Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Beacher creature

"Jeff Beacher's Comedy Madhouse" premiered to mixed reactions at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel in December.

The off-beat revue established a cult following in New York City before the hefty Beacher decided to pull up his stakes and re-establish himself in Las Vegas.

Locals may have read more about his offstage antics than the production, which includes a bizarre cast of circus-like characters.

Beacher seems to have taken his comedy cues from "Jackass" and "The Jim Rose Circus." He made headlines in January by stripping down to his underwear and plunging into the fish tank at the MGM Grand's Rainforest Cafe.

During a recent interview with the Sun, Beacher talked about his brief life in comedy.

Las Vegas Sun: Who is Jeff Beacher?

Jeff Beacher: I'm from Long Island New York and I started doing stand-up a couple of years ago.

Sun: Just out of the blue you decided to become a comedian? What were you doing at the time?

JB: I was selling furniture on Wall Street. I'm a natural comedian. One day I just decided to do it professionally. I started out in little tiny clubs and basement restaurants around New York. After doing stand-up for a while, I saw how it was played out in a mundane, boring way. I wanted to do something different.

Sun: What changes did you make?

JB: Stand-up comedy was very small. I wanted it to be monstrous, give it what it deserved.

Sun: Was the public ready for this dramatic change in comedy?

JB: We did a trial run in a small theater in New York, with 150 seats. Then on April 27, 2002, we moved up to the Triad. That's where the head of Madison Square Garden theater saw us and offered us a deal. We started there on June 14, 2003. The theater had 3,200 seats and we packed them in. I loved the energy there, and I found out we could sell out big venues.

Then we moved to the 2,000-seat Supper Club theater on Broadway at Times Square. It's like a place out of the 1940s. We started doing a show there every Saturday for a year and a half straight. We sold out 50 to 60 shows.

Sun: What was the show at the Supper Club like? Did you do a stand-up act?

JB: No, I don't do a lot of stand-up anymore. It's not really a stand-up show, although it's based around stand-up. It's more of a high-energy variety show. We have go-go dancers, little people, stilt walkers, contortionists, every possible circus element. There was audience participation and contests, all onstage in front of 2,000 people.

Sun: Is the Vegas show about the same?

JB: Pretty much the same, with celebrities, models ... people of Vegas attending the performances. We do everything almost exactly as it was done in New York. It's very high paced. People walk down a red carpet -- beautiful people, regular people. There is every element of every melting pot in the room at one time. We appeal to everyone.

And we made The Joint look like the Supper Club, draping the walls with navy blue velvet.

Sun: How did you land a gig at the Hard Rock?

JB: Peter Morton, owner of the hotel, came to the show in New York and loved it.

Sun: Your engagements seem a little sporadic.

JB: We debuted in December and will be performing once a month until May. On the first Saturday in May, we will start performing weekly.

Sun: Who are your fans?

JB: We definitely have a cult following, but a very big one. It's not like this is a 100-person venue. We've performed at some of the largest venues in the country. The Joint seats 1,400, cabaret style.

Sun: What is your role, if you don't do stand-up?

JB: I host it. Once every four or five shows I may do my stand-up. I produce it, also. I wear a lot of hats with this project.

Sun: Who are the comedians in the show?

JB: They're primarily up-and-comers, like Robert Kelly and Steve Byrne.

Sun: Does the ensemble cast change often?

JB: Everything is very interchangeable. We've had a couple of different hosts, a couple of different acts, a couple of different comedians. I've been all over the country picking out good talent. Only a certain kind of comedian, a certain kind of act works in the large venue. The best comedians in the country are out of New York City.

Sun: Describe the show.

JB: It's a giant party. You'll walk in and four different people will be doing 20 minutes of stand-up each. It's a comedy circus all the way around you. We have eight cameras roaming around. There are floor hosts and wranglers who get the crowd pumped up.

It's dirty and raw comedy. There's a bit that ends the show in which an audience member comes up onstage and changes into a sponsor T-shirt, changing in front of everyone. The crowd goes crazy.

The show is an aphrodisiac. Everyone comes in, has an amazing time and then they leave to go party somewhere else and have sex. That's what we accomplish.

Sun: Who are your fans?

JB: We get everyone in here, but primarily they're in the 21-to-35 age range.

Sun: Are you confident that your Comedy Madhouse will work in Vegas?

JB: I'm having a home built 15 minutes away.

Sun: What made you decide to give up sales for comedy?

JB: Do you mean what made me go crazy? When my mom (Laura) passed away. I had lived a conservative lifestyle, stockbroker, corporate sales. But when mom got sick with cancer, that's what triggered my decision to do what I really wanted to do with my life. The day after she died I quit my job and a year later I was on TV.

Sun: How did you prepare to become an entertainer?

JB: I really didn't know how to go about doing it. Turns out, the way to do it is to just do it. Go do what you want to do.

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