Beacher's Madhouse hits the road -- Sundance beware!

Beacher has been a fixture at the Hard Rock since back when the casino was owned by Peter Morton. From his arrival, Beacher was a master at bringing celebrity and attention and lots of press to the off-Strip casino.

The Beacher era reinvigorated the Hard Rock, and considering the copious money and effort the resort put into promoting the Madhouse, the crafty promoter and resort have parted ways with remarkably little fanfare.

Does this mean the end for Beacher's Madhouse? Of course not. So look out, world!

Beacher is taking his show on the road. Beacher's Madhouse, the wild Vegas bachelor party mix of tasteless talent contests, celebrity impersonators, real celebrities, circus acts, novelty routines and lots of women in scanty clothes, is going national. Expect a publicity stunt in a city near you soon.

Here is my exclusive interview with Jeff Beacher about this major change in the direction of  his show and on his current relationship with the Hard Rock.

Richard Abowitz: So, what is going on with you and the Hard Rock? Your December show is off the Hard Rock website but still up on your site. The Hard Rock tells me they have no shows scheduled with you.

Jeff Beacher: That show (December) is now off our site also. We are changing direction with the Hard Rock. Instead of doing a set number of shows, we are going to do one-offs here and there.

Q: Do you have a date for the next scheduled show?

A: No.

Q: So, you are essentially free from the Hard Rock?

A: Ah, yeah.

Q: So, what are you up to in Vegas?

A: Right now we are concentrating on touring. We did clubs in Miami, New York and Chicago, and they were all huge hits. Everything was well received. So, now we have a touring Madhouse. We are booked through March. We are doing events at Sundance and the Super Bowl. Basically, we have something every week booked somewhere in a major city.

Q: Are these people who have seen the Madhouse and booked you? Or did they read about it? How did your show take this turn?

A: People at first misunderstood the show and thought it was Jeff Beacher doing stand-up and some little people. As you know, it is nothing like that. But when people figured out what we were doing, I'd keep getting calls from out of state. But we were never able to tour. The several times we were out of state, I had to get $150,000 or $200,000 for the events, and that falls out of most people's pocketbook range. But the demand was there. So, I quickly figured out how to create a small Madhouse that works in clubs like Crobar and Marquee or Cameo. You can go to any major city with a nightclub audience and program it right into the venue.

Q: And what about Vegas? Are you looking for a new home for the big Madhouse?

A: No, not right now. Right now we are going to continue doing exactly what we are doing.

Q: So, is Vegas going to lose Jeff Beacher?

A: No, Vegas isn't losing me. We are doing events right now. On Monday we did Jet (Mirage), and New Year's we are doing Palms. We are doing a lot of entertainment stuff for the Luxor and MGM properties. We are all over the place, and the company is making more money now than it has ever made. Everything is awesome. I love Vegas.

(Photo by Sarah Gerke)