Career
Comedian Sandy Hackett had his first television appearance on Rowan & Martin"s Laugh-In at age 11. At age 20 Sandy became the Entertainment Director at University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he served for 3 semesters until his graduation in December 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration. Sandy then went on to work in the entertainment department of the former Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
He helped to create the Sahara Hotel Showcase of Talent with producer Terry James.
This concept offered unknown performers a chance to perform in the Sahara"s Casbah lounge. Eventually the show became known as Sandy Hackett"s Talent Showcase with Sandy as the producer and host of the weekly showcase.
The show also did a year in Reno at the Sahara Reno and a year in Lake Tahoe at the Sahara Tahoe. The show moved from the Sahara in 1986 to the Mint Hotel & Casino on Fremont Street downtown Las Vegas.
The show appeared on Sunday nights at the Mint and then opened at the Dunes Hotel & Casino on Monday nights.
Over the years Sandy introduced over 10,000 performers at his showcases to the Las Vegas audience. In 1990 Sandy opened Sandy Hackett"s Comedy Club in Laughlin, Nevada at Sam"s Town Gold River. The hotel was bought and sold several times but Sandy lasted the decade presenting over 1000 comedians to the Laughlin audiences.
In 2000 Sandy started work on a script for a show about the Rat Pack.
The show opened in Las Vegas at the Greek Isle Hotel and Casino as "The Tribute to, Sammy, Joey & Dean, in May of 2002 and ran successfully for 5 years until it moved downtown to The Plaza Hotel and Casino. In 2009 Sandy"s partners disagreed with Sandy about the direction of the show.
The shows have successfully toured throughout the United States including San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Fort Worth, Memphis, New York, Dayton, Manchester, Charlotte, Detroit, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Fresno, East Lansing, Easton, Denver.
