I couldn't help but share thoughts on a fresh new blog post by the fine folks at Vital Vegas. (It's one guy!)
I posted most of my comments below on Scott's blog, but I'll replicate them here, with one addendum and a few clarifications. Most important, if you want the commentary below about Vegas headliner Tape Face to make any sense, read Scott's fresh, new and exciting blog post first. It's right here: Vital Vegas hyperlink
Here's my three cents, two I shared on his blog, and one I added:
When Bon Jovi comes to Vegas and plays a concert, you’re not getting the band that recorded “Slippery When Wet.” Richie Sambora ain’t in the band.
People come and go in bands. That’s the nature of bands. But typically it’s well known. Nobody is fooled into thinking they’re seeing Sambora on guitar in 2019.
KISS is a more interesting band. They switched out guys in the 80s and 90s, then reunited the original band in the latter half of the 90s, and are back to mixing and matching. Of course, for the last 15+ years they’ve had different musicians playing the roles of the Space Man and the Cat, two of the four costumed musicians from the 70s. It’s all very public.
And it offended some longtime, hard core KISS fans. The original KISS members doubled as characters, but a lot of fans didn’t like that they hired replacements rather than bring in new characters in the early 2000s, as they did in the early 80s before KISS was “unmasked.”
It seems shady to sell the persona of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the 2000s, but KISS has enough fans that they’ve kept making money. Some people claimed they no longer wanted to support the entity, but plenty of people don’t seem to care, so KISS continues printing money, and Tape Face is taking a page from Gene Simmons’ playbook.
For what little I know, I agree: Tape Face has been known as, and associated with, one person. I don’t know the history, but I’m guessing there were others who helped “Sam,” the actor/comedian behind the tape, develop his act. But it was his act, I’m guessing, not the act of an ensemble who took turns doing the shtick. To suddenly franchise it out seems insulting to the fans.
While it shouldn’t be trusted, there’s no suggestion I saw to indicate that Tape Face is a brand, according to Sam’s Wikipedia page. I’m going to guess the paint is still drying on the branding. Awfully convenient, all of a sudden, that his longtime character is a brand, don’tcha think?
It’d be one thing if Tape was retiring, and his son was following in his footsteps, and he handed off the character to his son. But to simply train another performer seems fraudulent, unless you’re selling it as Tape Face, Too, and making it clear who you’re getting on stage.
I would be pissed if I paid to see Carrot Top and showed up to find out that another guy with curly red hair is telling the jokes that night, and pretending to be Carrot Top.
The Tape Face corporation may be noting Sam has a protege via social media, but it sounds like the corporation is trying to monetize the shtick with its own franchise employees and not be forthcoming about it. That’s dirty business, no matter how you justify it.
Reminds me of the odd story of how there were two comedians selling the comedy of Gallagher, the odd comedian who got big laughs for smashing produce with a sledgehammer. This paragraph tells a bit about the bizarre dueling Gallaghers: Gallagher Two hyperlink
