Tuesday, June 3, 2003 | 8:32 a.m.
Joe Trammel cracked up when he saw an oversized mask of Saddam Hussein hanging in a costume shop.
"I just had to get it," said the resident comedian of "Crazy Girls," the long-running topless revue at Riviera.
Ever since, Saddam has been one of about 90 characters performed by Trammel during his 15-minute segment of the production. "I can't imagine doing the show without him now," Trammel, who also is the show's host, said. He might also soon include the Batmobile in his act to complement his Batman character.
Producer Max Matarazzo recently sold Trammel the car. "I think he's going to do a whole thing around that," said Matarazzo, who is one of Trammel's many admirers.
Matarazzo and his wife, Bonnie Saxe, became friends with the Phoenix native when Trammel was the featured comedian in "Showgirls of Magic," a production at the San Remo created by Matarazzo and Saxe in 1996.
Trammel joined the cast of "Showgirls" in '98 after performing with "Splash" at the Riviera for a couple of years. "Joe is different from all the other comedians," Matarazzo said. "He's very energetic, charismatic. He puts a tremendous amount of energy into his performance."
Trammel is a physical comedian who uses a lot of props in his act, sort of like Carrot Top. "But he's so much better than Carrot Top," Matarazzo said. "He has more charisma and energy and he does a greater variety of things."
Matarazzo discussed Trammel the day before the producer was to leave to join Saxe at an Indian casino in Minnesota, where the couple are producing a new show, "The Roaring '20s with the Al Capone Band."
"The Roaring '20s" is scheduled to open June 12. Matarazzo says he would like to bring it to Vegas.
"We'll see how it goes," he said.
Matarazzo says he became acquainted with Trammel when Trammel was performing in "Splash" in the early '90s, then being produced by Jeff Kutash.
"Joe's been around Vegas a long time," Matarazzo said. "He has a great personality, and he's a great choreographer and dancer."
Trammel's dancing ability is a family trait.
His mother, Glenda, was a dancer in "Folies Bergere" during her younger years, and when Trammel was born she owned a dance studio in Phoenix.
"She danced up until she was six months pregnant," said Trammel, who was doing Elvis impersonations at age 5. Trammel's career started with dancing -- break dancing to be exact -- in the '80s.
"I was paid well for doing that," the 33-year-old comedian said. "Break dancing was just starting when I was in high school. I was appearing on TV shows break dancing. I won on 'Dance Fever.' "
He appeared on a number of television shows and other venues, but at the same time he was honing his skills as a comedian.
"When the dancing fizzled out, I hit the comedy clubs," Trammel said.
In 1988 he won a stand-up comedy competition at the Last Laugh club in Phoenix. His prize was a week of performing at the club.
"It snowballed from there," Trammel said. "I went all over the country doing the comedy clubs for six or seven years.
"Comedians were like rock stars at that time. Comedy clubs were the thing. They were always packed, and every town had one. There was always somewhere to do your act."
But the comedy-club craze also eventually fizzled.
"The 'A' clubs are still doing well, the Improv and those of that caliber. But overexposure, probably due to TV, killed the club scene."
But destiny would not let Trammel fail.
One summer, when he was break dancing at Venice Beach in Southern California while on vacation from high school, he met Kutash, who was producing "Splash" in Vegas.
"He always a put a lot of dancers in the show," Trammel said. "He scouted me in L.A. and asked me to do 'Splash' as a dancer. But I was still in school and I wasn't going to move from Phoenix to Vegas to do that."
Through the years the producer and dancer kept in touch, and when Trammel became a successful comedian, Kutash again invited him to perform in "Splash," this time as a stand-up comic.
"He hired me as a specialty act," Trammel said. "I stayed with the production for four years."
Trammel said although his act only lasted about five minutes, Kutash eventually was going to build the show around his comedy. But after two years Kutash sold out his part-ownership of the production and moved on.
Trammel stayed another two years until joining "Showgirls," where he expanded his act to more than 20 minutes, taking it out of the "specialty act" category and making him a feature entertainer.
"I didn't feel that I was growing anymore at 'Splash,' " Trammel said. "I need to start developing new material. They get used to you doing one act, and don't let you grow."
After Saxe's son, David, took over "Showgirls," Trammel continued to be a major part of the show, but about two years ago he was made a good offer to become the first male performer in "Crazy Girls."
"They were looking for a male comedian who was also a visual performer, because of the Japanese market," he said. "I think they wanted a male in the show for couples, something for girls to look at. I fit the bill."
His opening night was to have been Sept. 11, 2001.
"It was really weird," he said. "I went in to rehearse and there was so much chaos."
The show went on that night, but without Trammel.
"I was there, but I didn't perform," he said.
Although the days following the terrorist act were somber, Trammel eventually joined the cast.
"When I was onstage, I tried to forget about it, to give the audience what they came to see," he said. "I helped them lose their self for an hour or so. I did the best I could."
Trammel describes what he does as a "musical physical comedy act."
"Music is a huge part of it," he said. "But as far as what I do, I speak to the audience with my body. I transform into a variety of different characters. In 15 minutes I'm 75 or 80 different characters, which makes me a quick-change artist."
He doesn't consider himself to be an impressionist, such as Danny Gans.
"Basically, I'm more like a human cartoon," Trammel said. "I animate myself, physically."
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