Comedy Has Been A Good Bet For Venues Like Wynn Las Vegas

Since re-opening venues after pandemic shut downs, Las Vegas seems to have even more comedy around every corner. That includes high-grossing venues like Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas which focused almost exclusively on music prior to 2019. In 2021, the 1,480-seat theater landed the No. 4 spot for top-grossing venues globally for arts venues with a capacity under 5,000 according to Billboard and was the top-grossing venue in the world for under 3,000 capacity.

While the city has long been known for bringing great comedians to the Strip, as COVID restrictions slowly lifted, stand-up comedy became the genre of choice for resurrecting box office sales for properties like Wynn Las Vegas. These days, visitors to Wynn’s Encore Theater are as likely to see a box office-busting comedian (This spring includes headliners Tom Papa, Sebastian Maniscalco, Russell Peters, Jim Gaffigan, Taylor Tomlinson, and Nate Bargatze) as they are a music legend. And armed with Netflix and Amazon Prime specials, Grammy nominations and other accomplishments, these comedians have put in as much stage and recording time as their musical counterparts.

Taking A Chance On Comedy

It wasn’t until 2019 that the property tiptoed into the world of comedy. Says Chris Hammond, Senior Talent Buyer for AEG Presents in Las Vegas, “We (Encore Theater) were just music prior to 2019. And we took a shot, said, ‘Let’s try comedy in this room, just to see if it works.’ almost as an experiment. And we did that in January of 2019 with Chris Tucker, and we were blown away. It was like, ‘Wow, this room really really works for comedy.’ So since then, it’s been just a process of balancing out booking bands, versus booking comedy in the room.”

Both Hammond and Rick Gray, General Manager of Entertainment Operations at Wynn Las Vegas confirm that the ease of getting a comedy show on stage compared to more logistic-intensive music shows proved beneficial as Las Vegas began to roll out entertainment after the shut down. And the surge in comedy exposure and popularity before and during the pandemic, thanks to virtual engagement, also meant comedy was far from a risky choice.

Stand-Up Steps Up

Did comedy help places like the Wynn get back on it’s feet post-pandemic? Gray says it was the case for his resort, which like others were facing performance and audience restrictions. “I would definitely say that’s the case. And I think the reason primarily is because, you know, a comic is a singular entity.” Working with one performer proved more straightforward and made compliance issues easier to tackle.

Once Wynn had the green light for full-capacity shows, Hammond says they booked some great music, but the majority of shows were comedy, especially highlighted by record-breaking headliner Maniscalco whose track record for sell-out shows at Madison Square Garden and other accomplishments like highest-grossing comedy show and highest attended comedy show (Madison Square Garden, Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, Prudential Center, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY) have helped land him on Forbes list of highest-earning stand-up comedians. Last week, Maniscalco performed for sell-out crowds in four arenas, selling a total of approximately 80,000 tickets.

According to Gray, resorts like Wynn also anticipate that approximately 13 to 15% of a comedy audience, like music audiences, will stay at that property. It’s unclear if that percentage soars with stars like Gaffigan and Maniscalco, but it might be worth betting on.

Why Vegas?

Why is it that top performers like Maniscalco and Gaffigan are willing to shift from an arena like Madison Square Garden to a 1,480-seat venue like the Encore Theater? It’s Vegas, Baby.

“The reason comics love playing Vegas is its rich history, playing the big and best casino showrooms has always been one of the bench marks of ‘having made it,’” says Judi Marmel, talent manager and founding partner of entertainment company Levity Live whose clients include Maniscalco and Tomlinson.

Comedian, author, and podcaster Tom Papa will take a break from writing his third book and preparing for his fifth Netflix special to step on stage at the Encore Theater. Papa says performing at a venue like this allows him to see how his act is developing and growing from the work done in smaller venues like the Comedy Cellar where accomplished comedians often test their new material. But as someone who’s been immersed in stand-up for over two decades, Papa says he continues to be fascinated by the striking similarities within the experiences. “You have a different stage to work with. And, yeah, all those little things do change somewhat. But, at its essence, it’s really the power of the jokes.”

Increased Demand, Top-Notch Talent

Places like the Comedy Cellar at Rio Las Vegas, like its legendary New York City namesake, is now also seeing business as usual post-shutdown. Comedy Cellar owner Noam Dworman isn’t certain that the pandemic moved the needle on audience enthusiasm for comedy which was already high, but he believes the caliber of comedy today is unprecedented.

“I think that we’re at a kind of a Golden Age of comedy, where just the average level of comedians right now is higher than it’s ever been. And I think that’s why it’s so popular right now. It’s popular because it’s very, very good right now, I can remember comparing the average comic that goes on now to the average comic that went on, like in the ’90s at the Cellar, and the average level is much higher now.”

Comedy bookings in Vegas and beyond are also keeping comedians happy. Says Marmel, “The demand for live stand-up comedy coming out of the pandemic is like nothing I’ve seen in the last 30 years that I’ve been doing this. You’re seeing that demand in all types of comedy. You’re seeing it with established artists like Sebastian. Artists with a young female following like Taylor Tomlinson. And artists like Bert Kreischer. You’re seeing it across all demos. They all have a completely different fan base, but they’re all selling an enormous amount of tickets.”

Comedy Staying Power

Can we expect to see more even more comedy dominating stages at venues like the Encore Theater? Gray says the Wynn continues to look for new comedians while embracing those who continue to routinely bring their stand-up to the resort, “We are very lucky, we have a nice little residency going with Sebastian. Gaffigan plays us on a fairly regular basis…Nate Bargatze’s coming back…But…it’s not a one weekend deal for us. If a comic comes, likes working with us, is good for our audience, we love having them back because they know the place. And then people understand that—‘Oh, yeah. You know, Sebastian plays there, or, you know, Nate plays there.’ And that’s good for us.”