Please read this review in its entirety before making a decision to buy tickets to Absinthe. This is my objective and subjective experience at the 8 PM show on October 14, 2021.
My Expectations:
After losing two colleagues to COVID, and a close friend to suicide this year, I thought a trip to see some shows in Vegas would cheer me up. Absinthe was at the top of my list of “must see shows.” For the first night of my stay in Vegas, I was all set to be entertained and uplifted.
I’d previously heard many good reviews of Absinthe, and I was desperately looking forward to an enchanting evening with the green fairy to pull me out of my depression. I needed to be in the right mood for the remainder of my trip. I even splurged on a premium priced ticket on the second row aisle to have an unobstructed close up view of the show.
Upon early arrival to the venue, I was welcomed into the courtyard with a beautiful electric tree, chill music, and engaging artistic displays throughout. The entry staff was amazing and provided a great positive start to the evening.
Entering the tent, I was greeted by a beautiful guide who led me to my perfect seat with a perfect view. Inside the tent was such a great vibe. It was a prohibition era speakeasy meets old time circus sideshow. The lighting and ambiance was so relaxing. I felt like I was in a familiar comfortable memory of a past life. I was all set to be entertained, but then reality quickly set in.
Reality:
The instant the Gazillionaire climbed on to the stage he began berating a mature woman for looking in her purse during his entrance. As a matter of fact, he completely stopped the show and had his assistant start over with his introduction. Upon his second entry to the stage, his elder abuse continued until he got a few more laughs at her expense. The Gazillionaire then quickly moved on to harassing a tall gentleman for being tall, then over to a short woman for being short, then over to a couple he perceived as being mismatched for who knows why, and then his focus turned to me, the guy sitting alone on the second row aisle seat.
All the trauma of childhood bullying that I endured growing up began creeping back into my mind…comments on my appearance, sitting alone, my style, my hair, my clothes…it was like someone had given the Gazillionaire a cue card containing all the very personal insults I experienced from my youth. As if this belittling wasn’t enough, the Gazillionaire’s assistant began taunting me as well. I apparently didn’t give them the reactions they wanted, so they kept feeding the crowd with more hurtful comments aimed at me. When this round of insults wasn’t enough to satisfy their sadist pleasure the pair moved on to cruelly fat shaming an obese gentleman. The entire beginning of the show was a full 101 course on how to be a vulgar bullying jerk and get by with it.
For the remainder of the show, I was left with an even worse mood than the mood I came to the show with to escape from. Instead of pulling me up from a deep pit of depression and making me laugh, the beginning of the show pushed me down even further back into the abyss of depression of which I was desperate to escape. My expectations of the show were shattered.
It was impossible to enjoy the performances from the truly talented acts following the unwanted roasting of myself and the other patrons. The Gazillionaire and his assistant’s utter disrespect completely ruined what could have been a fun exciting night of entertainment, and it didn’t stop there. The pair continued to insult patrons throughout the act, and continued with vulgar humor that was in no shape, way, or form even remotely funny. Eventually, they honed back in on me and the gentleman they had previously fat shamed during the beginning of the show. The two proclaimed us as the two loneliest guys in Vegas, and had him come sit beside me. It was such a tremendously embarrassing moment.
I have never in my life paid a premium for seats to a show in Vegas to be singled out and publicly disparaged. I would describe the Gazillionaire and his assistant’s acts as the worst of the worst vulgar toilet humor I’ve ever witnessed combined with genuinely cruel bullying all dressed up in a gutter lined disguise of “entertainment.”
The Gazillionaire and his assistant completely destroyed my expectations of being entertained and uplifted by this show. I do not recommend that you waste your money on a night of this demeaning humor.
If the producers got rid of the obnoxious Gazillionaire and assistant characters, and rewrote a host into the script for the show that can be witty in a positive, inspiring, and affirming way, then the remaining performances would be entertaining. There are some truly amazing talents in this show; however, I can’t imagine how the producers of this show think it is okay to belittle patrons with vulgar humor when it is the patrons that pay the bills. One can find humor in an aud
