Deborah Vance traded Las Vegas for Hollywood, but only for a night.
Jean Smart, in character as the stand-up comedy legend from the HBO Max series Hacks, took the stage Friday night at the Fonda Theatre for a one-night-only performance of Deborah Vance & Friends & Enemies Live!
The Emmy-winning actress greeted a packed house at the For Your Consideration event with a nod to L.A.’s enduring reputation as a town that rewards beauty.
“They say this is a city where people are superficial and they judge you for your looks, which works out great for me,” she said, before demanding that her assistant, Damien (Mark Indelicato), switch out her water for a martini.
“I hope you don’t mind—I’m drinking a martini,” Smart continued as Deborah. “You know, I wouldn’t say I’m an alcoholic. I’d slur it.”
Smart was joined in character by many of her fellow castmates and friends, including Emmy-winning co-star Hannah Einbinder as her protégé, Ava; Lauren Weedman as the brash Las Vegas Mayor Jo; Hacks producer and actor Pat Regan; and comedian Naomi Ekperigin for the roughly one-hour program. Megan Stalter as the chaotic Kayla Schaefer also joined from “jail” via video call from her phone.
Paul W. Downs, as Vance’s talent manager Jimmy LuSaque, opened the show instead of the initially announced Joy Behar—the View co-host who appeared on the comedy series as a version of herself with an on-screen rivalry with Deborah.
Playing into the tongue-in-cheek “enemies” portion of the show, Downs said Behar “did it to us again.”
“We booked her to open for Deborah weeks ago, and she is a no-show,” the award-winning multihyphenate said. “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, well—Joy’s fooled us like 12 times, actually. I really thought that she and Deborah had buried the hatchet, but that’s on me, I guess, for assuming women can change.”
Because he isn’t a comic, Downs as Jimmy offered to tell a few “industry” stories instead.
“One time during my career, I had to drive emergency protein powder to a set in Rancho Cucamonga for Mark Wahlberg,” Jimmy said. “It was interesting because I was asked to lay it out in the shape of a crucifix, and he snorted it all. But he looks great.”
He then asked the audience to answer a few Deborah Vance trivia questions (“Who stole Deborah’s exact shade of blond in 1998?” Answer: Heather Locklear), with the winners receiving signature Schaefer & LuSaque hats, which Jimmy described as leftover merchandise that “my assistant ordered for our now-defunct management company.”
Lucky for the audience, Kayla overordered, so everyone was able to take one home.
After her opening, Smart’s Deborah introduced Las Vegas Mayor Jo (Weedman), who is currently “on the campaign trail.”
“There is an election coming up in Vegas. And you know, many of you are probably thinking, ‘Well, Mayor Jo, I’m not registered to vote in Vegas,’” she said. “Well, don’t worry, I can take care of that. All you have to do as you are leaving tonight is take a selfie with me holding up this sign: ‘I vote for Jo.’ And that’s it—you’re in. I had some discussions—many, many, many discussions—with the Clark County Election Board, and it’s legally binding.”
Getting back to L.A.’s penchant for cosmetic enhancement, of which Deborah is a fan, she referred to plastic surgery as “age-affirming care,” adding that “insurance should cover it” and “you should be able to start as young as 13.”
She was then interrupted by her writer, Ava (Einbinder), who had been waiting in the wings.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know I don’t know that you should be mapping your vanity onto the very sensitive topic of gender dysphoria,” Ava told Deborah.
Ava added that she was just trying to help Deborah “not get canceled.” Explaining that she keeps a Google Doc called “Things That Could Get Deborah Canceled,” Ava shared a few entries:
“She thinks tall children should be allowed to work full time. … She yells out the Weight Watchers points of anything anyone’s eating. … She parks in the handicapped spots,” to which Deborah replied, “I’m sorry, but the greatest handicap in history is being a woman!”
Later in the show, Stalter as Kayla appeared on screen in a video texted to Jimmy. Wearing smudged eye makeup and lipstick, Kayla announced that she was in jail after security removed her from a Los Angeles Sparks WNBA game.
“In the second quarter, I got caught on the Jumbotron and panicked because I told you I had that business dinner,” Kayla explained. “So I pulled my shirt over my head. Who cares? Forgot I wasn’t wearing a bra. Apparently, it’s illegal—public indecency, and it’s against the law.”
Hacks co-executive producer and actor Regan, who appeared in two episodes of the series as the bellhop Preon, performed a stand-up segment, sharing in horror that he “accidentally drew strength from the Katy Perry song Firework” in 2026.
“I had to fight it. I was like, ‘Do not draw strength from this,’” he said.
Comedian Naomi Ekperigin, who appeared in the Hacks episode featuring Deborah’s roast, performed her comedy segment wearing a COVID-style mask.
“I ain’t taking a mask off, honey,” she said. “We got a crackhead in charge of public health, OK? No, you ain’t gonna see my face till 2038.”
Deborah returned to the stage to joke about everything from Jeffrey Epstein to internet billionaires.
“Well, the nerds are ruining the world. Yeah, we thought it was gonna be the jocks. It’s the nerds,” she said. “We should have known long before AI that they were sick. You remember when they went from Geek Squad to Genius Bar? That was the canary in the coal mine.”
Wrapping up the show, Deborah and Ava joined each other on stage to recreate a meaningful moment from the show’s series finale.
Holding hands and cocktails while sharing hugs, the legend and her protégé sang the Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand duet that plays over the final shot of the finale: “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again.”
