They say that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, and for comedian Terry Fator, Sin City is certainly where it’s happening--and where he plans to remain.
The ventriloquist has called the stage at the Mirage his home for the past eight years and will be there until 2021, at least, thanks to an impressive residency deal with the hotel-casino. One of few comedians to have such a long-standing Vegas gig, he certainly is earning his keep: He performs Monday through Thursday for 46 weeks each year, as well as about 20 weekend shows. FORBES estimates his income from this gig amounts to about 90% of his $18.5 million 2017 earnings.
Fator rose to fame back in 2007 when he won America’s Got Talent thanks to his puppet-assisted impersonations. He got $1 million for winning the show, but the real prize came the next year, when the Mirage offered him a $100 million contract for a five-year residency, which has been reupped numerous times and will now last until 2021. The deal isn’t a straight $20 million per year--that is the maximum he can earn if he sells out every night--but it still pays a hefty sum.
“Terry Fator became famous because of America’s Got Talent, and he’s one of the few who played his cards right and parlayed his fame into a residency,” says Adam Steck, the founder and CEO of SPI Entertainment.
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Since his first show at the Mirage in 2009, he has performed there over 1,500 times and for over 1.5 million guests. Some of those are repeat visitors who discovered Fator in Vegas, and others are superfans who have been following Fator since his America’s Got Talent days and request he also come visit them on his infrequentroad shows. (Last year he played about 29 shows outside of Vegas that accounted for almost $2 million, Forbes estimates).<
“I could do quite well doing nothing but touring, but it’s incredible to sleep in my own bed,” Fator says. “You don’t have to kill yourself to make very good money if you’re a good act and people want to come see you.”
Part of being a good act--especially on the same stage, night after night--means keeping material fresh. He constantly writes new jokes and reworks old ones to keep the audience excited and himself from getting complacent.
“When I first got here, a lot of people would tell me that’s not how it’s done, that you do the same show for 18, 20 years,” says Fator. “I said, ‘There’s a new sheriff in town.'”
One night, a puppet may croon to an Etta James song (Fator is also an accomplished singer). On another, a puppet from Nashville with a strong Southern accent jokes about his love life (“I’m the kind of guy that can make Sheryl crow”). A Donald Trump doll tells Fator, who is a self-proclaimed fan of the president, that he can make his show great again and guarantees big crowds.
Fator’s show is rare on the Strip: Amid revues like Magic Mike Live and sexy musical acts like Mariah Carey and Britney Spears, Fator’s impressions and puppets make for a family-friendly alternative. It’s also one of the only ventriloquist shows out there; as Fator says, “You can’t find it anywhere else other than where I do it.”
“You can be eight or you can be 80, and still enjoy his comedy,” says Franz Kallao, the Vice President of Hotel operations for The Mirage, adding that as Las Vegas’ economy shifts from primarily gaming to hotels, restaurants, retail and entertainment, shows like Fator’s are important for success. “The non-gaming stuff is really driving our industry.”
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MGM Resorts International, the Mirage’s parent company, had a non-casino revenue of $4.7 billion and a casino revenue of $3.1 billion in the U.S. The entire company’s revenue from entertainment was $517,433,000--showing there is plenty of money to be made by entertainers.
“Vegas is becoming more lucrative than the road because of the number of people who come here, and they come here for comedians,” says Steck. “The residency model is incredible when the planets align just right.”
But despite the available cash, most comedians only make pit stops in Vegas on larger tours. Few take residencies there (Ralphie May and Carrot Top are exceptions), and none have secured such lucrative deals as Fator.
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Fator is one of the few comedians on this year’s list to make the bulk of his money on live shows. Touring has, in the past, driven the list of highest-paid comedians, but many of this year’s listees have made most of their millions from impressive deals with Netflix for stand-up specials. Chris Rock, Ellen Degeneres, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld can each command $20 million per special, insiders say.
A deal with Netflix is something Fator says he’d be interested in and has talked about, but he prioritizes Vegas--a smart move given the consistent money he can make.<
“They’re telling me that I’m settling in as one of the great Vegas acts, which is kind of surreal,” he says. “So it’s not that I don’t want to, it's just that it’s a little hard to do when I have my schedule.”
And on those few weeks he does have off? Fator goes back to his pre-America’s Got Talent and Las Vegas roots: small theaters and comedy festivals. But even on the road, he’s getting a bit of the Vegas treatment.
“Before America’s Got Talent,I played county fairs in small places that are way out of the way -- in 110 degree weather -- and they’d say, 'Buy your own water, buy your own fruit,’” he remembers. “Now I’ve got enough water to provide everyone on the fairground and enough fruit and food to feed an army.”
