Heather: 0:00

Evel Knievel inspired millions of us with this courage and perseverance. We're building a museum so you can relive those memories and be reinvigorated with that spirit of bravery.

Evel Knievel: 0:13

My name is Evel Knievel. I'm a professional daredevil.

Heather: 0:17

Along the way we meet people involved in the life, the times, and the legacy of the King of Daredevils. Here with their stories is your host, Joe Friday.

Frank Gifford: 0:27

And he will go

Jeff: 1:52

Yeah,

Joe P: 1:52

I've been looking for a podcast mentor and you had the best Las Vegas podcast that I found. Ironically, you're not from Vegas?

Jeff: 2:01

No, which is really weird. Everybody always gets a little thrown off by that, but I feel like a local, there's times I get annoyed by the tourists and I hand out directions to people So I kind of start feeling a little bit like a local. So it's good. Yeah, I mean, it's great to, as I say, finally sit down and meet. I've been called a lot of things. I've never been called a mentor, so I appreciate that.

Joe P: 2:19

You've helped me immensely so far.

Jeff: 2:22

Let's start off, I want to find out a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with the Evel Knievel Museum. What was your connection with Evel Knievel?

Joe P: 2:31

I have a business in Topeka, Kansas where we do a lot of stainless steel specialties, especially in the food business. It's the center of agriculture there in Kansas So we have a lot of food processing. My specialty was stainless steel. One day a guy comes in and says, can you polish this bumper And I said, I can, but I won't it's not what I do. I don't do automotive. You're not just working on somebody's tractor, you have get whole story. They pull their phone out and start telling you all about it ended up being he's really trying to twist my arm. This is Evel Knievel's bumper. And I say, dude, does Evel Knievel have money? I didn't know Knievel was dead the time. But it turns out that it was historic Harley Davidson of Topeka that needed this restoration work they were working this semi-truck that Evel Knievel had. It's like a circus wagon. If this big red wagon comes through your town, you know something big's going to happen. So We ended up helping them out and a hundred local contractors helped and so we restored this big red that's how I started to get involved.

Jeff: 3:38

Mm-hmm. And so you mentioned like you didn't know Evel Knievel was dead. Were you not an Evel Knievel fan prior to this situation? I'm sure you were, obviously, you were aware of who Evel Knievel was.

Joe P: 3:49

Yeah, I was a fan when I was kid.

Jeff: 3:51

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 3:51

But 1977, Evel Knievel dropped off the map

Jeff: 3:54

Right.

Joe P: 3:55

I quit following him when they quit putting the front of the National Enquirer I hadn't heard that name since

Jeff: 4:03

1977 Right.

Joe P: 4:05

I was a fan then but moved on.

Jeff: 4:08

Obviously now you're involved with the museum, so you know, the Evel Knievel story intimately. Let's talk a little bit about Evel Knievel story share a little bit about his life and his history and how he, where he started and what he ended up doing.

Joe P: 4:23

Okay. He started in butte, Montana, where he was born started all the shenanigans the motorcycle riding and hucksterism deal where he started a security business for 30 bucks a month. He guarantees your tavern will not get broken into

Jeff: 4:42

Yeah. One of those kinds of deals.

Joe P: 4:43

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. You don't pay the 30 bucks. Well, there's no guarantee your tavern's not going to get broken into.

Jeff: 4:47

I get it. Yeah.

Joe P: 4:48

Yeah. Worked at the mines there. Dropped out high school there. He was a, high school athlete, so he was a ski jumper in school award-winning amateur hockey player. In the Army, he was a pole vaulter that's where I he got his start. Made his way around country. His hero was Joie Chitwood from Topeka Kansas, who was a race car driver. hugely skilled race car driver. He could take his car up two wheels go around the track Took his show on the road. He's got rodeo clowns and everything, and he's jumping over flaming barrels and Evel Knievel goes and sees Joie Chitwood crash into a wall and says,"That's what I want to do rest of my life." it's a long story, but his launch into stardom was here in Las Vegas

Jeff: 5:37

Right. So I think people who are, Vegas fanatics or even with a little bit of knowledge about Vegas have a bit of an idea of the Vegas connection with Evel Knievel, but it it 1969? Am I getting my numbers right? 0, 67. So I was close. Okay. It was so 19.

Joe P: 5:54

You were really close. New.

Jeff: 5:55

I was really close.

Joe P: 5:55

New Year's Eve.

Jeff: 5:56

Yeah. New Year's Eve, 1967 into 68. And he decides prior to that, obviously he's going to jump his motorcycle over the fountains of Caesars Palace.

Joe P: 6:06

Yeah. He's unemployed at that point. He tried to have a Joie Chitwood circus where he had a little guy who would entertain crowds. If Evel was going to jump over two trucks, then Butch Wilhelm would get on his little mini bike jump over two Tonka trucks, if Evel's going through flaming boards. Butch is going through cardboard.

Jeff: 6:29

Yeah.

Joe P: 6:30

I as an aside Butch eventually became an Ewok, and he lived in Hollywood.

Jeff: 6:34

Oh really?

Joe P: 6:34

Yeah, he's unemployed. He's sitting at a bar in Butte, Montana when one of his buddies says,"Hey, you know, our fellow beautician? Beautician? Fellow Buttian is fighting against Dick Tiger." His name's Rick Rouse from Butte Montana going to fight against Dick Tiger in a boxing match and it's in Vegas. Let's road trip it So they pile from the bar into a van to Vegas where they cannot afford a room at this palatial venue Jay Sarno has built this 25 million dollar hotel. with the Roman columns, hostesses dressed like goddesses. They can't afford to stay there, but they can afford a beer there. They go into the bar and one of his buddies, this guy says, his buddies got great ideas."You know, you could be the draw here. They don't have a Dean Martin, like Sands has, they don't have a Frank Sinatra like the Dunes You could do like your wheelies and tricks you do at home here as a draw." Evel said"The more beer I drank, the smaller fountains got until I decide I'm going jump fountains, I'm going to call the owner of joint." Yeah. that's exactly what he did. He called the owner but could not get past the receptionist, even though he explains,"I'm famous. I was on Wide World of Sports for three minutes". Jay Sarno is not going to take call he tells the receptionist. No more calls from that

Jeff: 8:02

yeah.

Joe P: 8:02

yayhoo. So Evel begins to disguise his voice

Jeff: 8:07

love it.

Joe P: 8:08

Hey, it's Bill Fleming for ABC's Wide World of Sports. I'm calling the about this Evel Knievel character that's supposed jump your fountains on New Year's Eve. Making sure you have enough rooms for me in my entire crew." Sarno says,"never heard of it then"Hey, it's Samy Smith. My boss here at Sports Illustrated told me to come take pictures of this character Evel knievel jumping over your fountains on New Year's Eve. What time does that start?" and finally he Evel calls with a lawyer accent. Hello, this is Saul Rosenberg. I understand that you are promoting an event which my client Evel Knievel, is to jump your fountains. The only problem is we don't have any sort contract or agreement for him to perform at your place. I'm inclined to sue you as it happens, I'm going out town another of my clients. You may have heard Lawrence Welk, but Evel Knievel is in Las Vegas and available to meet with you tomorrow. So by then Sarno is going...

Jeff: 9:03

I love it.

Joe P: 9:03

Yeah. Sarno goes from"Never heard of it" to"Call me back" to"Where you been, kid, I've been looking all over for you."

Jeff: 9:08

Yeah.

Joe P: 9:10

So that beginning, that's the beginning of the Caesar's Palace story.

Jeff: 9:16

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 9:17

later Evel'fessed up to it and he and Jay Sarno became close friends

Jeff: 9:23

Yeah.

Joe P: 9:24

But at the time that's how he he got the gig for very little money a thousand dollars on New Year's Eve, a thousand dollars on New Year's Day.

Jeff: 9:32

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 9:34

Sarno said, I'm not covering your hospital bills either. Knievel wrecks just spoiler, I guess it's not a spoiler alert.

Jeff: 9:45

Spoiler alert. It happened.

Joe P: 9:46

Spoiler alert, happened in 1968.

Jeff: 9:48

1968. But you know, spoiler alert in case you've been living under a rock since then. Yeah. Yeah. He, it did not go well for him on this jump, by any stretch of the imagination. Went very badly.

Joe P: 10:01

Very badly. Very badly. He hit top of a van. The very last van cleared. Cleared most of the fountains. I mean, he did clear the fountains, but. as he said,"I never had a problem jumping a motorcycle. It was always the landing," right?

Jeff: 10:16

,right.

Joe P: 10:18

Broke both wrists, both ankles, his hip, pelvis and femur Yeah. And was rushed the hospital. Meanwhile, Sarno, the owner of the hotel, is watching from portica chere, a great vantage point but he's got these two little kids with him, his kids, his two they both thought they saw a man die,

Jeff: 10:44

Right.

Joe P: 10:44

Sarno says,"No, Mr. Knievel is alive. I could see him speaking as they loaded him into the ambulance. But to reassure you, I you to the hospital and show that Mr. Knievel is okay."

Jeff: 10:55

Yeah.

Joe P: 10:56

Took him 20 minutes to from his office to his car, which normally takes two minutes right? But it's so crowded... Sarno starts scratching his head thinking,"Wow, this place is so packed. It's taking me this long, and I've still got this clown signed for a second jump."

Jeff: 11:15

Right.

Joe P: 11:16

It may not be tomorrow, but he's, contractually obligated. They get to the hospital, Knievel is awake, alive at alert flirting with nurses, but in a lot pain,

Jeff: 11:27

Right.

Joe P: 11:29

And he says, Jay, thank God you're here. You gotta get me outta here. I don't have insurance."

Jeff: 11:36

Of course. Of course.

Joe P: 11:38

And Jay Sarno. You've known Jay Sarno's story.

Jeff: 11:41

Yes. I mean, very, very famous developing Caesar's Palace and Circus Circus and heavily involved in the development of Las Vegas in the somewhat modern resort. He would've been, I mean, to compare him, he almost would've been the Steve Wynn of that era of Las Vegas.

Joe P: 12:00

That's true.

Jeff: 12:01

Yeah.

Joe P: 12:01

Like from Frontier Town to mega resort.

Jeff: 12:04

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Joe P: 12:06

Anyways, the point is that he's a super mind when it comes to marketing.

Jeff: 12:11

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 12:11

and he says,"Don't worry kid, I will cover your hospital bills if you roll with me on this marketing plan."

Jeff: 12:16

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 12:17

"Because you're coming to jump again as soon as you get out. But you gotta heal up first. So I'm going to pay off the nurses to speak to nobody. I'm going to pay off the doctors to hold a press conference in their white lab coats," which they do. And the doctor stands out front and says,"Yes, Evel Knievel is alive in our hospital. And we are assured that he is going to try again as soon as he awakes from his coma."

Jeff: 12:46

just the ultimate level of P.T. Barnum-ish showmanship, right? Like really.

Joe P: 12:53

He is both, both those two characters. Yeah. I don't know how this town survived both of them on the town at the same time.

Jeff: 12:59

That's outstanding.

Joe P: 13:01

Yeah. So, um, he never did end up doing that, the second jump, but that is what launched his career, that press conference, because it not only ran in Butte in Las Vegas, but it. Kansas City and New York and Dallas and Chicago.

Jeff: 13:16

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 13:17

This crazy maniac crashed almost killed himself and he's fixing to do it again.

Jeff: 13:22

Yeah. Well, and I mean, he went on after that, like you say, that was the jump that really launched his career because he went on from there and it was, he did further jumps and bigger jumps and bigger paychecks. And of course then came endorsements and all of a sudden this is a guy who is on lunch boxes and he's action figures and it's millions of dollars in endorsements that he's getting as well.

Joe P: 13:45

Yeah, that was the, the cash cow was. this, toy. I'm not sure if you're old enough yet, but if you're old enough, yet. If you're old enough. But there was toy when I was kid.

Jeff: 13:57

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 13:57

that outsold Barbie in 1974. It's the first action figure made after a living, breathing human being.

Jeff: 14:02

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 14:02

And that's the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle.

Jeff: 14:05

Right.

Joe P: 14:05

Wind it up. It's got a little gyro in it and it takes off and it really works. It one of those toys that actually worked as advertised.

Jeff: 14:12

Yeah.

Joe P: 14:13

And he made more money off of that toy than he did any events or television or movies or jumps.

Jeff: 14:19

Yeah. Yeah, I've seen videos recently because there's the odd time somebody will score one of these things off eBay or in an antique store that still works and you see the video of them and they're just zzz-zzz-zzz winding it up and you watch and yeah, like it actually does work really well--the way it should work as opposed to so many of those other toys that, yeah, they didn't work like that. This, this really, you could set it up to jump over stuff is fantastic

Joe P: 14:47

Yeah.

Jeff: 14:48

Awesome.

Joe P: 14:48

And all started here in that hospital bed.

Jeff: 14:50

Yeah.

Joe P: 14:51

He had called Wide World of Sports, which eventually turned into ESPN, but Wide World Sports, was on one day a week and said,"I'm jumping over the fountains at Caesars Palaces, come cover me." They declined."We've already got schedule, but maybe if you take some footage, we might use it." So Knievel hired private contractors, John Derek, who's more famous for marrying Bo Derek

Jeff: 15:14

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 15:15

and his wife the time was Linda Evans, who's famous for Dynasty,

Jeff: 15:19

I think Dynasty, yeah.

Joe P: 15:20

And they took the footage I mean this amazing footage, which is kind of like the agony of defeat now.

Jeff: 15:27

Yeah.

Joe P: 15:27

at the time, had it developed, dropped it off to be developed in Los Angeles where they lived. Went camping for a week because that's how long it took to develop film.

Jeff: 15:36

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 15:36

and returned. The developer hands in this canister and says,"I have done Oscar work and this is the best footage I have ever seen in my entire life." And they took, they rushed it to Las Vegas, screened it on Evel Knievel's hospital room wall.

Jeff: 15:52

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 15:53

there. And it's just, it's Evel Knievel head over tea kettle just looks exactly rag doll. And his bones are breaking and you can see it. And even though black and white and even though it's old footage, it still makes one cringe to look at. And of course when he saw it the first time, his eyeballs turned into little dollar signs and he said,

Jeff: 16:16

Right.

Joe P: 16:16

"Man, I'm going to take that on Joey Bishop and Johnny Carson"

Jeff: 16:19

yeah.

Joe P: 16:19

"And if people don't want to come watch me make a jump successfully at their state fair, they sure don't want to mess it when I die there."

Jeff: 16:26

Right. It was almost like him failing that jump really kind of was the best thing that ever happened to

Joe P: 16:34

him. So true, so true, so true.

Jeff: 16:38

And the fact that, I mean, what still blows me away to this day is the fact that yeah, he pitches it to Wide World of Sports and they're like,"Eh, no. You know what? Get back to us if something exciting happens." Something exciting really happened, right?

Joe P: 16:53

It did.

Jeff: 16:54

That's, that's so cool. And I mean, so to this day now, there's, there's been a lot of and, well, I mean, to follow up on that, as you say, he never tried the jump again. He never attempted the Caesar's Palace jump again. Was that a choice? Was it his choice? Do you know if it was a choice by Caesars or was it just he never got around to it or Caesars, was it willing to let him nearly die again? Like how come that never happened?

Joe P: 17:18

Yeah, I think that was probably Evel Knievel

Jeff: 17:21

Yeah.

Joe P: 17:21

that, did not, hold up his end of the bargain on that contract. The reason I say that because you did special on Caesar's Palace.

Jeff: 17:30

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 17:30

and stunts that were there

Jeff: 17:31

Yeah.

Joe P: 17:32

And they did let other people do it.

Jeff: 17:34

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 17:34

They let Robbie Knievel do it, Travis Pastrana

Jeff: 17:37

Yeah.

Joe P: 17:37

and Gary Wells.

Jeff: 17:38

Gary Wells tried it too. He also spectacularly failed as well, so, yeah. Yeah. It didn't go well for a lot of people.

Joe P: 17:47

That's true.

Jeff: 17:48

Yeah. But Robbie succeeded. Robbie did

Joe P: 17:52

Yes,

Jeff: 17:52

He did the jump.

Joe P: 17:53

Yep.

Jeff: 17:54

He succeeded. And Travis Pastrana, he made it.

Joe P: 17:57

Yeah, dude, he broke all records.

Jeff: 17:58

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it was clearly doable. But with Evel, if I'm recalling correctly, was it Evel Knievel that he figured there was a bit of a downshift right as he was hitting the ramp or a bit of a drop in speed? Was that Evel that was what he figured why he didn't make it? That's Evel The Evel Knievel Evel connection to Vegas continues today. I mean, there is a fair bit of history, particularly, I'm assuming you've been down to Evel Pie on Fremont Street. Yes. Which an Evel Pie, which of course is, is run by the estate of Evel Knievel. And if you've never been there, it's such a cool little joint just jammed with Evel Knievel memorabilia. It's a fantastic place to go.

Joe P: 18:40

Yeah.

Jeff: 18:40

The first time you ever went in there, was it just kind like, this is awesome?

Joe P: 18:44

Yeah, that's first time I was in there. I was like, this awesome. This is awesome. By then I had already worked at the Evel Knievel Museum

Jeff: 18:51

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 18:52

So, I mean it was less awesome than the museum in Topeka but they had some stuff

Jeff: 18:57

But do they serve pizza at the museum in Topeka?

Joe P: 18:59

No.

Jeff: 19:00

There you go. that's that's what wins it

Joe P: 19:04

Well, Jeff, you haven't been there and. But the barbecue at the, at the museum.

Jeff: 19:10

There we go.

Joe P: 19:11

Is really good.

Jeff: 19:11

There we go. Let's talk about the museum. So right now it is in Topeka, Kansas, which seems kind of random in my brain. I'm assuming there's a reason it's in Topeka.

Joe P: 19:23

I hear ya. It is sort of random.

Jeff: 19:26

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 19:26

But where we're from. And where Mike Patterson's from and he befriended a really great guy, Lathan McKay, who was collector

Jeff: 19:37

Okay.

Joe P: 19:37

of Evel Knievel memorabilia. If it was Evel Knievel, he was and is on a mission

Jeff: 19:45

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 19:46

starting pair leathers. Lathan looked around to see where the Evel Knievel Museum was.

Jeff: 19:53

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 19:53

There wasn't one. Evel er, Lathan I get the two confused. Just went out collected a lot of different things,

Jeff: 20:00

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 20:01

motorcycles, helmets, jewelry, canes, capes. had a traveling exhibit for a while.

Jeff: 20:10

Okay.

Joe P: 20:12

Eventually ran across big red circus wagon

Jeff: 20:15

Right. it

Joe P: 20:17

was rotting away in a lot in Florida Lathan didn't really know where to get restored. He tried place or two, couldn't get it started. And Jeff, I mean, it was dilapidated. You could see sky through the cab of the Mack truck and was friends with the Jerry Lee Lewis family from Memphis, Tennessee.

Jeff: 20:39

Okay. Yep.

Joe P: 20:40

And historic Harley Davidson of Topeka, they specialize in the historic restoration of Harley Davidsons.

Jeff: 20:47

Right.

Joe P: 20:47

So if it says Harley Davidson, whether it's 1906 or whatever it is,

Jeff: 20:52

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 20:53

Mike's going to make sure that gets as pristine as you can pay for. So that's how it started. Lathan called Mike and said, Hey, I've got this Mack truck was owned by Evel Knievel. Can you restore it?

Jeff: 21:08

Yeah.

Joe P: 21:09

But what Mike hears is,"blah, blah, blah Evel Knievel blah, blah, blah"

Jeff: 21:16

Right.

Joe P: 21:16

Mike's like, yeah, bring it. Bring it. Yeah. So, yeah. So this motorcycle dealer now is in the business of restoring a big tractor trailer with coach and. it's a Mack, it's a 1974 truck, I think.

Jeff: 21:28

Yeah, So

Joe P: 21:29

it took a couple years and it took a hundred local contractors. As I said, I was one of them. Mm-hmm. Goodyear Tire another one. and it's all painted like a motorcycle, so

Jeff: 21:40

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 21:40

All the old logos are replicated in hand painted design

Jeff: 21:44

Wow.

Joe P: 21:44

instead of, uh, decals

Jeff: 21:46

that's awesome.

Joe P: 21:47

Anyway. Far, far too big traveling museum,

Jeff: 21:50

Right.

Joe P: 21:51

And so Mike built a, 13,000 square foot museum there so that people could enjoy

Jeff: 21:57

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 21:58

Lathan and Mike's collection. That's awesome.

Jeff: 22:00

And so now the plan is, this is very cool, and this is how you and I connected in talking about Las Vegas and Evel Knievel. The plan is the museum coming to Vegas

Joe P: 22:11

Hot damn

Jeff: 22:12

Hot damn. That is so cool. So let's talk a little bit about that. You guys have a location in mind. You have a timeline in mind of when people are going to be able to start visiting The Evel Knievel Museum in Las Vegas?

Joe P: 22:26

Yes to the first part and no to the second.

Jeff: 22:28

Okay.

Joe P: 22:29

Yes, there's place, and it's in the Arts District, which is this between the Strip and downtown.

Jeff: 22:36

Right.

Joe P: 22:37

The Arts District is an up and coming spot.

Jeff: 22:40

Mm-hmm

Joe P: 22:41

Everybody that I've talked to here in Las Vegas this week is super excited about the Arts District. I have not been there.

Jeff: 22:47

Yeah,

Joe P: 22:48

They've got first Fridays

Jeff: 22:50

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 22:50

looks hugely crowded.

Jeff: 22:51

It's a real booming area in the city. And, and as you say, it's with lots of great restaurants and lots of great new real estate and lots of great new apartments condos and living space. And it is the hot spot for for people to be going to in Las Vegas right now. That is where everybody is starting to go is into the arts district, so that is, that's an outstanding spot.

Joe P: 23:14

Good I didn't pick it. The team picked yeah, it's, it sounds great. And they've got a new Punk Rock Museum going in there.

Jeff: 23:23

Yeah,

Joe P: 23:23

just down the street.

Jeff: 23:24

Yeah,

Joe P: 23:25

And I don't know what other, but there are other museums there. Oh, there's Burlesque Museum.

Jeff: 23:28

Yeah, the Burlesque Hall of Fame is down in there. I've had them on the podcast. I've never, I've yet to go through, but I've had them on the podcast to talk about the history of burlesque in Las Vegas and the Burlesque Hall of Fame and yeah, like, it's a real growing area and that location. Being near Fremont and being Downtown, but also being sort of within easy access of the Strip. That's a great spot. That's a really good spot for that be, that's going to be excellent. Yeah.

Joe P: 23:55

Topeka's been very kind to us but Vegas, that's where it belongs

Jeff: 24:02

Yeah,

Joe P: 24:02

Nobody can argue that it should be in Topeka, Kansas

Jeff: 24:05

Right.

Joe P: 24:05

instead of in Las Vegas.

Jeff: 24:07

And so now something that you've branched out into, and that's why you're here in Vegas this week at this conference conference, everybody comes to Vegas to go to a conference.

Joe P: 24:16

You're here Podcast Movement Evolutions, learning how to get into the podcast space. And that's how you reached out to me to connect, to talk about podcasting. You were launching an Evel Knievel podcast, which I think is super cool. What made you want to jump into the podcast space with this? Well, been talking a lot about marketing

Jeff: 24:36

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 24:37

to coincide with the opening of the Evel Knievel museum here in Las Vegas. And podcasting is one of those things that I hadn't thought about in the last decade, but what I had thought about is I want to share these stories. People come in there and lot of people have a story about Evel Knievel. And a lot of them are getting up in years. Our mission is preserve and present the legacy of Evel Knievel. So I wanted the stories, say the driver of this big red truck, because you know he has stories whether he's telling them or not.

Jeff: 25:12

Yeah.

Joe P: 25:14

But I was walking around at conference,

Jeff: 25:18

we do for those, for those listening to this episode of the podcast, we're doing the air quotes around conference the meme. I'm going to Vegas for a conference. Yeah, yeah. Here we are. Here we are.

Joe P: 25:30

But you and I went out to watch bands play Monday.

Jeff: 25:34

Yeah. It was at Monday Dark

Joe P: 25:35

which was freaking awesome. It's mostly sitting in a dark room, listening to the loud music and probably about, I don't know, 15 minutes of socializing. Yeah. And I met John Katz. Yeah. Or you introduced me to John Katz who said,"My uncle was owner of Bucyrus Erie Cranes." And I'd heard that name. I'd seen the name on cranes that did the sky cycle. But yeah, this is an example of one connection.

Jeff: 26:04

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 26:05

Then I'm at the bar. Girl sees my jacket and says,"Evel Knievel. My dad did all his jewelry Evel Knievel and all Sammy Davis jrs and all Frank Sinatras, and he did the TCB for Elvis. His name's Mordecai." So I'm texting Mike from the museum saying, Dude, we're getting gold for this podcast if I can get these people to come on."

Jeff: 26:24

Yeah.

Joe P: 26:25

He says, how do you, how are you making all these connections? Right, Just wear the jacket. Yeah, just wear jacket. People come up they've got stories.

Jeff: 26:33

Yeah.

Joe P: 26:34

So I've got some in the bank for editing still. Sure. The biographer of J Sarno

Jeff: 26:43

Is that David Schwartz?

Joe P: 26:44

David G. Schwartz, yeah.

Jeff: 26:45

Yeah. I've had Dave on a couple of times to talk. He wrote a book about the Sands and the history of the Sands. And so I had him on to talk about that. And then he also joined me to talk about family friendly Vegas. Because he wrote a bunch of stuff. He was involved in some panel discussions. I think they were hosted the Mob museum about the family friendly era of Las Vegas. and yeah. And then he also great book Grandissimo, which is all about Jay Sarno and all about the Caesar's Palace and Circus Circus and then the plans that he had for an even bigger resort, which was Grandissimo so that's great that you were able to get David on to talk. That's great. Yeah.

Joe P: 27:22

Then we've got couple others. Just as preview of our podcast, Eddie Langert invented the metal golf driver. They were called woods before that, right? He used three wood, he invented for weather purposes. He was a golf pro in Wisconsin and it turns out these weather, these metal drivers nail golf ball really long ways, invested his life savings, mortgaged his house to build 16 prototypes. Took them down to Florida, couldn't get any traction, couldn't get any buy-in. I mean, this sport's 500 years old. Nobody's buying metalwoods clubs. Ends up on a golf course where Knievel tries hustle him. It's a long story. Evel ends up buying into this metal golf club. This guy had traveled Wisconsin with$22 and 16 clubs, ends up sells 2 million dollars worth of clubs that weekend. From 22 dollars to 2 million dollars

Jeff: 28:19

wow.

Joe P: 28:19

with a little help from Evel Knievel.

Jeff: 28:21

Yeah.

Joe P: 28:22

George Sedlak was Evel Knievel's painter. He's going to be on, And then hopefully we can get Lathan and Mike on. It's been fun

Jeff: 28:33

That's awesome.

Joe P: 28:34

Now, I did survey what people wanted in an Evel Knievel Museum

Jeff: 28:39

podcast Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 28:40

This is my target market. And even at this conference, they've been telling us, Do what your listeners want.

Jeff: 28:48

Yeah.

Joe P: 28:48

You don't need to worry about advertisers. Do what your listeners want, and everything else will flow from that

Jeff: 28:53

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 28:53

so put out a survey poll on social media. If there was an Evel Knievel podcast, what would you want covered?

Jeff: 29:07

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 29:07

50% wanted history content the records 25% wanted insider news about displays that are being built or acquisitions. 0% wanted to hear travel tips, hotel information,

Jeff: 29:26

Well, I mean, they're not going to the Evel Knievel podcast for that. That's they're coming to my podcast for the travel tips and the travel information.

Joe P: 29:34

Yeah. Okay, good. Well, I don't think my listeners know how often they come in and say,"What's the closest restaurant?"

Jeff: 29:44

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 29:45

Or where can I get barbecue now that I'm here or

Jeff: 29:47

Yeah.

Joe P: 29:48

Where should I stay?

Jeff: 29:49

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 29:50

So the Jeff's is the man. Jeff Does Vegas. Jeff with a J sometimes? No, just Jeff with a J I like to say I'm a Jeff, not a G- off. That's, that's my tag.

Jeff: 30:02

A timeline for the podcast launch? Are you, thinking you want to have it get the museum up and going and get the podcast out at the same time or podcast leading up to the opening of the museum. Do you have any, yeah.

Joe P: 30:14

Leading up to thoughts? Yeah, I've got some in the can.

Jeff: 30:16

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 30:17

Got a few recorded, I've got most of those edited, not released yet. but I wanted to to conference so I could, you know, get tips and tricks Yeah. How to get things uploaded and what the best ways to market Mm. Now that we're done I would guess I'm going can get it launched

Jeff: 30:39

that's awesome. it's funny how, we joke about conference quote unquote, but it really is, it's interesting. You come to these things and you go home invigorated and I mean, I know like after I finish this conference, I've got a couple of weeks off. I'm going to have about five interviews the can a trip report that I want to write. I'm home and I'm going to spend the next two weeks just creating stuff. So it is, when you spend the time around creative people and around people that are very encouraging to you you do just want to go home and just want create, and you want to get at it. So that's, that's excellent that you're looking pushing this timeline forward and just going, yeah, I want to go home and I want to go hard and I want get this stuff out

Joe P: 31:18

Yes.

Jeff: 31:19

That's awesome. That's awesome. In the meantime, if people want to learn about the Evel Knievel Museum and they want to hit Topeka, Kansas, how can they do that? You guys are online, you've got social media? Both of things. Online and social media. So the online is EvelKnievelMuseum.com Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 31:36

It's the very best place to buy Evel Knievel gear

Jeff: 31:39

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 31:41

The Evel Knievel gear I'm talking about is not cheap keychains. Sorry. It is well-made clothing and

Jeff: 31:49

mm-hmm.

Joe P: 31:51

historic replicas of his canes, helmets, and more.

Jeff: 31:55

Mm-hmm.

Joe P: 31:56

So that there's that, but then online, there's Facebook and Instagram and all stuff.

Jeff: 32:02

Yeah.

Joe P: 32:03

And then I think to coincide with the podcast will be video and audio just because that's what I'm used

Jeff: 32:10

to. Yeah.

Joe P: 32:10

I've been doing four-minute sessions on YouTube.

Jeff: 32:13

Yeah. Which is excellent. That's a very cool way to do it. And especially too, because you're going to be telling some really interesting stories from people who are going to be telling some interesting stories and you want to get that facial expression and have that contact with them. So that's excellent. That's excellent.

Joe P: 32:28

Yeah. We've got a whole lot of historic video that sort of goes along with

Jeff: 32:33

Yeah.

Joe P: 32:33

It's awkward and I'll have to walk through video on the podcast.

Jeff: 32:37

Yeah. That's awesome. Well, I wish you all the best with all of this. I think it's going to be excellent. I'm looking forward to the launch and I'm looking forward to having something new to check out when I come to Vegas.

Joe P: 32:47

Yeah, right on.

Jeff: 32:49

Excellent. excellent, Joe, thank you so much for this

Joe P: 32:51

happy landings.

32:52

Thanks for joining us again. That was so nice of Jeff Walker to do that for us. We're going to head back to Kansas now. So if you're ready, we're going to take a trip back and we're going to play with some guns and we're going to play with explosive devices and we're going to race cars. Are you up for that? Well then let's go.

Heather: 33:07

All right. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe. It's our mission to preserve and present the legacy of Evel Knievel. So if you have an idea for an episode or a guest or have a suggestion to improve our show, just drop us a line at Joe@Thrill.Show.

Evel Knievel: 33:27

I just think the Evel Knievel way.

Heather: 33:33

We leave you with the encouraging words from the book of Deuteronomy."Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you." Until next time, happy landings.

Joe Friday: 33:49

If you like to fly by the seat of your pants, this is where you belong.