03.10.10
Favorite movie? Clearly.
It was just over a year ago that Terry Fator launched his residency at The Mirage — a reported five-year $100 million-dollar contract with another five-year, $110 million option behind it — following just a couple years afte his America’s Got Talent Season 2. (Itself a $1 million payday.)
Just a couple weeks shy of his one-year anniversary, his theater at The Mirage was still at capacity for a weeknight show. It’s testament to the appeal of his broadly drawn characters and laid-back stage presence. To this crowd, jokes about a puppet going to visit “The Turtle Ranch” elicit knowing catcalls and Octomom bits never stopped getting a laugh.
To mark a year on stage, Fator is debuting a new puppet on Saturday’s anniversary show. He wouldn’t let us in on what it was, just that he sang songs about cars. Hey, if he can work in a puppet that was supposed to be the fifth Beatle, we suppose he could do on that was the sixth Beach Boy, too. We caught up with Fator to talk about the puppet-design process, his potential future in television and how to handle people confusing you for Jeff Dunham. Click for more words and pictures »
By Jason Scavone
03.8.10
Aren’t we ready as a society for more Jon Bon Jovi submarine movies? (Photos by Samantha Fisher)
New Jersey’s third-favorite sons (behind Springsteen and the Shore house) were in town early this weekend. Beatles nut Richie Sambora finally talked Jon Bon Jovi into going to see Love Friday night at The Mirage ahead of their Saturday MGM Grand Garden Arena show. They started with a group of 16 doing dinner at Japonais. After the show they met the cast, where Sambora and Bon Jovi got a round of applause and Sambora talked to members of the audio team about “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” What? NOT “Wanted Dead or Alive?” Well then what’s the point of even inviting Richie Sambora?
By Jason Scavone
03.8.10
03.5.10
The Ronnie-Sammi-JWoww threesome nobody demanded.
Ronnie and Sammi episodes were to Jersey Shore what Kate episodes are to Lost: An interminable slog to get to the good Snooki and/or Locke stuff that got you tuned in in the first place. Saturday night at Jet inside The Mirage, America’s least-compelling dysfunctional couple come in, leaving Snooki, Vinnie and, to a lesser extent, Angela, as the only Shore-ites left to secure hosting duties in town.
We’re at what has to be the nadir of the Jers news cycle, when the bright dawn of the first season has faded but with the promise of a fresh Season 2 start still agonizingly months away. And Pauly D can have his DJ residencies, and The Situation can have his lollipops and JWoww her clothes, but (crushingly bad George Lopez Oscar movie adaptations aside) it’s Ronnie and Sammi that are carrying the torch of relevancy for the Shore.
They’re the only ones who have clung fiercely to the tabloid-trash roots of the show. Witness: Ronnie’s making out with another girl. There’s today’s lawsuit revelation fueled by Ronnie’s homophobic taunts the night of the on-show Boardwalk fight. And of course, there’s the very are-they-or-aren’t-they nature of Ronnie and Sammi’s relationship. They’re pure. They’re free of ulterior motive and agenda. They’re just one guido manchild and his horrible, shrewish guidette girlfriend doing what they do. Ronnie and Sammi might be the least watchable part of the Shore, but more than anyone else, they are the Shore.
By Jason Scavone
03.2.10
(Photo by Roman Mendez | SpyOnVegas.com)
Their first love may have been the sea, but their second love was the kind that dare not speak its name.
By Jason Scavone
03.1.10
In exchange for wearing that patch, Ghana has adopted “Pants” is its new anthem. (Photos by Hew Burney | SpyOnVegas.com)
General Larry Platt was totally That Guy. He was wearing his own T-shirt at his show Friday night at Jet inside The Mirage. Look, we all know that the clock is ticking, but at this point, are you going to move any more units if you eschew your own brand for a nice, say, Raising Hell shirt?
Still, the General was like a kid in a candy store Friday night. A kid without pants. SpyOn has the complete breakdown. He was also spotted at B.B. King’s Blues Club at The Mirage running around the club and taking pictures.
By Jason Scavone
02.26.10
It’s a little more raw than the subtle, graceful Neil Young cover.
There’s going to come a point during tonight’s General Larry Platt performance at Jet where someone is going to drop trou and waddle around in their boxers in front of their friends. This will be hilarious to people who’ve just downed about a third of a bottle of Grey Goose. Meanwhile, the rest of us will all die a little inside. Except for those of us who are bastards enough to snicker at old people who put themselves in the middle of ritualistic laughing-at-you-not-with-you humiliation for the sake of a few dollars and a few million YouTube hits. You don’t take a gig at the whorehouse then complain when the johns don’t bring you flowers. Click for more words and pictures »
By Jason Scavone
02.22.10
Come on Barbie, let’s go party.
It’s a message for the children: Plastic Makes Perfect. Tonight at Jet inside The Mirage, the girl who collects the most Doctor Dollars wins $5,000 and a consultation with Dr. 90210 of Beverly Hills. And really, who doesn’t want to do their level best to look just a little bit more like Heidi Montag? (Seen here last week in Las Vegas.) Click for more words and pictures »
By Jason Scavone
02.14.10
Is it us or does the girl on the right look like she’s embarrassed to be caught in a pic with The Sitch? (Photo by Hew Burney | SpyOnVegas.com)
Ladies, now’s your chance to make that Valentine’s Day complete. The Situation is signing autographs at the new Sugar Factory at the Miracle Mile Shops (right next to Hawaiian Topic Zone) from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Mel B and Kendra Wilkinson are also going to be there, but, you know. It’s just not the same. The Sitch is also rumored to be turning up at Eve tonight. Let’s just go ahead and rename the thing Situationtine’s Day. Click for more words and pictures »
By Jason Scavone
02.11.10
