Oct. 21, 2007

Bye, Bye Hansie

By STEVE FRIESS

It’s confirmed! “The Beauty of Magic,” the biggest mistake on The Strip in many years, closes on Dec. 8 when Pamela Anderson is through.

I had noticed early this week they weren’t selling tickets beyond Dec. 8, so I asked Brad Seidel, the publicist for the show. And he wrote back: “Yes, the show will conclude its exclusive Las Vegas run at that time as planned.”

“As planned?” “Exclusive?” Huh?

And so the ham-handed obfuscation and misdirection continues right up to the predictable bitter end on this mess. Hans Klok told anybody who would listen that he expected a Siegfried & Roy-like run of many years, not six months. I’m certain I saw him say that on the Today show.

Oddly, I found this weird Sept. 24 interview on a site called PR.com, which is clearly some sort of paid publicity thing masquerading as journalism. He confirms the Dec. 8 end there, sort of, but there’s also this exchange:

PR.com: Do you want to stay in Las Vegas indefinitely, for years?

Hans Klok: I would love to.

Hmm. Bummer, that. “As planned,” huh?

Why, oh, why do I carry such vitriol for this particular show? I think it’s because I despise being lied to. Sure, all public relations is a form of smoke-and-mirrors, as is magic now that I think of it. But in this case it was all so badly executed -- the magic and the media face of the debacle -- that it tripped a switch somewhere deep down.

That PR.com thing, for instance, provides a ton of examples. You know, like when the questioner states, “You guys were still selling out even in the summer ...” I highly doubt this show ever sold out one single time.

Or how about this most cynical of exchanges:

PR.com: How come you and Pam are insinuating that you’re dating when you do press? Is it an ongoing gag between the two of you?

Hans Klok: Yeah, it’s more a funny thing, because when that happens it’s always during a TV show when the host is always making Pamela Anderson jokes. It’s just a routine. We have a very good chemistry and that’s it. We’re good friends and I’m not going to make it more than what it is.

PR.com: So you’re just playing on the joke basically …

Hans Klok: Yeah, we’re playing on the joke, but I think we played so much on the joke that everybody [believes it].

PR.com: There are articles everywhere saying, “Are they dating?”

Hans Klok: We’re not, but it’s fun. We have a great time. It’s just a big joke.

PR.com: I know. You have to have fun with the media.

Hans Klok: Right! Well, they’re picking it up and it’s good for us. And I don’t have any tattoos … Umm, by “have fun,” do you mean to lie because you think it’s a clever way to drum up publicity? It must have been such a downer when that charade was ended because Pam can’t come within 10 feet of a Vegas craps table without getting married, but it wasn’t to you?

Bye, Hans. If you ever come back, please bring some tricks of your own.

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