LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It has been a big year for Las Vegas performer Jesse Highley. He is part of The Human Fountains act in America's Got Talent Live at the Luxor. The group recently wrapped filming an episode of the TV show where he performed alongside Heidi Klum, who participated in the act. He occasionally performs as the Jester in Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. He also wrote iLuminate at The Strat, which launched a U.S. tour this week.
He said it has been quite the journey from his humble beginnings in a town called Peculiar, Missouri. A trip to the circus sparked his passion for performing.
"I remember my parents took me to my first circus when I was five or six years old. It was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus," Highley said. "There was something about walking into that world of color, sound, and excitement where it literally put the bug in me that that's what I was meant to do for the rest of my life."
Highley said the fine arts scene wasn't exactly booming since his hometown only had 1,777 people.
"I was self-taught," Highley said. "I would teach myself to juggle, stilt walk, tumble, unicycle. You name it."
Highley said another turning point was seeing Les Miserables on a junior high school trip. His love of theater and choir led to a college scholarship and eventually, to Disney.
"About two weeks before I graduated college, Walt Disney World had a casting tour where they were going across the country looking for talent to fill at parks in Orlando," Highley said. "I went why not? I went to the audition and they kept me through the first two to three rounds and towards the end they go 'Could we possibly fit you into some wigs, costume pieces, and makeup? We want to see how you would look as Prince Charming.'"
Highley got the job and performed at Disney World as Snow White's Prince, Cinderella's Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty's Prince Philip. After working in Orlando and at Tokyo Disneyland, Highley said he was ready for a new challenge.
"I was young and good-looking. After playing three years as arm candy to Disney Princesses, I was sick and tired of being the good-looking guy. They're boring. People don't want to see you. They want to see Cinderella and you're the extra cherry on top," Highley said. "You never got to put your imprint on the character. Everyone remembers the funny man so I wanted to be funny."
Highley said he remembered his childhood dream of performing at the circus and that Ringling Bros. had their winter quarters in Tampa.
"I called up and asked how they auditioned their clowns. They said send us a video showing us what you can do. We'll evaluate it and get back to you," Highley said. "I jumped on my stilts, unicycle, did my character work up Main Street at Disney. I got a call from their head of casting and oddly enough, it was the gentleman who used to serve as the ringmaster of the show when I was growing up. I recognized his voice right off the bat and he said they wanted to offer me a contract as a clown with The Greatest Show On Earth."
For the next three years, Highley performed for hundreds of thousands of people on the road. When that contract was up, he headed to Universal Studios where he was cast as Dracula in Beetlejuice's Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue and during the holidays, he performed as the Grinch.
"I got to do Grinchmas. I got to wear Jim Carrey's original prosthetics. I got to do it all."
Highley also performed as an improv comic at Sea World and during Easter season, he sang at a Bible-themed park called The Holy Land Experience. After those contracts were up, he performed as a singing comic on cruise ships on and off for four years. That was when Disney called and this time, Highley got to perform as the live-action Buzz Lightyear for Disney Live!
"I think I was in St. Petersburg, Russia at the time. I didn't have any juggling equipment or anything to audition with. They were like we want to present Buzz as this skilled circus-type character. We need someone who can look like him, embody him, juggle, unicycle, and isn't afraid to fly around the stage," Highley said. "I was cast as Buzz for Mickey's Rockin' Road Show. I originated the role, toured it domestically for a year, did the Mexico leg of the tour, and took a break and came to Vegas."
Highley moved to Las Vegas and began auditioning immediately. In just a few weeks, he had already booked two gigs.
"There was an open call for a show called Tony n' Tina's Wedding. I was offered the contract to play Joey Vitale, the gay younger brother of Tina. The show is all about this big dysfunctional Italian wedding gone wrong. It's about 95% improv and is immersive," Highley said. "It was a night show so I also found out the Venetian had performances during the day where they were utilizing clown-type performers who could juggle and be funny in St. Mark's Square. I would start work at noon, do six little shows in St. Mark's Square where I could create and tryout material and really hone and polish little bits of an act that I could go on and sell. Then, I'd be done by 6 p.m. and I went from the Venetian to doing Tony n' Tina's Wedding at 7:30 p.m. at Planet Hollywood."
Highley said he finished those contracts and went back on ships for about a year before returning to the valley. When he returned to Las Vegas, he was cast in a show called Zombie Burlesque. He also saw an audition notice that actor Channing Tatum was holding auditions for Magic Mike Live.
"I saw they were looking for a physical comedian and I went well, does this comedian have to have a bulging eight-pack and abs like Chippendale's and Thunder From Down Under," Highley said laughing. "They didn't specify so I thought I'd just send in a video tape and see what happens. Lo and behold, I had a casting director from New York City call me and he said Channing Tatum has seen your video and would like to call you in for a callback. We're going to send you the script and he wants to see what you can do with it. My jaw hit the ground."
Highley said he was offered a contract and he really felt at home with that group.
"I had never seen the show and couldn't remember the movie so I was flying into Magic Mike blind," Highley said. "My first day, they said just watch and see what we have. I went wow. This is not the typical male revue. This is a full, professionally, massively-produced dance show. This is a stand-up comedy show. This is a Broadway-style show that's going to take Vegas by storm. Channing did that. We were such a tight-knit family there. I had my reservations about being a non-muscled man with one ab. I wasn't like them and it was fine because that's what Channing wanted. He wanted me for me."
That wasn't the only thing on Highley's plate. Thanks to a colleague at Tony n' Tina's Wedding, he found out about an opportunity to teach some classes at Henderson International School.
"They brought me on initially as an after-school circus teacher. They saw the interest from the students and eventually offered me a part-time position," Highley said. "I had the luck of having a headmaster say to me, create your own curriculum. I created a class called Comedy 101. They started the year doing sketch comedy, learned about how to write comedy, the formula of comedy, and classic comedy like Charlie Chaplin. When I first started out, I got a little pushback from parents. However, I broke down what they were learning. Using comedy as a tool, they were practicing creative writing, cognitive thinking, speech and delivery, self-esteem boosting skills. It became a popular class. I taught from noon to 3 p.m. and then went to do Magic Mike."
Highley said his dark days for Magic Mike were Mondays and Tuesdays. He added, he loves working and saw where Tournament of Kings was auditioning for a jester.
"It was perfect. I was working seven days a week. I could play this chauvinist pig at Magic Mike Live Wednesday through Sunday and then, I would go to Tournament of Kings where I would play this fun-loving, sweet, jovial, knock-about clown on my weekends," Highley said. "I was on top of the world. I got to play two completely contrasting characters in successful, long-running shows."
But then, COVID-19 came and shut the world down.
"Magic Mike had already closed down at the Hard Rock because they were making their way to the Sahara and I had only been full-time at Excalibur for three weeks," Highley said. "They said we'll halt the show for about a week. Fast forward two years."
Highley said he ended up very lucky compared to other friends in the industry.
"Channing Tatum was such an amazing boss because we had already been signed to reopen the show when the theater was rebuilt at the Sahara. He also paid for our full benefits through the entire pandemic," Highley said. "At Tournament of Kings, they kept reassuring me that I was going to have a job after the pandemic. Many of my friends who worked at shows like Zumanity and Le Rêve, these mega, long-running shows, didn't make it. Vegas went through a lot when it came to the entertainment community here. A lot of people moved out of town because they weren't assured work."
Eventually, the shows re-opened and Highley continued performing. However, he said he grew tired of playing the bad guy at Magic Mike and was looking for new opportunities.
"I had done five years of playing the world's biggest douchebag and I was tired of not being loved. I was loved by Channing Tatum, which for a lot of people, that is enough. But when you play a villain, a bad guy, you don't get that love and that appreciation from an audience. That's all I had in my life. I needed it. I needed to feel loved again."
That's when Cirque du Soleil rang and asked if he could spit water.
"They said we are bringing in a new act into one of our resident shows. We got your name as a physical comedian in the community. I said yes. I know comedy water spitting," Highley said. "I was taught when I did Ringling Bros. and I retained those skills. They said, we're wanting to move on this quickly because our show opens a few days before Christmas."
In addition to performing, Highley is also credited with helping the iLuminate show at The Strat.
"I had heard that it was coming in and it opened and closed very quickly. They had brought in a New York director who thought he knew the Vegas beast, which happens a lot here. A lot of times shows will come in and they just don't know the workings of how to make a show successful here in Vegas and they think they can mold it like they would for audiences in New York or Los Angeles and you can't," Highley said. "It's its own creation. You have to live here and be from here to know that. They reached out to me and asked me what I would change. They liked what they heard and said do you want to write our new show?"
Highley jumped at the chance but said he was scared, nervous, and excited about being given this unique opportunity.
"They had to save their show. They had already invested a lot of time, money, effort, and talent into the project," Highley said. "It was a privilege and there was a lot of weight on my shoulders. I rewrote the show in a night and wrote a show that I thought I would want to see as well as a show that I thought would be fun and push iLuminate to showcase the amazing talent that they are."
The show re-opened two weeks after it had closed. This time, the show received rave reviews.
"It's really fun to think I wrote a story that people can relate to, that people have fun watching, that is gaining an audience," Highley said. "We opened coming out of the pandemic. The audiences weren't there, not just for our show but shows across Las Vegas. Little by little, the audiences found our show and they keep coming and keep supporting the show. That feels good."
The U.S. tour kicked off on Tuesday in Midland, Texas. According to their schedule, there will be over 50 performances in about two dozen states.
As for Highley, he said there's nothing slowing him down and there are still goals and dreams he's looking forward to reaching someday.
"I would love to originate a character in a new Cirque du Soleil show. I think that would be so much fun. Cirque has that perfect match of theater and circus. I would love that opportunity," Highley said. "I would love to tour with a Broadway musical. One of my dream roles would be Thenardier in Les Miserables. Those are still obtainable things for me. Those dreams drive me forward. They keep me learning new skills. They keep me polishing the skills I currently have. The day I become too comfortable or complacent and think there's nothing left to learn, that's the day I get out of show business."
He added that he hopes to continue bringing smiles to faces and helping people make memories for years to come.
"I can't ever imagine not performing. I don't necessarily have a lifespan on my career. I can be funny until the day I die. The world is always in need of laughter. The world is always in need of a clown. Look at Dick Van Dyke or my all-time comedy idol Carol Burnett. She's still going strong," Highley said. "It goes to show as long as you have breath in your body, you can still make someone happy. You can go out on stage and make someone laugh."
