That’s just good heat management. (Photo by Bryan Steffy)

Sara Underwood, 2007′s Playmate of the Year, was at Surrender with three girlfriends until 3:30 a.m. Friday night. And also apparently determined not to fall into the trap of sweaty cleavage. Good call, Sara. We’re all in favor of letting it breathe.

Sam Worthington, star of Avatar, the Clash of the Titans remake and Terminator: Salvation was at Ka inside MGM Grand. He must’ve been shocked to see actual people performing things on stage and not just greenscreening until they could digitally insert a giant lobster or something in post.

Speaking of artificial life, zombie Larry King took his human bride and children to see Terry Fator at The Mirage. He even went backstage afterward and communed with the other creatures made of sawdust and manipulated into performing in front of an audience. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

Seriously, you’re powerless. Don’t try to hide it. (Photos by Scott Harrison | Retna)

The Lied Animal Shelter brought out 60 dogs to The Orleans, because puppies need to be taught a lesson in secondhand smoke, too. Wait, no. It was for the seventh annual Best in Show fundraiser to benefit The Animal Foundation.

Terry Fator and Holly Madison played host for the event. That’s probably a good call to keep the dogs in line. No terrier wants to wind up as the new puppet at The Mirage. Keep the barking in check if you know what’s good for you. All of the dogs in the show were up for adoption immediately afterward. We’re just bummed we didn’t sneak into the stands with a stack of Frisbees.

Fighter Randy Couture took in the late show of Zumanity at New York-New York Sunday night with a group of friends. At Vanity, former Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper turned up around 1 a.m. Free agent center Melvin Fowler Jr. was also there, as were Rich Luzzi of Rev Theory and DCMA’s Tal Cooperman.

By Jason Scavone

Check baby, check baby one-two-three-four. (Photos by Denise Truscello. Additional photos by Tom Donoghue)

Mirage headliner Terry Fator held his one-year anniversary show Saturday night where he debuted his new puppet, Wrex — a crash test dummy who sings songs about cars, including “Little Red Corvette” and “Ridin’ Dirty.” Are you kidding? How do you bust out a pupped named Wrex and not pair him with a dummy called N-Effect for the long-awaited “Rump Shaker” puppet duet? You can even see it in his one good eye: ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS ZOOMA ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM.

We have to figure the celebs in the crowd were just as disappointed in this missed opportunity. Among the crushed: Fred Willard, Mad Men’s Rich Sommer and Michael Gladis, American Idol’s Kimberley Locke, Maeve Quinlan, Kristy Swanson, Marty Allen and First Lady Dawn Gibbons.

Carrot Top and Frank Caliendo joined Fator on stage for a gag involving borrowing money from one of the dummies, and Caliendo came back to do Bill Clinton, George Bush, Dr. Phil and Robin Williams. After the show, Fator and his band got on stage at B.B. King’s Blues Club.

By Jason Scavone

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

Is it just us, or has Jeff Dunham put on weight?

You now have another reason to watch the matchup between the BYU Cougars and the Oregon State Beavers in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas (AKA: The Innuendo Bowl), because the Mirage’s Terry Fator and Peepshow star Josh Strickland will provide the pregame entertainment.

Fator, the ventriliquist winner of America’s Got Talent and star of “Terry Fator and his Cast of Thousands”, will sing the national anthem while Strickland will sing “God Bless America.” No word yet on how Fator plans to get his hand iside of Strickland.

The game starts tonight at 5 p.m. at the Sam Boyd Stadium.

By Jared Harmon

There is nothing hot chicks love more than hanging out in a room with ‘Star Wars’ crap on the walls.

The hottest thing at the Terry Fator show last night (after that super sexy turtle puppet) was Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, who rose through the ranks of Miss Indiana and was lucky enough not to have Perez Hilton judging her pageant at Planet Hollywood in January.

Stam is on a little Las Vegas “give back” tour today. She started out at Three Square from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. From 1:30 to 3 p.m. she visits the Warren Empowerment School and then she finishes up from 5 to 5:30 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada — John Kish Unit in Henderson.

By Jason Scavone

Terry Fator and puppet Vikki.

Mirage headliner Terry Fator was at the 2009 CMT Music Awards in Nashville last night where he presented an award for Collaborative Video of the Year alongside Lee Ann Womack and his puppet, Vikki the cougar. The award went to Keith Urban for “Start a Band” featuring Brad Paisley. We’re glad we weren’t watching that live because when Terry Fator comes out to present an award along with a puppet, we’d have gotten way too excited and subsequently crushingly disappointed when that award didn’t go to the Muppets.

By Jason Scavone

It is awfully suspicious that one of his puppets told a joke that went “Breachofcontract who?” (Via myspace.com/terryfator)

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, former manager John Raymond is suing Terry Fator for breach of contract and wants a 20 percent piece of Fator’s $100 million pie — plus damages. Fator has a five-year deal with The Mirage to replace Danny Gans. The case was filed Aug. 14 in the Eighth Judicial District Court.

Here’s how the suit breaks down: Raymond claims that Fator was struggling with his puppets and painting houses in the winter to make ends meet in 2003. He hired Raymond to be his manager and on Aug. 15, 2005 signed a five-year deal that called for Raymond to get 20 percent of Fator’s gross. Raymond was able to get Fator enough work that he could get out of the paint game and focus just on ventriloquism — in part by making the suggestion that Fator incorporate celeb impersonations in his act. Fator’s newfound success forced Raymond to drop any other clients, but it paid off because in Aug. 21, 2007, Fator won America’s Got Talent. Raymond and his wife moved from Montana to Vegas.

The suit goes on to say that on Nov. 27, 2007, Fator fired Raymond as his manager and demoted him to merchandise administrator and cut off the payments on the 20 percent gross because Raymond was “too nice” and Fator needed a “bastard” as a manager. Then on May 15, Fator signed his big deal with The Mirage. On June 6, Raymond was fired from the operation entirely. While all of this will be settled in the courts, it does kind of tempt us into getting into the management game where being a bastard isn’t just accepted, it’s encouraged.

By Jason Scavone

The song he’s belting in this photo? Napalm Death’s “Inner Incineration.” (Via myspace.com/terryfator)

The Mirage has inked Terry Fator to a five-year deal with a five-year option to fill the Danny Gans-shaped hole in its heart. Fator, who wowed The Hoff and Sharon Osbourne enough to win a cool million on America’s Got Talent, does a ventriloquist act where the hook is a wide range of song impersonations with the dummies. He’s currently in the middle of a three-shows-per-month deal with the Hilton.

So, there you go. Jeff Dunham’s DVD has sold about 500,000 copies, and Terry Fator is headlining in the same town that Elvis used to rule. You’ve spoken loud and clear, America. We get it. You love puppets. Now settle down before Jeff Foxworthy steals Lambchop for “You might be a redneck” jokes and ushers in the Apocalypse.

By Jason Scavone