We run an entry from time to time dubbed “What Works In Vegas.” A show at Planet Hollywood’s PH Live on Friday night easily qualifies.
Teddy Swims is the headliner. The name is at once a full sentence, and an acronym for “Someone Who Isn’t Me Sometimes.” Born Jaten Dimsdale, Swims adopted the stage moniker to reflect different facets of his personality, through his music and performances.
One of those facets is of a record-setting hitmaker and sold-out touring headliner. Swims is sweeping through Vegas on his “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy” tour. Presented by Live Nation Las Vegas, the show is sold out, but resale tickets (the pink dots) are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Swims has made a splash, sales-wise, with his greatest hit, “Lose Control,” which spent a record 100 weeks on the Billboard singles chart after reaching No. 1 in March 2024. The song is still in the top 10, at No. 7. The song is six-times platinum, and has generated nearly four billion streams internationally.
A bit more about the 32-year-old, genre-defying Swims:
— His first name is from the nickname “Teddy” from his childhood, as in “Teddy” bear.
— He was a star football standout at Salem High School in his hometown of Conyers, Ga. A teacher encouraged some of his teammates to join the musical-theater class, and also the chorus. Swims went on to perform in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Rent.”
— He learned to play ukulele and piano, watching lessons on YouTube to hone his skills.
— He gained an audience with YouTube performances, covering Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” among other hits.
— He currently boasts almost 5.6 million YouTube subscribers (adding at least one other one Thursday afternoon).
— He embraces soul, funk, R&B and pop.
— His collaborations include Meghan Trainor on “Bad For Me,” Maren Morris on “Some Things I’ll Never Know,” Thomas Rhett on “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Woman,” Illenium on “All That Really Matters,” and GIVĒON on “Are You Even Real.”
— His influences include Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Keith Sweat and Frank Ocean.
— He picked up a tableau of influences from his father. Swims told Rolling Stone in 2021, “My dad put me on the good stuff, like Marvin and Stevie and Keith Sweat and Al Green, all these monster singers.”
— He once worked at Chili’s. Not as a singer. As a server.
Seeking a Vegas escape room
A show with its eye on Las Vegas is playing the off-Broadway theater Stage 42: “Lord Nil: Seven Deadly Sins.” This stunt-magic vehicle stars the daring Italian escape artist who became famous during his 2018 run on “America’s Got Talent.”
The veteran performer acts out a series of escape acts based on the seven deadly sins of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth.
The emcee is Las Vegas’ own Steph Payne, narrating Lord Nil’s escapades as the character Vice. Payne’s is the only voice in the show, as she lures the show’s star into the seven sinful traps. The show features a dance troupe and a wicked guitarist.
In his sin-inspired odyssey, Nil (name derived from “nothing”) is imperiled by an axe, circular saw and hot grease, and is chained to a water tank. The show is large in scale and set in New York City, employing dystopian symbolism. Reviews have been generally positive, praising Nil’s stage presence and the cast’s talent, critical of the script for lacking clarity in the acts’ relationship to the various sins.
As Nil says, “What scares me is to fail. Escape is not guaranteed. If I fail to make an escape … The consequences are unimaginable.” And yet, there is confidence he’ll succeed. The show is booked through Aug. 31.
The production has no dates after that, but features myriad Las Vegas connections. Among the “Lord Nil” co-producers are SPI Entertainment founder Adam Steck and Rainer Hackl, whom we’ve known as magician Hans Klok’s longtime producer.
Steck is a partner with MGM Resorts International with Excalibur’s Thunderland Showroom, where Klok performed for three months in 2019, taken down by COVID. The venue is currently home to generation-spanning magician Mac King, “The Australian Bee Gees Show” and “Thunder From Down Under.”
Steck also books The Strat Theater, residency venue for ventriloquial icon Terry Fator, the adult comedy revue “Rouge,” and such headlining shows as Everclear on Saturday, and the “Brotherly Love” live podcast starring Joey, Matthew and Andrew Lawrence on Aug. 15-16.
The venue that makes the most sense for Lord Nil, in all of this, is MGM Resorts’ Luxor Theater. The venue is formerly home to Criss Angel’s magic show, the ill-farted “R.U.N” by Cirque and “America’s Got Talent Presents Superstars Live.” The theater has been dark since “AGT” loaded out in May 2024.
This Lord It needs a big, empty manor and a willing partner. Sahara has one, and might be in line for some escapism, too.
Cool Hang Alert
ExCal made a cameo in here. Let’s point our lance to The Lounge, an underrated, underappreciated and often underused venue off the casino floor. But the room is animated with — and this title is accurate — Karaoke at the Kastle. The interactive singing runs 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays. I’ll show up to sing the theme from “Kats.” Er, “Cats.” …
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.