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This June, the Venetian hosted a big name in today’s entertainment landscape, and it wasn’t world-class magician Shin Lim, nor burlesque icon Dita Von Teese.
It was MomTok. The popular TikTok stars and reality TV subjects in Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives packed the 1,800-seat Palazzo Theatre, joining a growing wave of podcasters and social media personalities now commanding the same stages as traditional Vegas acts.
“We just had a show earlier this year with the Sturniolo Triplets and those guys are very popular on the internet with their TikTok and all their social media following, but they did a show that was very similar to MomTok. It sold out in under an hour,” says Jesse Summers, talent buyer for Live Nation Las Vegas. “It just shows that these artists are big and their fans want to see them.”
Summers, who typically books comedians for the Venetian, sees a noticeable shift. TikTok, YouTube and podcasting have launched these different personalities into the mainstream and the live entertainment landscape, and they’re bringing their devoted audiences along for the ride.
MomTok: The Unholy Tea drew such a sizable crowd, the ticketing line spilled out of the Palazzo Theatre, bringing casino floor traffic to a halt.
Summers says the fan-centric aspect has driven demand for these kinds of shows, and they’ve become a Strip-wide phenomenon. Popular true crime podcast Crime Junkies unearthed an exclusive case at Resorts World in May, and the paranormal-themed pod And That’s Why We Drink also spooked listeners at House of Blues that month. Pod Meets World delivered everything fans of the 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World could want to Palazzo Theatre in June.
“It was a fabulous show,” Summers says. “They brought a lot of attention to different episodes, and they had messages from other actors who were on the show. It was just a very eclectic mix of content, but it was really for the fans. It was almost like one giant episode of the actual podcast.”
Adam Steck, founder and CEO of SPI Entertainment, embraces this trend. Earlier this month, SPI partnered with the Strat to bring the Lawrence Brothers’ Brotherly Love Podcast Live to the millennial crowd.
“There’s traditional entertainment, which I think will always be a staple. Vegas is built on live entertainment ... but you have to have your eyes and ears on what’s different and what’s unique,” says Steck. “People like nostalgia. You want to relive your childhood moments, and this is a different way of doing it.”
Steck says such celebrity podcasters have built-in audiences to bolster the live shows and promote them virally, and each show brings its own flavor. Brotherly Love featured guest appearances by TLC’s Chilli, Debbie Gibson, Boy Meets World’s Daniel Fishel and Vegas drag legend Frank Marino, along with an in-depth Q&A.
“We’re breaking the fourth wall. It’s like giving the audience a group hug. Everybody’s together. The audience is involved and engaged,” says Steck. “And with these podcasts, if you’re a super fan, you can ask, ‘Hey, what happened on Blossom this ep? What happened on Boy Meets World? Everybody’s got their questions, which everybody gets to answer.”
The Strip will soon see more digital stars take the stage. The Cosmopolitan has booked a live show of The Basement Yard Podcast for August 31. The pipeline is also full at Venetian, with rising comic Matt Mathews and TikTok star comedian Morgan Jay returning in December. MGM Grand will host a live iteration of Dimension 20’s popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing series on November 1.
“This is the new trend, and the sky’s the limit,” Steck says. “There’s so many podcasts out there. There’s so many personalities. It’s who wants to come to Vegas and monetize it, and come to the entertainment capital of the world and be a shiny diamond in the middle of a big, massive ring.”
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