I know that you missed it because there were, like, 10 people at the Blue Zebra last night. The rest of Los Angeles was probably drowning their sorrows after the shellacking the Lakers got earlier in the evening.

I usually go on the first night of a feature performer's engagement because the crowd is smaller than usual, but this was pushing it. There were plenty of spaces in the Blue Zebra parking lot instead of the usual one-or-two-in-the-back-if-you're-early-enough, the lady behind the bar was busily tidying and didn't even see me until I had been there for a minute, and three different house dancers sat down and chatted with me even though I always make it a point to say I'm here working and I don't want a private dance, thanks all the same inside the first minute so they don't waste their time trying to get me to buy one.

The dancers were personable, I guess the slow night made them philosophical. One said she was thinking of working on video, I gave her my card and told her I could give her some agents' names if she wanted. She hasn't called. I talked about Teri Weigel with another one.

Finally, the traditional Windexing of the stage indicating the impending arrival of the feature started as the song "Eye of the Tiger" thumped through the speakers.

The DJ exhorted everybody to take ringside seats, and almost everybody did, practically surrounding the stage. After a longish introduction, Casey came out, dressed in a Little Bo Peep outfit, carrying a large white crook.

The audience may have been sparse, but you'd never know from her performance. She skipped onto the stage, using the crook to hook the pole as she danced around it. She danced, stripped, and cavorted with the same vivacity you would see if she were performing for a full house of people waving $100 bills.

She threw posters to the audience, and engaged a little audience participation by inviting ringsiders to stuff their tips into a back orifice of an inflatable sheep before the show ended and she disappeared behind the curtain.

Unlike some porn performers who just stand on the stage and expect people to throw money at them — not that I've ever seen that, but one of the house dancers was quite eloquent on the subject — Casey Parker puts on a good show.

Blue Zebra is located at 6872 Farmdale Ave. in North Hollywood, Calif., just off Vanowen, under the flight path to Bob Hope Airport.

If you go there this weekend, tell Casey that Tod says hi.