Stay ConnectedPodKats! is a weekly hang with the biggest names in entertainment, hosted by man-about-town columnist John “Kats” Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. You can find his column on page 3A every day and online all the time at http://reviewjournal.com/Kats.
Thanks to longtime Vegas headliner Frankie Moreno for the PodKats! theme, ‘Biggest Cat in Town,’ from the album Broke Down in Paradise.
NEW SCHEDULE: New episodes of PodKats! will be released every Monday. My guest on this episode of PodKats! is a legendary boxing analyst and broadcaster who has called many title bouts in his four decades in the sport, including Hearns vs. Hagler and Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. A member of several halls of fame, he is also a very good singer, and you can catch him performing at Tuscany Suites on Aug. 2. He is my friend, Al Bernstein.
My guest in this episode of PodKats! is a Las Vegas legend, the mob attorney who defended such reputed Mafia members as Herbie Blitzstein, Meyer Lansky, Lefty Rosenthal, and Tony Spilotro. He’s a former three-term mayor, and this week he’s being celebrated on Fremont Street for his 80th birthday with an 80-martini toast. He is Oscar Goodman, and we sat together at the restaurant named for him at the Plaza.
My guest in this episode of PodKats! is a legend in the world of magic and a long-running Strip headliner: David Copperfield, who performs at the theater named for him at MGM Grand. Copperfield still sells out up to 15 shows per week. He’s best-known for making the Statue of Liberty disappear, and walking through the Great Wall of China on national TV in the 1980s. Most recently he returned the missing 15th star to the original Star Spangled Banner during a routine at the Smithsonian Museum of American history in Washington D.C. In the first of a two-part PodKats! he talks of his memorabilia collection, his famous stunts and why he became a magician in the first place.
Our guest on this episode of PodKats! Is the headlining magician at Westgate Las Vegas, Jen Kramer. She is not only the only female magician headliner in Las Vegas, but also the only magician to hold a Yale degree. She has just celebrated her one year anniversary and has signed on for another Two years at Westgate Cabaret.
Our guest on this episode of PodKats! is the founder of SPI Entertainment in Las Vegas, Adam Steck. He produces such shows as Boyz II Men at the Mirage; Human Nature at the Venetian; and Thunder From Down Under and the Australian Bee Gees. He has a new act, who is also a familiar figure to magic fans. Hans Klok! Who opens his “World’s Fastest Magician,” show on July 29th inside the newly renovated Thunderland Showroom at Excalibur. Steck moved to Vegas in 2002 and has become one of the city’s most successful entertainment executives.
Our guest on this episode of PodKats! is Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, who on May 16 celebrated his 60th anniversary of performing in Las Vegas. The 77-year-old Newton is currently headlining at Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace. He talks of his recent back surgery, his upcoming hip-replacement surgery, his relationship with his late brother Jerry, and his plans for possible move back into Casa de Shenandoah.
Our guest on this episode of PodKats! is the man who famously reminds us he is the loser of “America’s Got Talent.” But he’s no loser. He is Piff the Magic Dragon, the comic magician dressed as a dragon at Flamingo Las Vegas. The showroom where he performs at 8 p.m. has just been re-named for Piff. The man whose legal name is John van der Put shares his inspirations, how he sometimes performs out of the costume and the night a kid threw sidekick Mr. Piffles into the crowd. Piff was so upset, he turned down a dinner invitation from Shania Twain.
My guest on this edition of PodKats! is one of the co-founders of Opportunity Village, Linda Smith. She has just released the book “Unwanted, How a Mother Learned to Turn Shame, Grief and Fear Into Purpose, Passion and Empowerment. Linda helped raise a half a billion dollars at Opportunity Village in Las Vegas from 1978 through 2016, and lauched such initiatives as the Great Santa Run, Camelot and Magical Forest. Opportunity Village, of course, is the organization that provides assistance for adults with intellectual disabiliteis. All of this charitable work was inspired by Linda’s late son, Christopher, who was born with Down Syndrome.
My guest on this episode of PodKats! is Daniel Lamarre, president and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, opening “R.U.N” at Luxor on Oct. 24th.
My guests on this episode of PodKats! are Perez Hilton, a trailblazer in the world of celebrity journalism with his Perezhilton.com website, which he launched in 2004. And also his podcast with Chris Booker, which he is taping at The Space on Saturday afternon. Also joining us is Nina DiGregorio, founder of Femmes of Rock starring Bella Electric Strings. The rock-violin act is performing over three Saturday nights at Westgate Cabaret.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
