I just got back from seeing Tuna Does Vegas.  If you’ve never seen Tuna Texas in any of it’s incarnations, you’re missing a hilariously good time.  Joe Sears and Jaston Williams portray an astounding cast of characters, rotating in and out in set changes that are so fast it’s hard to track them.

They hail from Austin, but Dallas natives claim them as their own…as Dallasites tend to do with things we like. Every time one of the favorite characters made an appearance, the audience clapped and cheered, but the guys seem to know the audience is going to do that, and the dialogue was spaced to allow for it.

The writing, fast paced dialogue, and costumes have only gotten better in the decades that Joe and Jaston have been defining the small town of Tuna, and this show was no exception.  I thought  was going to piddle, I laughed so hard when they came out dressed as showgirls.  Show girls pretending to be female impersonators.  Complete with snowman breasts and a giant turkey butt on one, and spinning flower boobs on the other.  Hysterical.

All of our old favorites were there, but a few new characters got added: Anna Conda – harridan performer/hustler from the days of the first Brat Pack, a tough thug named Shot who got his nickname because Frank shot him in the bottom when he was a baby, Charlene’s 4 new babies, and of course Elvis number 42, and Elvis number 11.  (You can’t do Vegas without Elvis.)

Aunt Pearl strikes it rich and discovers adult movies, Vera Carp has her thumbs threatened by loan sharks, and the Baptists find joy in rubber sheets and bathing suits.  All in all, it was a really fun way to spend the evening.

If you get a chance to see them on tour, you should go.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll go out and buy a squirt gun for your favorite Baptist.