The Casino File
Generally speaking, casinos shy away from anything political. After all, why alienate half of your customer base? But Ocean Casino Resort will provide an exception to that rule Nov. 22 as Fox News star Greg Gutfeld hits the Ovation Hall stage.
For the uninitiated, Gutfeld is the host of “Gutfeld!” which airs weeknights at 10 p.m. While the Nielsen TV-ratings survey classifies it in the same category as the nightly talk-variety programs hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, his format differs significantly from theirs: There are no performances; the show’s blueprint simply has Gutfeld moderate a panel of (mostly regular) contributors who generally tend to hew to Fox News’ unambiguous right-wing positions.
However, the difference between “Gutfeld!” and its network stablemates is that its cast’s takes on current events and prominent personalities — while no-less MAGA-leaning, and with absolutely no regard for political correctness — are delivered with a decidedly comedic slant.
It’s obviously a winning concept, as the show’s average nightly audience (per Nielsen) of 3.2 million viewers in the third quarter of 2025 puts it well ahead of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which averages 2.84 million viewers. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averages 1.85 million and “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” clocks in with 1.23 million.
However, according to one of Gutfeld’s chief lieutenants, those in attendance at Ocean will not just be seeing a standard “Gutfeld!” episode.
“At heart, it’s a comedy show,” comedian Tom Shillue said during a recent phone call, adding that he opens the show with standup and is often joined by another comedian for about a half-hour of comedy.
“And then I bring out Greg. And, of course, Greg is all about comedy. I kind of stay on stage with him, or we sit in chairs and I interview him — Greg’s kind of comedy is more of a sit-down comedy — and he takes us through stories about his life and headlines of the day,” Shillue said.
“And then at the end, there will be a Q-and-A session “because people are always curious about certain things.”
Usually, when a casino books a comic who emphasizes political commentary, that person tends to come from the liberal side of the ledger; folks like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Trevor Noah — as well as song-parodist Randy Rainbow — have been cashing gaming hall paychecks for decades.
One reason may be that traditionally, those on the political right — with the occasional rare exception like Dennis Miller — have not been celebrated for their comedic sensibilities. It’s a notion with which Shillue did not disagree.
“Conservatives in the old days did take themselves a little too seriously, but Greg has something called the ‘Dean Wormer Effect,’” explained the 59-year-old Norwood, Massachusetts, native, referencing the strict college head from the 1978 comedy classic “Animal House.”
Shillue said Gutfeld talks about the comedies their generation grew up on, like “Animal House,” and the “National Lampoon” franchise.
“These were people who were anti-establishment. And in that case, Delta House was always the fun guys. They were having fun. They were horsing around. And conservatives were more like Dean Wormer, handing out ‘double-secret probation,” he said. “So, guys like Greg and [online news aggregator] Andrew Breitbart flipped the script. Andrew — who introduced me to Greg — famously would always repeat the phrase, ‘politics is downstream of culture.’ And he wanted to have a good time. He wanted to horse around, he wanted to have fun. And Greg is the same way.”
“In the old days, there wasn’t much room for us in the world of show biz, because show biz leans left,” added Shillue, who emphasized that apart from his “Gutfeld!” work, his stock-in-trade tends to be apolitical observational comedy.
“So, we kind of kept our politics secret as we tried to break into TV and Hollywood. There were very few conservative comedians, but our sense of humor was always there. It’s just more out of the closet now. And I think ‘Gutfeld!’ has a lot to do with that.”
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
Two ‘Mo(town’) shows
There are two chances left to catch “Motown Forever,” the toe-tapping trip down memory lane that finishes out its fall, Sunday-matinee run at Borgata Hotel Casino& Spa on Nov. 23 and Nov. 30.
The briskly paced survey of the Motown record label’s hit-heavy catalog is an excursion through baby boomer musical nostalgia that slickly blends source material, performances and staging into an hour-plus of sonic fun.
The show’s winning formula begins with the Motown canon of mostly 1960s hits. “My Girl” by The Temptations, “Stop In the Name of Love” (The Supremes), “Dancin’ in the Streets” (Martha & The Vandellas) and “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Gladys Knight & The Pips) are just the tip of musical iceberg.
The material is delivered by a cast of talented vocalists whose versatility is center-stage throughout the presentation. That they’re backed by a killer eight-piece band — anchored by the one-two punch of bassist (and band quarterback) Arland Gilliam and drummer Joey Pucci — adds exponentially to the proceedings.
“Motown Forever” is also animated by nifty choreography and dressed up by costumes that add visual pizzazz to the songs without distracting from them. In all, it’s a typically strong entry from local impresario Allen Valentine.
But don’t take my word for it; ask anyone in the sold-out Music Box last Sunday afternoon who bounced, boogied and Boogalooed in their seats from the program’s first number to its last.
One final thought:
The packed-to-the-rafters audience begs the question as to why Borgata is the only local gaming hall that presents this kind of entertainment on a regular basis.
Production shows like this are relatively inexpensive to mount, and based on the offerings at the Big B, appear to remain popular with the casino-going public.
Perhaps if corporate bean counters would get their noses out of their spreadsheets and actually see how much people enjoy and appreciate this kind of programming, Atlantic City might attract more bodies, especially during the offseason.
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
