A familial feel can be found throughout the Strip, just in time for summer vacation.
During a recent visit, these family-friendly shows stood out as the best of the best that the one and only Las Vegas has to offer.
Terry Fator (in the Mirage)
Quickly becoming the most popular entertainer in Vegas, Fator wows audiences with his ventriloquism and singing. The characters that he brings to life are hilarious with amazing vocal range. For instance, Monty Carlo is a lounge singer who belts out Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” and Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Little girl Emma Taylor is another lifelike doll that Fator controls and voices, belting out songs by Adelle and Aretha Franklin. There is an Elvis-like character, an annoying neighbor (Duggie Scott Walker, who eats “hangover helper”), Winston the impersonating turtle and many others.
The comedic banter is nonstop with laughter by young and old.
The dummies don’t steal all the thunder, either. Fator sings a few songs all by himself, including the touching “Horses in Heaven.”
No wonder why this multitalented headliner won “America’s Got Talent.”
Mac King (in Harrah’s)
Comedy magic has never been better in the afternoon.
King holds center court with two afternoon shows five days a week. For 15 years, his warm personality has won over audiences with amazing trickery and a hilarious sense of humor.
Born right past the Indiana border in Hopkinsville, Ky., King plays off his southern “howdy-like” charm.
King amazingly hops from one magic comedy trick to another for nonstop entertainment. His newest trick, incorporated this year, pertains to “eating” his pet guinea pig Col. Sanders (don’t worry, kiddos, no harm is done).
Other sleight-of-hand tricks include eating goldfish, $100 bills that show up in an audience member’s cell phone, a vanishing earthworm, tent-camping slapstick involving a bear and an ever-appearing Fig Newton.
From the opening “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” to the closing trick, this is an all-around positive experience not soon to be forgotten.
Not bad for a guy who used to make the comedy circuit, including shows at Crackers in Broad Ripple from the mid-1980s to 2000, as well as appearances on the “The Bob and Tom Show.”
Penn and Teller (at Rio)
If you think you don’t need to see this show because you’ve seen the duo on TV, think again.
New material seems to have rejuvenated the amazing act. From the new opening trick involving audience cell phones to “He’s a little teapot” live on stage, the tall-short pair is exciting packed audiences nightly.
Another recent trick involves escaping from a helium-filled plastic trash bag and other sophisticated comedy with witty, intelligent dialog (well, at least from Penn, who is not mute like his comedic partner).
And who can’t relate to the metal Bill of Rights in relation to airport metal detectors.
Penn and Teller are the people’s comedians, and that never was more apparent than at their can’t-miss Vegas show.
Jan Rouven (at the Tropicana)
Rouven calls his show “Illusions” by Jan Rouven, and what sets this German native apart are his tangles with danger.
He flirts with the Blade of Doom, escaping from a contraption just as two sharp spinning wheel-blades are about to harm him; he eludes sharp knives; and panics the audience while chained underwater.
All along, he presents a sense of humor and tells the story about himself and how he started performing magic as a 6-year-old.
Rouven is a gem. His final words about the philosophy of the game of life and how it fits each person’s framework is worth listening closely and remembering to carry it forth.