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'Pajama Party' Gathers Area Comedians For Funny Business On St. Pete Beach

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2007

Rhonda Shear is still getting laughs in late-night.

The comic, undergarment maven and former host of USA Network's "Up All Night" is bringing her "Pajama Party" to the first Tampa Bay Comedy Festival, which runs today through Saturday at various locations in St. Pete Beach.

Shear, who relocated from Hollywood to St. Petersburg about five years ago, owns a swanky lingerie boutique on Beach Drive there. She also sells her custom-designed outfits on HSN.

For eight years and 400 shows, from 1991-98, Shear hosted the late-night showings of B-movies on USA. She developed a large cult following of insomniacs who appreciated her double-entendres, tongue-in -cheek humor and self-deprecating gags.

She keeps one foot in show business with a sexy, all-female comedy revue. Her "Up All Night Pajama Party" has played Las Vegas. She plays at the Tradewinds Breckenridge Resort (5700 Gulf Blvd.) on St. Pete Beach at 8 p.m. Friday.

At midnight Friday, she and her pals (Vicki Barbolak, Jennifer Grant, Trish Keating and Ludo Vika) will put on their PJs at the Coconuts Comedy Club in the Tradewinds Sandpiper Resort (6000 Gulf Blvd.). Check out Shear's photo on my blog, Walt TV, at TBO.com.

Also appearing at the festival are Alonzo Bodden, from "Last Comic Standing"; longtime Tampa Bay area comic G. David Howard; Wendy Liebman, a favorite of Jay Leno and David Letterman; and David Brill, who is the talent coordinator for comics on Letterman's show.

For information, go to www.tampabaycomedyfest.com.

TAMPA PHENOM: Mentalist Eran Raven, a computer security expert from Tampa, continues in his quest to become the next great mystical performer on NBC's "Phenomenon" at 8 tonight.

He impressed the judges, Uri Geller and Criss Angel, by sticking his hand into vases where deadly snakes might be lurking. But Geller wants him to do something even more amazing if he survives the national popular vote.

So far, five of the 10 contestants have been eliminated. There are three episodes left.

Raven, whose real name is Eran Feigenbaum, is the only contestant on the new reality show who is not a professional, full-time performer. The top prize is $250,000 and, of course, national fame.

VIDBITS: FX has renewed freshman legal thriller "Damages" for 26 episodes to be aired over two seasons. Production will resume in New York when the strike is resolved.

Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan will return as series regulars.

The E! network has ordered more episodes of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," which follows the desperate attempt of socialite, model and hanger-on Kim Kardashian and her family to be rich and famous.

The CW has announced that the reality series "Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants" will debut Dec. 12. It features 11 teams of mothers and daughters competing in a no-holds-barred beauty pageant.

Beginning the following week, it will air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, replacing "Beauty and the Geek" and "America's Next Top Model."

HEEERE'S THE TOP 50: Johnny Carson tops the list of "The 50 Greatest TV Icons" as compiled by cable's TV Land and the writers of Entertainment Weekly magazine. He edged out Lucille Ball.

The picks will be featured on a two-hour special on the network airing at 8 p.m. Friday.

Larry Hagman (J.R. on "Dallas" ) is No. 50. In between are Jon Stewart at 41; George Clooney at 47; Bob Barker at 34: Milton Berle at 22; and Homer Simpson at No. 9.

For the list, go to TBO.com, keyword: Walt TV.

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