| The GM Hired a consultant from Bowling Green,KY (might as well have been from BF Egypt) to rename the night club from Lucy's to King Tut's Wah Wah Hut and change the interior physical appearance. Russ was perfectly fine with all of the changes taking place until the bomb dropped...the format was to take a 180 degree directional change. Russ' first thoughts were to go along with everything taking place while informing the management of his concerns over the future of the night clubs' success. However determined Russ was to show his support for the changes being made by management, it wasn't enough for them to have total faith in his desire or ability to make the new night club a success as its predecessor, Lucy's, had been. In fact, the points Russ made to the GM regarding the likelihood of the night club never returning to its past successes were these: 1.) Lucy's had history in Fresno...King Tut's will be a new player and without a marketing budget to support it...it was destined to fail. 2.) King Tut's was 7 - 10 miles away from the nearest highway access, making it an off-the-beaten-path club for any new customers to locate, again without a marketing budget. 3.) King Tut's revenue would take at least a year to match that of Lucy's, if at all, and knowing full well the 'DJs Rule Of Success - What You Play Is What You Get'...King Tut's, with a format of Hard Rock only...without any mix of Retro, Disco or Old School...would attract only one distinct crowd, predominantly Bikers & Four Wheel Drive, white males. Finally, after 45 days of renovation, the new night club emerged. King Tut's Wah Wah Hut received modest reviews and as predicted by Russ, was struggling to attract the volume of club goers it was once accustomed to. Shortly after the Grand Opening, and for reasons of "Wrong Person, Right Room", Russ was laid off. |
| Russ' Entertainment History |
| Contact Information Russ Parsley P.O. Box 27211, Fresno CA 93729-7211 559.281.5491 email: russ@russparsley.com |
| Russell A. Parsley July 1998 The White House Front Lawn |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| To date, The Holiday Inn - Fresno Airport and its lounge/night club, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut has yet to come back as a player in the Fresno entertainment scene and since has changed hands-in-ownership from John Q. Hammons to Circa Capital Corporation, Managed by Sage Hospitality. And if you're wondering...no relation to Russ Parsley, merely a coincidence. :) Though the layoff came as an unexpected surprise, considering Russ' successful track record of turning up the revenue for Lucy's by 75% in door cover and 33% in liquor sales, he wasn't phased by the abrubt news, as the Area Coordinator for Stuart Anderson's - Black Angus was calling on him the very next day to make an offer of employment for the company's Foster City location. With a 35% increase in salary and the opportunity to entertain in the Bay Area, Russ rose to the occasion. In just 4 days into the position, the Company was hit with devastating news...their Fremont DJ was courted away by its San Ramon competitor, Bobby McGees. Concerned over immediate revenue loss and realizing a lot of work was yet to be done on the Foster City location, Russ was asked by the corporation to take over their East Bay location. He accepted and started the next day. |
 |
| Among the many responsibilities Russ was tasked with, were the nightly highlights. Russ had never, up to that point, performed any highlights in Lucy's or anywhere for that matter, but he was up to the challenge. So much so, that he quickly took the standard Y.M.C.A., Macarena, Chicken Dance, and Hokey Pokey highlights to a new level by adding to them. Some of the highlights created by Russ were: Hey Mickey - Toni Basil, with Russ wearing a Chear Leaders outfit with a "P" on his chest for PARSLEY, a Silver Tinsel wig, PomPoms, and bobby socks...and this was just the beginning. He also created a highlight to the Video - |
| "Cuban Pete" from the Jim Carey movie, The Mask. When asked what motivated him to create the highlight to "Cuban Pete" he said, "I just imagined being inside Jim Carey's mind for a moment, each time I put on the mask and sombrero...that's all it took to build up the courage...if he could do it, well then, so could I." Russ wasn't making nearly a percent of what Jim Carey's salary turned out to be for that endeavor...but he sure was having fun entertaining the crowd and in his words, "blowing their minds". In addition to the highlights mentioned, Russ developed highlights to Boom! - Will Smith, The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground, and finally shocking the crowd onto the dance floor by dropping trou during the crescendo of the corus of New York, New York by Frank Sinatra and immediately pumping up the crowd with Montel Jordan's - This Is How You Do It. Yeah! Don't worry, he had his briefs on underneath. When it came to disguises, Russ has a closet full...when he came out with the Dance Rock versions of AC/DCs Shook Me All Night Long other popular rock artists and songs, Russ would break out a wig to match the music, Black '80s style for the Hard Rock, a Stocking Cap wig with bleached roots for the Grunge style and a Black Rastafarian wig for his Reggae sets. They were a big hit with the crowds, not to mention his Mom and Sister. As time progressed, circumstances changed for the corporate office and steadily the desire to step away from entertainment started to phase its way into the Stuart Anderson's - Black Angus chain. 2 weeks prior to Russ' eventual lay off, Bobby McGees General Manager introduced himself to Russ on one of his more quieter nights and was asked to come out for an audition. Russ accepted and at the same time was approached by his former supervisor |