Someone sent me a disc filled with photos of old Las Vegas and while many images on it intrigue me, I find myself looking mainly at Who's Playing. This is from around 1964 (it says) and at the Sahara Hotel, you could go see Johnny Carson in the main room. This was back when he took week-long vacations from The Tonight Show and played Vegas. His act, they said, was quite unlike his Tonight Show monologues in that he went in for long stories and even closed with a sketch as "Deputy John," a kid show host who shows up for a live broadcast drunk one afternoon and ready to tell the kids some things they didn't expect to hear. His opening act, January Jones, is no kin (I assume) to the actress current on Mad Man. This January was a popular singer of the day who often played Vegas and was known for her sexy outfits and for the rather spectacular physique with which she filled them.
Before or after you saw Johnny, you could enjoy the $2.95 buffet (one of the higher-priced ones in town) or go catch insult comic Don Rickles in the lounge where he did four shows a night, ending about three in the morning. And if you didn't like Johnny or Don, just wait around. Pat Boone would be along in a week or so. Wish I could have gone to Vegas then…although since I would have been 12 years old, I don't imagine they'd have let me in.