In an era where entertainers are expected to be multihyphenate content machines, Kathleen Madigan has built her career on something increasingly rare: being exceptionally good at stand-up comedy. Over more than three decades, she’s refined her craft in front of live audiences, and this week, she brings her Day Drinking Tour to the Strip.
Coming from a long line of Midwestern union workers, Madigan approaches her craft the way her family approached their jobs: show up, do the work, do it well. “I just wanted to tell jokes,” she said in an exclusive interview with Las Vegas Magazine, and that singular focus keeps her constantly moving.
Unlike most people who’d find the road exhausting, Madigan thrives on the variety. She gets bored staying in one place too long, driven by curiosity to “check out what’s going on” wherever she lands next. After decades of touring, she’s developed a connoisseur’s appreciation for American cities and their quirks.
Ask about her favorites and she lights up talking about New Orleans, Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. “I must have had a past life as a swamp person,” she said, explaining her love for New Orleans’ unique blend of Catholic guilt, vampires, saints and incredible food. Meanwhile, she sometimes grows weary of the homogenization plaguing many cities. “Every city’s got it—here’s your strip mall, here’s TJ Maxx, here’s Applebee’s.”
One exception? Vegas. “I can leave Vegas alone for six months and come back and something new will already be built,” she said. “You guys move faster than anyone. As far as change goes, zero respect for history, which I do find kind of funny.”
That observational edge carries into her material. Madigan’s most recent special, Hunting Bigfoot, was named 2023 Comedy Special of the Year by The Interrobang, following her chart-topping Netflix release Bothering Jesus, which became the highest-selling album and most played comedy album on streaming services since 2015.
But success in comedy extends beyond generating laughs—it demands a type of business acumen that doesn’t always come naturally to creative minds. Madigan notes the surreal experience of signing documents as “president, CEO” of her own corporation. “This country allowed me to do that,” she said with a laugh.
If circumstances were different, Madigan envisions owning a bar called Madigan’s, combining her love of bartending, social interaction and sports. When her father questioned whether she’d want to be a 50-year-old bartender, she corrected him: “No, I want to be a 50-year-old bar owner.”
But comedy chose her, and her material springs from the endless gold mine of family life and everyday absurdities. Growing up one of seven kids provided what she calls “a lot to pull from,” and she feels sorry for comedians without siblings who missed out on that built-in material factory. Currently, she’s mining the universal experience of dealing with aging parents, particularly the realization that her parents never actually planned for old age. As a friend pointed out to her, “Their plan was us.”
For Vegas visitors catching her August show, Madigan promises the same reliable formula that’s sustained her career: Midwest family stories, observations about everyday life and wisdom that comes from watching the world with sharp eyes and an even sharper wit. Catch her show and you’ll leave feeling like you just spent an evening with the funniest person you know.
The Venetian. 10 p.m. Aug. 2, starting at $39 plus tax and fee. venetianlasvegas.com
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