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"Let's Be Frank" columns
 David Brenner has been performing in Las Vegas for almost 36 years, playing every hotel that booked headliners except the Hacienda. He remembers the first time – March 5, 1971 – as the middle act between Frankie Avalon and headliners Sonny & Cher at the Sahara.
It was also the initial time he had been to the city and got the booking because the late Buddy Hackett called Sahara entertainment director at the time, Arvid Nelson, after seeing Brenner on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. It took just 24 hours to arrange the deal.
“That couldn’t happen today; the city doesn’t operate the same way,” says the veteran comedian. “Performing at the Suncoast (he’s there Jan. 25-27) reminds me of those days when this city truly was the entertainment capitol of the world. It’s a great room and they know how to treat the headliner. It’s reminiscent of the mob days, not corporate America. They give you some importance; you’re not just another worker.”
Brenner talks non-stop as he has always done on stage. “We’re always talking about the population growth, but what about growth on the neck caused by corporate America?” he asks rhetorically.
“Today’s performers don’t realize how good they have it doing just three shows a weekend. In the old days, you’d have to have enough material for two shows a night for two or three weeks at a time,” he says. “And, as a comedian, you were always updating the stuff.”
Brenner’s material has changed through the years but it’s still based on a “gift from my father who taught me to see something funny in everything.” His father, however, wasn’t a warm, touchy guy and “that you’re okay” was his biggest compliment.”
“I’m the totally opposite with my boys,” notes Brenner. “I’m very physical with them in a loving way and my 12-year-old, Slade, has been given the genetic gift. He’s damn funny like I was when I was a kid. He’s the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree; he fell on it and look like a clone of me.” Brenner shares custody of the boys – Cole, Slade and Wyatt – with his ex-wife with each getting them for two weeks a month.
The comedy delivered by Brenner at the Suncoast won’t be the old observational stuff because “I was tired of doing it. Now I deal with current events and the news whether it’s light or heavy. If you want a comparison, maybe it’s along the lines of Mort Sahl.”
Brenner has had a remarkable career beginning with his national television debut on The Tonight Show, where he went on to make 158 appearances, the most of any show guest. He has continued to be the most frequent talk show guest of any entertainer, as listed in “The Book of Lists #2.”
Brenner wasn’t always in front of the TV camera. Before stepping on stage, he enjoyed a successful career as the writer/producer/director of television documentaries and headed the documentary departments of Westinghouse Broadcasting and Metromedia Broadcasting. His documentary work earned him nearly 30 awards and citations including an Emmy.
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