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Amy Schumer
Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Two of the biggest names in comedy are coming to Las Vegas this week to play the biggest new theater on the Strip. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning actress and writer Amy Schumer lands at Resorts World Theatre on November 16 before burgeoning Hollywood mogul Kevin Hart takes the same stage on November 18 and 19 for two stand-up show to be filmed for an upcoming comedy special. Tickets for all performances are available at axs.com.
Schumer’s show was rescheduled from November 5 due to a scheduling conflict, but she will still be the first comedian to headline the 5,000-seat venue. She has recently performed in Las Vegas as part of the Aces of Comedy series at the 1,250-seat Mirage Theater. Hart last played the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan (max capacity 3,000) and MGM Grand Garden Arena (16,800).
All three shows are a big-time score for Resorts World, which so far has hosted musical residencies from Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan in its theater along with a limited engagement from Michael Bublé and a few rounds of magic performed by David Blaine. Schumer has not scheduled return dates at Resorts World but Hart will be back for two New Year's Eve weekend performances.
But there’s an even bigger stand-up show on the Strip this week, also the first time a comedian has headlined the venue: Jo Koy at T-Mobile Arena on November 19. The Seattle-born performer got his start performing at open mics and coffee shops in Las Vegas while attending UNLV, and he still owns a home here and has plenty of family living in Las Vegas.
“Comics and anybody in general like to do residencies in Vegas. We like to do casinos. But my whole thing was, I’m on this arena tour, I’m going to Vegas and I want to play an arena,” Koy said. “And then I come to find out I’m the first comic to ever play T-Mobile Arena, which is kind of a cool thing. There are other arenas, big giant ones in Las Vegas, but there’s something special about T-Mobile, just sitting there on the Strip. It’s already an iconic part of Vegas.”
Before they reach superstar status like Koy, Hart and Schumer, most stand-ups travel to Las Vegas to perform on the comedy club circuit, and there are plenty of those smaller, more intimate venues at casinos and around town offering that traditional presentation. Mid-sized venues like the Mirage Theater (which hosts Jim Jefferies this weekend, November 18- 19) and the 1,500-seat Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas are busy with comedy performers that can easily draw at that level, including Tim Allen, Nate Bargatze, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Maher, Sebastian Maniscalco and Ray Romano.
But comedy residencies at Vegas rooms with thousands of seats is a growing trend. Adam Sandler has performed at the Chelsea in recent years, finding time for live shows between making all those Netflix movies, and he’s scheduled to return December 9-10. And TV icon Jerry Seinfeld made the Colosseum at Caesars Palace a regular annual stop for years before the pandemic, and is finally coming back with six shows scheduled in 2023 starting on April 14.
These headliners may not be in town as often as their musical counterparts, but their consistence presence is an important force in diversifying and scaling up the comedy offerings in the entertainment capital of the world. And while the shows aren’t officially billed as residencies, comedians coming back to the same room multiple times a year for multiple years certainly qualifies.
“It’s a different set of muscles, being in Las Vegas and having a residency. I respect the people that can do it,” said comic ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, who also starred at the Colosseum for years before resuming Strip performances this year at Zappos Theater at the Planet Hollywood Resort. “I love being on the road and the tour bus and all that, but Caesars has always been good to me and there’s such a rich history there and I love that place [the Colosseum]. And Planet Hollywood is a Caesars property so I’m still in the family. I’m happy to be over there and the energy at that place is fun.”
Dunham performed at Zappos Theater again on November 12 and returns on December 2, and is expected to announce 2023 dates soon.
