Being professional gamblers, we tend to visit Las Vegas more often than most. So allow us to veer a bit east of greater Southern California to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, to share the good news about a Los Angeles-adjacent attraction you can’t allow yourself to miss.

We were actually surprised to hear that the Riviera Hotel is still standing—much less Charo—all nine stories of it; one of Vegas’ last of the old school hold-outs, with no upgrades and no apologies. And none needed! Personally, we’d like to move into the Rivera and live there forever.

By all means “Charo: A Musical Experience” was a good long ride, as well as a fine literal demonstration of the Riviera’s small dose: By Vegas standards the Riviera is Lilliputian, and Charo appeared at one of the Riviera’s more modest showrooms, to say the least. And Charo herself is eensy, as in Santa’s-Workshop tiny. Even with her 5” heels and her well-filled brassiere, she’s still shorter than a lot of eight-year-olds we know. It’s seriously crazy how little she is.

Although she may not stand very high and the stage Charo takes is slim on square footage, there is absolutely nothing minimized with respect to her performance. Charo is magic. A one-woman spectacular. Yes, it’s amazing she’s still performing live, much less six nights a week, but furthermore, she rocks. Totally rocks. Hard. Her show is almost punk, and just as loud. And if you’re thinking this is a so-bad-it’s-good kind of show, think again. Charo’s been performing longer than you’ve been alive; she’s always many steps ahead of her audience, is never short on surprises, and genuinely appears to be having the time of her life as she delights her audience, which, in the case of the night we were there, didn’t fill the house. Inconceivable, really.

Her jokes might be tried and true, but they work. She earns her laughs. She’s effervescent, and her energy is contagious, and even though she might be playing in a small room with meager attendance, she delivers as though she’s got an SRO crowd at Carnegie Hall (which she’s in fact had).

Never a slow moment, no down time, Charo keeps things cooking. One of the best things about “Charo: A Musical Experience,” however, is the pre-show video; a quickly edited television appearance montage projected onto two small screens in which we’re treated to a fine sampling of Charo though the ages, and which begins with the text: Ladies and Gentlemen, Charo has entered the Building...”

And we don’t ever want her to leave. You can’t miss this opportunity. Seriously, you can’t. Book your tickets today and just get on with it.

www.rivierahotel.com/entertainment/charo.asp

DJ  Waldie, who reviewed the first edition of LA Bizarro for the LA Times many moons ago, has now blogged about the new book on KCET’s website. We can’t tell if he really liked the book or not, but he did refer to it as L.A. BIZZARO, so you tell us. He also said we were “censorious and prurient” which we have to admit sounds pretty cool.

The full sentence reads: “Censorious and prurient, like a Calvinist at the Pussycat Theater, the L.A. Bizzaro of more than a decade ago was appealingly plastered for a post-earthquake, post-Rodney King city. Just below the cheerful pornography, however, was a cranky satire of hipsters in search of authenticity.”

Hell’s bells, that’s what we thought the new book was all about!

Keep an eye on the L.A. Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List this Sunday. We’ve gone from #8 to #2. As in the number, not the excretory function.