Luxe Life Blog

Strip Scribbles: Kevin Burke’s mind-blowing March Madness magic

Posted March 17, 2010 • 5:17 p.m.

Kevin Burke and Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Photo: TVT

If Kevin Burke, who stars in his own downtown comedy magic show, pulls off the hat trick, it’s likely to go into the history of prestidigitation as one of the greatest stunts of all time. Kevin will get in touch today with St. Patrick’s Day spirits, and because he’s Irish, that means a bottle of Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey. When finished with the last drop, he’ll turn mentalist and make a mind-blowing prediction.

Kevin will write down on a piece of paper the final two teams competing in March Madness, along with its winner with the exact score and a betting slip with his $100 gamble on the outcome. All will be placed inside a box that will be locked in an open cage and on display around the clock in the Party Pit at Fitzgerald’s downtown until its opened right after the final game April 5.

“I will not touch it. I will not have any assistants to touch it,” Kevin told me. In fact, I’m going to be one of four people tomorrow to sign the straps that bind the box when we place it inside the cage. “The only person who will touch the box from that point onward is the Strip celebrity who will open it at the end of the game and read the prediction,” added Kevin, who appears nightly in Defending the Caveman at Excalibur. “If I’m correct with my prediction from the Ides of March, I will donate all the winnings from the bet to charity.”

*It’s now definite that hometown hero Vince Neil’s new solo album Tattoos & Tequila will be released June 22, and here’s the first look at his new album art and the title track video.

Slaughter bassist Dana Strum and Jeff Blando play on the album with drummer Zoltan Chaney, who is likely to become a star in his own right based on his video performance that already has thousands of female fans squealing. The title track was written and produced by Marti Frederiksen of Aerosmith and Def Leppard fame. Go to VinceNeil.net for a free download.

*It’s the ultimate and up-close magic experience right in your face and under your eyes and nose. Try figuring out how magician Steve Dacri pulls off his card manipulation and other tricks when he’s inches from the audience, and you’ll find it impossible. The sleight-of-hand miracle maker performs tonight and every Wednesday in the Shimmer Showroom at the Las Vegas Hilton. Steve is known professionally as “The Fastest Hands in the World” and was presented with the highest honor a magician can receive, Member of the Inner Magic Circle With Gold Star, reserved for the elite of the magic world including Siegfried & Roy, David Copperfield and Lance Burton. For the past two years, he also was presented with the Merlin Award Close-Up Magician of the Year, the only magician to win the honor two consecutive years.

*After three successful seasons, the Hard Rock Hotel pool will start a Season 4 of Friday night performances starting May 7 with Flyleaf. The other groups announced for the first shows of the season are Toots & the Maytails on May 14, De La Soul on May 21, Rusted Root on May 28, Gin Blossoms on June 4, Pepper on June 11, Bob Marley’s Original Wailers on June 18 and Los Lonely Boys on Aug. 13.

STAR SURVEILLANCE

*Flamingo headliner comedian George Wallace performed the first ceremonial “smash” to open the first Las Vegas Smashburger. Also there was Pawn Stars personality Austin "Chumlee" Russell, who got a lesson on making the mouth-watering Smashburgers. The group enjoyed Smashburgers and shakes and posed with franchisees Jerry and Kim Gunderson and their managers as they were presented with a proclamation from Mayor Oscar Goodman’s office naming yesterday Smashburger Day. Photographer Denise Truscello was on hand to capture these shots. The restaurant officially opened to the public today and will welcome Later Days on Saturday for performances on the patio throughout the weekend.

*Architect Frank Gehry is in Las Vegas today taking a guided tour by Larry Ruvo of the completed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in downtown’s Symphony Park. Frank designed the extraordinary building, and this is the first time he’s seen it finished. Steve Wynn recently took a tour, following in the heels of former President George W. Bush and singer Paul Anka. Steve said: “I never dreamed it would be such an incredible facility and all from volunteer donations and contributions.” The clinic will be officially opened with a gala ceremony next month.

*Full Tilt poker pro Phil Ivey is the cover star of the April issue of Cigar Aficionado in which he’s titled America’s Poker King. In the interview with writer Michael Kaplan, Phil, who lives here, reveals that he wants to create his own high-rollers-only casino and eventually become an options trader. And, yes, the cover shows him smoking a lit stogie.

TONIGHT’S TIPS

In keeping with the green theme for St. Patrick’s Day, Carey Hart throws his Kiss Me I’m Irish Party at Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Hotel complete with a show from 51/Fifty and girl-on-girl kissing contests. … My longtime music friend Jerry Greenberg presents his Aerosmith lookalike and soundalike tribute band Aeromyth in Bringing Back the Music at the Hilton. … Don’t forget my pal John O’Donnell’s Ghostbar St. Patrick’s Day party in the Palms, where he’s been named best Las Vegas bartender.

TOMORROW’S TEASES

We take an extraordinary photo tour of the amazingly sexy, blow-your-mind, just-opened penthouse suites in the new HRH Tower of the Hard Rock Hotel. Wait until you learn about the Provocateur Penthouse where the near-naked women are lying in bed with you or joining you in the shower. Talk about Altered States, which is the title of another penthouse where you are enveloped and engulfed inside a 360-degree circle of psychedelic video displays. Plus, the opening of The Light Group’s eagerly anticipated Liquid pool at CityCenter’s Aria, the ShoWest Awards and a rundown of Michael Jackson’s estate possessions going up for auction on the Strip.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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