1,400 cheer Augie Tulba
at Hawaii Theatre

LOCAL comedian Augie Tulba got a standing ovation not just once, but twice, during his sold-out performance at the Hawaii Theatre on Saturday night.

"Tonight, I lived my dream, ladies and gentlemen," he said shortly after coming back on stage to chants of "hana hou!" by the nearly 1,400 people in the room.

And what a room it is -- if you haven't been inside to see what's been done to the place, you're really missing out. It reminded me of the Apollo Theater in New York City, except the seats were filled with little old ladies in muumuus sitting next to braddahs in shorts and slippers.

After the guys from Kalaeloa played a quick opening set, Tulba's family came out to give away door prizes. Once lucky guest went home with a Cup-O-Noodle and a can of baked beans, while another scored a bag of rice and a can of tuna. They ended up saving the best for last, handing out a $100 gift certificate from Brew Moon to one lucky person ...

CONGRATS TO Jackie Chan's Keoni Kobayashi and the Buddha Bar's Jason "J-Rod" Rod, last week's qualifiers at the 2004 Iron Bartender Invitational.

A last minute cancellation by one of the judges meant I got the call to join bartenders Patrick McGrail and Dawn Martin, and we spent the night watching six contestants battle it out for a shot at the final round, which takes place at Palomino on Oct. 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Another bartending competition worth checking out is coming up this Sunday at Venus Nightclub. AcEntertainment hosts "Double Trouble," billed as the first tandem flair bartending competition to be held in the state of Hawaii.

During the contest, eight teams will have six minutes to perform a routine, and will be judged on how many mistakes they make in addition to how smoothly they work together and how well they entertain the crowd.

"Double Trouble" gets started at 11:15 p.m. on Sunday night, and local hip-hop artist Nippondamic is also scheduled to perform. E-mail lokalboy420 @yahoo.com for more info ...

FROM WHAT I've heard, the actors from "Hawaii" and "North Shore" seem to like hanging out at the Hanohano Room and the Wave Waikiki.

But the gang from "Lost," on the other hand, seems to prefer Indigo.

Promotions manager Bryan Lew told me the entire cast was in the house when I visited on Saturday for "The Lion's Den," but I was only able to spot Matthew Fox talking story with a friend near one of the bars. I did, however, notice Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Jesus Salud making their way through the restaurant with a couple of ladies ...