Anyone who’s lived in Las Vegas long enough understands the unique qualities of the only-in-Vegas character: eccentric personalities, who might fade into obscurity anywhere else, but who become beloved celebrities here precisely because of those eccentricities. Four recent documentaries explore that phenomenon, examining the unlikely rises and unfortunate falls of fitness guru Susan Powter, professional wrestler Sabu, impressionist Danny Gans, and stand-up comedian Vinnie Favorito. None of these people were born or raised in Vegas, but they all came to town seeking redemption and renewal, and they all found it in some form — at least for a little while.
“You gotta love this city,” Powter says in Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter (available for VOD rental). “It’s the last city I’ll live in in the United States of America.” Powter came to Vegas at her lowest point, in 2016, after losing the money she made from infomercials, books, and conferences during her 1990s heyday. Director Zeberiah Newman finds her just recently moved out of a weekly motel, working as an Uber Eats driver.
Stop the Insanity is the closest any of these movies comes to an inspirational story, as Newman and others help Powter find a more stable living situation, get her finances in order, and reclaim the rights to her own name. She’s been swindled by unscrupulous business partners, but she’s also a casualty of her own pride, and that’s another signature quality of the Vegas character. It’s pride that kept Gans from being open about his medical issues and dependence on painkillers before his 2009 death at age 52, and pride that drives 60-year-old Terry “Sabu” Brunk to insist on one final match, even though he can sometimes barely get out of bed.
There’s sadness equal to Powter’s in Voices: The Danny Gans Story (on the film festival circuit), although Gans’ filmmaker son Andrew Davies Gans structures Voices more as a more tribute to his father, with lots of glowing testimonials to a man who remains hugely influential in Strip entertainment. There’s no sentiment in Joe Clarke’s Sabu (available via Kinema.com), which follows Brunk in his last days as he prepares for the bout that most likely contributed to his death a few weeks later. Both Gans’ wife and Brunk’s girlfriend talk about being coached in CPR techniques by 911 operators as they frantically try to save their partners’ lives.
It’s fitting that one of the early jokes in Vinnie Plays Vegas: The Con Man of Comedy (available for VOD rental) involves insult comedian Favorito rudely invoking Gans’ name, since Favorito is the only one of these characters who seems beyond sympathy. Favorito is still alive, but he left a trail of victims in his wake as he scammed dozens of friends and associates out of millions of dollars to feed his gambling habit. “Where does any entertainer go for a second chance?” asks filmmaker and fellow comedian Brian Burkhardt. There’s only one answer: a place where all of these people were received with open arms, flaws and all.
