Want to have a good time in Vegas? See a comedy show. The best comedians in the world perform in Sin City every night.
This week I sat down with John Hilder, host of the Hilarious 7.
A: How long have you been a comedian?
J: I started doing standup 16 years ago and it has been my full-time job for the last 10 years.
A: Who s your favorite comic in Vegas?
J: There are truly too many great comics in this town to pick a favorite. This city has groomed some of the best comics in the country while also bringing in some of the best comics from all over the world. We’re a very lucky city!
A: Let s talk about the Vegas comedy scene. Is being a comedian here different than being one in LA, New York, etc.,?
J: Extremely different. I moved to New York to further pursue my comedy career in 2012 and almost immediately missed Vegas. A good comedian can get a lot of stage time in Vegas. You can do shows almost every night of the week for a paying crowd, but in New York and also LA so many people go to those places to start a comedy career that stage time is minimal and bad. You can do five minutes a couple of times a week in front of a bunch of other disinterested comedians and run on that treadmill forever, so I’d much rather perform in Vegas for crowds full of people from all over the world. LA comics hit me up asking for bookings more than any other place because the stage time is so much better here.
A: Funniest Vegas story?
J: There are so many I couldn’t possibly repeat, even if only adults read this, but there was definitely an odd evening a few years back where I was at a local swingers club and ran into not one, not two, but three different local comedians. Apparently we’re all sexual deviants.
A: Tell us about your favorite/best stand-up performance
J: Back when they had the Playboy Comedy Tour at the Palms I performed there one night with Rob Riggle. Right before the show, he told me had to go let his friends in but he didn’t want to tell me who they were because I might get nervous. I pressed him and he said it was Jimmy Kimmel, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, and Lisa Lampanelli. I had a brief moment of panic then went out and had a really good show. Afterward, I really hoped Jimmy Kimmel would tell me he loved me and ask me to do his show but he walked right past me. Thankfully John Krasinski stopped and said some very kind things so that eased the sting of Jimmy Kimmel not putting me on his show. A compliment from Jim Halpert goes a long way.
A: What s next for your career?
J: Hopefully to keep hosting and producing The Hilarious 7 here in Vegas while touring the country any chance I get. It’s been ten years since I last had a real job so this is pretty much the only thing I’m qualified to do now.
Interested in seeing John Hilder? Keep up with what he’s doing here.