Comedy Uncorked: ‘In Pour Taste’ Combines Laughs With Wine For A Unique Experience In Las Vegas

Las Vegas is swapping bottle service for wine tasting and laughs as “In Pour Taste: A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience” makes its U.S. debut. The limited engagement show blends standup comedy with curated wine tasting and audience participation for an experience that’s equal parts hilarious and sophisticated. 

Comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh bring their award-winning mix of witty banter, improvisation, and interactive moments to a unique venue - Lighthouse Artspace inside the Shops at Crystals, adjacent to ARIA Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Guests will sip, swirl, and stroll around exotic locations projected on the walls of the venue. After a few sips and laughs, the party really takes off when the audience is asked some interesting questions and taught how to dance to the Wiggles song, “Hot Potato.” 

The comedians had some time to chat with The Blast exclusively about their Vegas show, between enjoying Starbucks and Taco Bell (despite hilariously being warned that mixing the two might not be fun for them later in the day). They took their chances and made it through the chat without needing a bathroom, for those wondering.

Comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh, two of Australia's fastest rising comedians, have taken their hilarious show on the road and recently landed in none other than Sin City.

Between the two of them, they have performed in multiple international locations, including Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, and all over Australia. And did we mention they aren't even 30 yet? They shared with The Blast how this show came to be and how they made it to Vegas.

"So basically for this show, we just wanted some free wine and essentially worked backwards from there," Preston said. "We did this show about three years ago for the very first time. Ethan and I have been doing comedy in our own right for about a decade now. We were very good friends with people who ran a wine bar in Melbourne, where we both come from."

They explained that their friendship turned into a great business collab when they began their wine and comedy show there. While they didn't really want to do it at first, they couldn't help but think of all the "free wine we would get that night and into the future" so they decided to go for it and here they are years later still enjoying some free wine during their hilarious interactive shows.

"It's led us all the way to Vegas, so follow your dreams," they shared.

With a different audience, different wines, and a different wine expert, this is a show you can see multiple times, and it will be different every time.

“So the premise if pretty simple. Basically you get five wines included in the ticket price. We’ve got a wine expert who will take you through the wines and then Sweeney and I host the show. We do a whole bunch of interactive stuff with the crowd, so a bunch of jokes, and we do a healthy amount of picking on the wine expert for being a bit of a nerd,” Cavanagh said.

“We’ve actually got a roster of about 15 or so wine experts from all the best spots around Vegas, and these people are super qualified. So if you do happen to enjoy the show enough to come back maybe with another group of friend or work group or something, the chances are you’ll probably have a very different experience with a different wine expert and some different wines.”

Don't drink wine? No problem! You can still enjoy the show.

"We like the idea that, say, if you're in a group of girls and one person may be pregnant, we want them to still be able to come to the show. Or someone in your group maybe is a big old nerd, we still want them to be able to come," they explained. "The idea is that we'll kind of take anyone's money. We don't really discriminate that way. We are just very nice people, kind of the opposite of charity, we just want to take as much as we can."

The Vegas show marks the first time the venue itself becomes an integral part of the experience. It has a unique feature that will have everyone talking and taking out their phones for cool selfies.

"We've got the immersive element in the space there at Lighthouse Artspace where all of the countries from all the wines that we're pouring, the vineyards from those countries will be displayed on the walls as they're being poured out in front of you," they explained.

"So you get to travel to France and Spain and Italy and all the way to California as well, which is really exciting, without any of the jet lag or having to go through TSA, which is very exciting."

When asked about funny interactions or audience reactions, the comedians said there have been many memorable moments in their comedy journey.

"There was one lady who came up to us and said it was a wonderful show and she was like, 'I want you boys to know that this is the happiest I have been since my wedding day.' And we were like, 'That's lovely but I think you need to get a better life because the bar is really low from where you're standing,'" they shared.

"But you know, we get a lot of funny things happen, like we get people drinking beer in the show in some places. We did a show once where a lady had a cup of English breakfast tea that she drank the whole way through with her five wines. So yeah, we get all sorts."

"In Pour Taste" just recently opened in Vegas and it will be there until the end of November before it's on to the next venture for the two friends. Since things have been going so well, they are hoping to extend the show past the November dates.

When asked what's next, the two let their comedy out to play.

"There's a new venue coming up at the White House that sounds really promising. There's a brand new space that's going to be really good for us, so I'm trying to get a booking," they joked. "The capacity of that place is about to go way up, and it should be finished any day now. I heard all these federal workers are ready to go help us out. It sounds like things are being run really well. We have the greatest wine tasting. We've got the best wine tasting."

In January, they'll be taking the show on the road in Florida, where they will be performing for two-and-a-half weeks in Fort Lauderdale and then heading to Miami for three days.

For more information on "In Pour Taste," visit their website.