Las Vegas Weekly

March 15, 2010 · 7:16 PM

Photos: Terry Fator’s first-anniversary red carpet, show and after-party

By Robin Leach

Terry Fator's first-anniversary show at The Mirage on March 13, 2010.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

In the olden days, it was Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack who reigned on the Strip. Today, it’s the Laff Pack led by singing impressionist and comedy ventriloquist Terry Fator. He tried to celebrate his first anniversary Saturday night at The Mirage, where he headlines, but Laff Pack inductees Frank Caliendo of the Monte Carlo and Carrot Top of the Luxor kept on interrupting with comical surprise cameos.

Carrot Top raced from the back of Terry’s showroom and brought the show to a halt when he went onstage and begged for a $100 bill for the great hand of blackjack he was playing. Terry doesn’t have money on him during the show, but fortunately he found a spare C-note in his puppet’s pocket! Thirty minutes later, Frank Caliendo strolled onstage and wowed the audience with quick impressions of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Dr. Phil, Robin Williams, Charles Barkley and John Madden.

All three are known to make impromptu appearances in one another’s shows. Flamingo headliner George Wallace also was on the red carpet but had to leave early for his own show at the Flamingo, as did Human Nature from Imperial Palace.

Showbiz folks walked the red carpet and cheered Terry on from the front rows. They included Fred Willard, Rich Sommer, Michael Gladis, Kimberley Locke, Maeve Quinlan, Kristy Swanson and Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons. Terry also introduced the audience to his new character Wrex, a crash test dummy who sings songs about cars, including Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and Camillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty.”

Backstage in his dressing room, Terry introduced me to veteran ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson and his now 80-year-old wooden dog doll Farfel made by the same puppeteer who carved legendary Edgar Bergen’s famed Charlie McCarthy doll. Terry credited Jimmy as one of his early mentors from when he and Farfel appeared on the old Nestle commercials.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

The after-party of Terry Fator's first-anniversary show at B.B. King's Blues Club in The Mirage on March 13, 2010.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

The after-party of Terry Fator's first-anniversary show at B.B. King's Blues Club in The Mirage on March 13, 2010.

After the performance, Terry was joined by James Kyson Lee, Katherine Boecher and Pawn Stars Rick and Corey Harrison at the neighboring B.B. King’s Blues Club for a jam session. Terry joined his show’s backup band for an eight-song set (without any puppets) as guests enjoyed a buffet of Southern taste treats and a dessert of cupcakes from The Cupcakery that had been decorated with photos of puppets from the show.

Enjoy our large photo gallery of the red carpet, the anniversary performance complete with newcomer Wrex and the jam session. Our thanks to Denise Truscello and contributing photographer Tom Donoghue for the amazing and close-up shots.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Kristy Swanson, Taylor Makakoa, Terry Fator, Maeve Quinlan, Dee Wallace, Murray Sawchuck, Cristy, Kimberly Locke and Marty Allen arrive at Terry Fator's first-anniversary show at The Mirage on March 13, 2010.

Richard Burgi, Dee Wallace, the cast of Thunder From Down Under at the Excalibur, Elena Machine, Taylor Barton, Angelica Bridges and her cast from Fantasy at the Luxor, Clint Holmes, Murray Sawchuck, Tommy Wind, Skip Martin, Marty Allen, Jerry Lewis’s daughter Dani Lewis, Dan Horn, Jay Johnson, Clinton Detweiler, Ricardo Laguna, Mr. Doubletalk, Zowie Bowie, Travis Cloer, Kristen Hertzenberg, Recycled Percussion, 2010 Mrs. Las Vegas Steph MacKenzie-Foster, 2010 Mrs. Rhodes Ranch Patti Barbra, 2010 Mrs. Nevada April Swartz and Barry Shabaka Henley also were on the red carpet.

In a pre-red carpet video interview, I chatted with Terry and his girlfriend Taylor Makakoa in advance of the dummy’s unveiling, and during my interview with Terry posted last Thursday, he reminisced about his first 12 months headlining at The Mirage and what to expect in year two.

Photo: TVT

Jimmy Nelson and Terry Fator at Fator's first-anniversary show at The Mirage on March 13, 2010.

As we both joked Saturday night: “One down -- just nine to go.” Terry has a $100 million, 10-year-deal at The Mirage as a result of his $1 million win on Season 2 of NBC’s America’s Got Talent that rocketed his career into super-stardom after 24 years of anonymously working the county fair circuit.

“It’s a great night,” a beaming Terry told me. “I never guessed all those years ago that this would eventually happen and my biggest dream would come true.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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