tyson fully discusses the night he treated Evander Holyfield’s earlobes like pieces of sushi. Wonder of wonders, when this eight night Vegas run ends, Tyson may take his shtick and move routine to Broadway and then to the West End of London. I’m betting they will, pardon the expression, eat up Tyson’s show in both cities.
