The show booked a 1500 seat theater at ~$100/seat. That's $150,000 per show on a full house, presumably 300 shows a year. But a lot of high-priced asses in seats is lucrative. Granted, the staff for the show is large (260 crew for a two-man act), but you're still talking a lot of money.

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The "first time in show" patter was just part of the act from what I've read. Nothing I've seen has suggested that the cat was actually debuting.