Las Vegas Weekly

The Mirage stays funny with latest comedy bookings

Seth Meyers performs at the Mirage on March 23.

Photo: Mary Ellen Matthews, Preferred

This year, Mirage is bringing some of the biggest names in comedy to the Terry Fator Theatre. That much is expected. The interesting thing is the group’s diversity.

You’ve got established sitcom stars (Ray Romano and Kevin James), Middle America stars (Jay Leno and Ron White), and then you’ve got comedians who actually tell funny jokes: Daniel Tosh and Gabriel Iglesias (the fat guy in the Hawaiian shirt). Oh, there’s Seth Meyers, too. Can you believe that guy’s been on SNL for 10 years? Is it just me or does he still feel like ‘the new guy’? Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

It’s great to see Mirage taking comedy so seriously. TI, Caesars Palace and Mandalay Bay bring in big names (Russell Brand, Seinfeld, and Bill Cosby), but Mirage is the only major hotel to do so consistently. Makes you wonder, is there room for a smaller hotel to consistently bring in medium-sized names? Yeah, we’ve had the smaller names at the Palms and Tropicana, but what about the mediums? Where’s Maria Bamford, Jeffrey Ross, and Demetri Martin? Could there be an audience for alternative comedy here in Vegas?

Okay, I answered that question pretty much as I typed it: No.