Frank Nicotero grew up immersed in the pop culture worlds of comedy and sports—not an uncommon pairing. But the lifelong fan of the art of stand-up and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers also had some early exposure to sports betting.
“I remember the Super Bowl between Miami and San Francisco (on January 20, 1985) and I bet the kid next to me at the lunch table $15, back when $15 was a lot of money for a kid,” he recalls with a chuckle. “But I thought, let’s make it interesting, so we also bet a dollar for every point differential in the final score.
“Of course, the 49ers blew out the Dolphins, and I had to give the kid $34. That was my Christmas money. I learned a hard lesson, which is gambling isn’t fun when you lose.”
Today, Nicotero is coming up a winner at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. After 35 years as a touring stand-up comedian and memorable stints hosting TV game shows like Street Smarts, he moved from LA to Vegas in 2023 to launch Punch Lines, a webcast firmly planted at the intersection of comedy and sports, streaming live five days a week from the South Point Studio.
“It literally came up out of the blue, and it went fast, as most things do in this crazy world of showbiz,” he says. “But we’ve been able to keep growing. The show’s getting better, we’re constantly tweaking it, and our roster of guests been amazing.”
Nicotero and rotating co-hosts Alex White, Matt Neverett and Jeff Parles have chatted with sports legends like Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Sean Salisbury, Greg Vaughn and Brendan Gaughan, and comedians such as Bob Zany, Butch Bradley, Luenell and Murray Sawchuck. And betting experts like South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews, Vinny Magliulo and Jimmy Vaccaro are in the mix as well.
“We don’t do game highlights, we like finding those viral videos or fan footage that really sticks with people—that’s the stuff I put on Punch Lines, stuff we can riff off of,” Nicotero says. “It’s definitely about finding the fun and the comedy.”
Clearly, there’s no better place for him to do it than Las Vegas, perhaps the hottest place in the country when it comes to sports and comedy. “It’s a great place to be right now, and I really like having a five-day-a-week job, which I never thought I’d say,” he says. “I eat breakfast now. I don’t think I started eating breakfast until I was 40.”
That’s the comedian’s schedule, but the best part is Nicotero talks sports and betting during the day and still makes time for stand-up sets at night. He’s popped up all over, but spent a lot of stage time at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM Grand, Jimmy Kimmel’s at the Linq Promenade, and the Wiseguys venues. He’ll perform at Delirious Comedy Club at Hennessy’s Tavern Downtown on January 24, and at Paymon’s on West Sahara January 29.
“It’s a great community, as far as stand-up. Comedians are a unique fraternity. Sometimes in this business, there are just some people who aren’t nice, but comedians are really good to each other,” Nicotero says. “We all know how hard it is to get started and to pay your dues, a lot of one-nighters. And it’s like that at the South Point—everyone I work with, we all hang out socially.”
PUNCH LINES WITH FRANK NICOTERO LIVE Monday-Friday at noon from the South Point Studio, youtube.com/@PunchlinesFN.
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