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What turned from a business card swap- Right… in my mind, turned into like Yeah. It was moving. It was. And it was at a place where we get to practice what we preach- Right… which is get back up. Evel Knievel inspired millions of us with his courage and perseverance. We're building a museum so you can relive those memories and be reinvigorated with that spirit of bravery. My name is Evel Knievel. I'm a professional daredevil. 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 Josh, welcome. Thank you. Josh- Appreciate the show… the people. Right. Hello, everyone. Josh is the president of our neighborhood association, which is the Arts District. Right. Do you want to introduce the Arts District? Well, let me give you, kind of for everyone who doesn't know who the Arts District is and what we're all about, a quick little summary. So we're the neighborhood north of the Strip and part of the downtown. We don't like to say that we're not in downtown just because we are our own neighborhood. But that's kind of the lead-in from the Strip as you venure down Vegas Boulevard and make that left onto Main Street, lead right into the Arts District. And I think that's the best part about it is it's this hidden gem that locals know really well. Not all of the tourists find out about the Arts District, but once they do, they keep coming back. Maybe you've got the numbers. Is this a first-trip-to-Vegas kind of place? You know, I think that it could be and it really kind of depends on what you're into. If you're a foodie, you're going to be looking for off-Strip type of activities, and you're going to find it in the Arts District and other parts of Las Vegas. But if you're coming for a convention, and this is the first time, let's say, you're coming to Vegas, you might just be wanting to get there for work and kind of take care of what you need to do during the week and get back home. So i- it kind of just depends on how often you come to town. Well, we're looking to draw those convention people outside those four walls of the convention hall. Exactly which can be pretty boring. Right. And this is so local and so unique. The new tagline for our city is "Only in Vegas." Right. And this museum's only in Vegas, so- There you go… these guys come in, and spend all their khakis and hand out flyers. I don't know what they do at conventions anymore, but Yeah man, this is a great place to unwind. It is. And number one, we're super excited that you all decided to move here. Not everyone does that, and it was a really large investment, took a lot of time and effort and… but to have the history and the additional culture of everything that Evel Knievel achieved, I mean, it's fun. Dudes come walking through that door, and they're convention age, right? They're like Right 50 to 60 years old, and they start to shrink a little bit, and their clothes get big, and their freckles come back. Their hair grows back. Yeah. And they're like a little kid again. I know. Start doing this winding motion, like reeling in a fish, but we know it's really, "I had the Stunt Cycle." Yeah. I mean, it's very nostalgic. And so I mean, and it depends on if you were a diehard or you had a toy or a lunch pail or saw it on TV. There are so many different ways of having a moment that is a part of this, and I think that's what's unique. Everybody that's come so far has loved it. We've got five-star reviews on Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. Love it. Google counts extra because AI picks that one up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But anyways, the neighborhood. Ah, that's one of my favorite things about this neighborhood is the food is crazy good. It's Las Vegas has world-class food. What I love about it is a city this size can support- major metropolitan food because 40 million people come in every year. Definitely. and the beauty is that whether you're someone who went to UNLV for hospitality and culinary and opened your own restaurant on the Strip, you then typically will look at the Arts District or somewhere else to then open your second location or a different concept. Or you're coming from Los Angeles, New York. They're coming from everywhere to open restaurants and bars here, which is part of, you know, obviously what we offer. The arts is still the primary focus and mission. Got to maintain our culture. Is that how the neighborhood started or the- It really is. Yeah, honestly a bunch of existing business owners, small number, and a bunch of artists got together and started building the community in a very organic way. And that then drew the city's attention and drew private economic attention to invest in this part of the downtown and really turn it into what you see today. And it's been a journey over, let's say, the last 30 years. But I would say Mm-hmm in particular, the last five years have been transformational. And it's really fun to just continue to kind of sit back and see everything that continues to happen. People moving here, new restaurants, new bars, new studios, new galleries opening. It's just a ton of amazement kind of every day, and it's the reason why I love being down here. Are you an artist yourself? From the advertising side, I would say yes. Yeah. That's really where my creative prowess lives. More of a graphic design, from the digital side, but I love it. Are you from here? Not originally. Only been here for full-time about five years, from Southern California. So I grew up coming here. My dad loved coming to the different casinos to play craps, so he used to always bring us along, and my mom and my sister and my other brothers and it's, again, part of the journey in seeing the city change. So it's been really fun. Where'd you guys go? Well, we used to go to a bunch of different casinos. Whether it was the Desert Inn, it was the Aladdin. We used to go to the Horseshoe all the time when it was downtown because my dad loved playing craps there. We stayed at the Trop a ton, and so that was fantastic. Obviously, the new A's Stadium is now being built there. But I got to go to the implosion of the Tropicana a couple years ago.

And standing there at, like, 2: 7:00

30 in the morning, watching the drone show and the music and then the implosion was intense. This has to be the only city where they do that, right? Well, I'm sure that it happens in other parts, but I would agree with you that we are pretty good at tearing something down to put something new up. There's obviously a lot of history that has been preserved, and something that we're very focused on in trying to maintain. Because once it's gone, it's gone, and if it's not really documented and archived properly for people to experience for younger generations, then that can be difficult. Man, the Neon Museum does a good job of stuff. Amazing. Mob Museum, Neon Museum, I mean, they do a phenomenal job of their collection that shows the history here. And again, you all do the same thing. I mean, the way this was curated, really well done. Thank you very much. There's a lot of local to Evel Knievel himself. But of course he's a global sensation. We have Sure… people come up from around only been open a few weeks. It's fun in that way and super interesting in the Las Vegas connection way. Right. This is where he launched his career, basically at Caesars Palace. I mean, of course he launched it and launched it and launched it before it Sure took off. But it took off here. Yeah. Our museum grew organically Right… in Kansas. Yep. But only because that's where we're from. Sure. And then Las Vegas called and said, "You know, this thing probably belongs in Las Vegas." Exactly And we were shoot yeah. Where have you been? Right. We knew that. Why hadn't you been here already? Yeah. Well then, that is kind of an interesting question is, okay, so Vegas calls and how is it that you then go through the process of saying,"You know, I think this spot in the Arts District is where we should set up camp." Talk to me about that because I don't think I've asked you that question, which is, I think, fascinating. That's a really good question. Sure. So first, I think first you would have to one would have to give Caesars a shot. Sure. But that didn't last very long because the Strip is about 10 times as expensive as Sure downtown, which is where we are. Right. The Arts District was up and coming, and we didn't know it was going to be five years, but that's funny that you started five years ago There you go because that's when we started on this project Right… between design and then Right. J Dapper is the developer and he has a reputation for Oh, for sure restoring these old mid-century buildings. I suppose I would have to call this one a mid-century building. Sure. I wouldn't call it a mid-century modern. No. Right. Man, this place was There were vagrants living in here starting fires. Yeah. It was old when we looked at it, and old and abandoned. Originally it was a laundry service for the hotels. Right. Kind of centralized contractor, and now I suppose they do their own Oh, yeah linens and laundry now. Yeah. Well, what's interesting is there's a hidden cocktail bar in actual downtown that's catty-corner to the El Cortez, and it's called The Laundry Room because it used to be El Cortez's laundry room. It's in Commonwealth, the bar right there, and it is great. Again, I think that touches on the history of Las Vegas and what used to be here and how to, again, maintain the history of it in some fashion, but keep it cultural. Yeah. And I think that's so many just horrible, horrifying memories of not only the permitting part, but also the actual construction It's tough Tore out one concrete floor. What do you know? There's another concrete floor underneath of it Oh, no Tear up that concrete floor because we have to start from scratch Sure Because Mr. Dapper had to redo the whole structure of Right his old building. Unearthed a tank. They had to stop digging. It was right where the elevator shaft is. So then what do you do? You have to contact authorities and let them know there's a tank, and then you have to open the We couldn't just fill it with concrete, you know? Right So you have to open the tank, and then it's full of Italians. And oh my God. Sheesh, this town. Exactly. Oh. Good. Well, at least you all went about it the right way. It is really easy to cut corners, but you definitely didn't do that here. Yeah, that's true. We've sunk millions of dollars into this little dream Exactly and make it back 35 bucks at a time. Hey. So maybe. That's what it takes Maybe. Yeah. The investment. Thank you for inviting us. I mean, it is a really cool place for a museum. It is. There were arts, studios and museums Right… and the restaurants. And then I haven't visited too many of the bars. One of them, huge Evel Knievel fan. Oh, you're talking about Davey's or are you talking about ReBar? Yeah, ReBar carries Evel Knievel Bourbon Yes… now. Oh, great. They just started. That's fantastic. Derek is on the 18b Arts District board, so know him well. He's got the two bars, Davey's and ReBar, and then he has Barter Mall with another of our board members, Suzanne, a doctor, and they're also opening a steakhouse called Artie's in Commercial Center, which is off of Maryland, which is another historic area of Las Vegas too. I love being able to go through different parts of the valley in general. I mean, whether you go to Henderson, you go to Water Street and you check out barbecue spots, some of the new cocktail bars that have opened. And again, there is development, there's change, there's exciting stuff all over the place. But we only want people to go to the Arts District. Arts District. Everything's here. Exactly. If all the… are there hotels in the Arts District? There's one. Oh. The English. Yeah, right across the street, right? Yeah, right across the street. Hard to miss. That's also, like, a really good point though, too, Joe, we have a bunch of new residential that has finished being built and people are already moving into on Casino as well as on Commerce. There's more coming in Midtown on this side of Main Street, Charleston, and so it's great. I know there is even more residential that will be built over the next five years. And so again, the downtown is going to grow from a lot of different initiatives, whether it's city and public money, or it's going to be private money. And it's good because it helps to support the businesses and the artists that are here. And as long as we maintain the culture and who we are as a community, we're good. Look, there's a lot of communities that are like us in other parts of the United States or in the world. And I've done a lot of research on them. You talk about Wynwood in Miami, you know, large cultural center, graffiti everywhere-… artwork and everything. And so it is just these… They They kind of get manifested- Mm-hmm… out of thin air, and it's driven by have an environment that they enjoy and get people to come and check it out. That's what we're all about. Right on. Well, the graffiti was endearing maybe right… on the side of a subway or a building. But now that we're open I'm pretty much done with graffiti. Yeah. That's enough. Right. Enough with construction. We had to shut… We didn't have to, we got to shut down the street for grand opening. Right. We had 350 RSVPs and then 700 people showed up, which was great. That was amazing. But I had to walk around the neighborhood. Had to? I got to walk around the neighborhood and meet my neighbors. Right. Yeah. And some of them were just so… and I had to, I got to inform them that we're going to have a great big party on Saturday- Sure… and we're going to shut down this got motorcyclists that have to- Of course work up some speed to jump over a ramp and do flips- Yeah… and entertain you. Right. But there's some people that just wouldn't even sign off. Wouldn't even acknowledge that I came and talked to them. They were so mad. Yeah. And I get it. When streets get shut down, it gets tough. I can say that. And look, I get it. First Friday is every month and it's a big event. A lot of people come to the Arts District. It affects parking, it affects the flow of traffic, but we're not giving it up. Good. Yeah. Don't give up on parking. You're going to get this parking thing. Oh, yeah. A lesson from Evel Knievel himself. Right. Yes. A man is never a failure until he refuses to get back up. Exactly. So among the politics and the wild swings and the schizophrenia and the anger- Sure… you've got this. Oh, yeah. As long as we keep working together, that's the only thing that matters. I have a good partner in the Plaza Hotel Casino. Oh, yeah. They're amazing. Yeah. They offer 25% off to our guests, and inside baseball here, I went to meet with them. It was unlike… and I'm going to do a podcast with them too- Sure… so they can talk more in But I just want to let you know- That's great… about the neighborhood partnerships. Yep. Like, this is what I walk into. I schedule a meeting with Jonathan Jossel, right? And he says, " Oh, I'm so excited. I'm going to let my whole staff know." So I walk in to a bunch of strangers. It's like a committee meeting, with the lights in your eyes and everything. Yep. And they're all sitting in a horseshoe around little old me from Topeka, Kansas. Sure. And so I walk in and I'm expecting them to start berating me."We can give you a discount, but how many gamblers can you bring me?" Nah, wasn't like that at all. I sat down and they said, "Can you jump over our building?" Exactly. I was thinking, "No." Right."I'm sorry. I really hate to start this meeting with a no-" Yeah"but nah, I don't know anybody that's-" Yeah"… like that close that-" Right"… they're ready to go." It is a big building… It is a big building. Yeah. And so it was a great start. This is what a partnership should be. Right. Yeah. I think to your point, the partnerships downtown are fantastic. Jonathan, too, has supported our district many times. He just, for our Chalk Fest that happens April every year, provided a great offering that we auctioned off for two nights' stay and discounted Oscar's Steakhouse, and drinks and all kinds of really great stuff. The Strat, on the north side of the Strip, the south side of the Arts District- Mm-hmm… are members of 18b Arts of phenomenal things with them. Co-branded advertising campaigns and activations. The same thing with Derek Stevens and Jeff Ficker from Circa. We're now the official community partner, Arts District is, for the Neon City Festival that's coming up in November during F1. And so everyone wants to work together to continue to get people to come to the downtown, and whether they're staying at a hotel, they're staying at the Strip, but to experience all of the good things that we have. And I think that's the best part. I love it. I know, right? Man, we could really do some activations with the Stratosphere with their- Tower Their tower. They have rides on top, right? They have the Jump where you, like, jump off the tower down. And then they've got the rollercoaster, right? Wait, do they have a net or- Yeah. Bungee. It's definitely bungee. Is it a bungee cord? It's a bungee, and then there's a net and other things that… I've seen it many times, but I'm afraid of heights oh. so I'm only going to get so close. We love going to Top of the World, their restaurant there. We actually have Christmas Eve dinner every year at that restaurant because it's a special place. You get to see the entire valley. It rotates, and it's just fantastic. We just started guided tours here just this weekend. Yeah. Hugely popular. We just put out a small social media ad two days before, and then we sold 24 guided tours this weekend. Nice It's great, fantastic and it's one of the things I love about being here is the people. In fact, it's the only thing that I really love about being here is the people Right It's not the concrete walls. I mean, it's not the concrete block. It's not- Right… these beautiful exhibits that we have. It would be nothing if there weren't people here. Totally agree What I'd really like to do, like in my dream, is we get a walking tour going- Yes… and we start doing some of these things. There's some cool Knievel Easter eggs for super fans. At the Absinthe have a Victorian-type wallpaper in there. If one covers up half of the wall design with one's hand, you can see Evel Knievel jumping over the fountains at Caesars Amazing. It's pretty neat. I have to go see that. Yeah… good job of illustrating it with my mouth No, I know but it's cool to see It's pretty good. Yeah Then at the airport, there's a terrazzo floor Right… with the history of Las Vegas skyline with the Luxor and the Strat. And then it's got… it itself has some Easter eggs in it, including Howard Hughes hiding out Right at the in shadow at the top floor of the Desert Inn, which is illustrated. Yep And then Evel Knievel, which isn't so much of an Easter egg. It's kind of bold and out there in your face. But it is neat for people to see that are fans Yeah, that weren't expecting it So we do that. We walk. We go to the Strat. We jump off the building. Right It would be a blast. That sounds like something I'll watch everyone do. I haven't met Derek Stevens, who you referenced- Okay… yet at Circa. Well, we should get together. But he's amazing He's amazing We went to Newsweek New Destinations Global Summit. We were the newest destination at the New Destinations Summit, and he was one of the presenters. Right The team over there are super sharp. The way that they've gone to really attract the Canadian tourists to come back to Las Vegas, because that's been a pretty big hit for us. That's huge. Huge. And just the way that he's very inventive and the entire team over there are, are constantly thinking of new ways of just being inventive from a business standpoint. It's really great. About meaningful relationships Sure We got to host a mixer for the 18B Arts District. It was pretty neat. It was. I mean, I was expecting some people, neighbors. We passed out flyers- Sure… and so we were expecting, I don't know, Yeah. And then provide some beer. It was very supportive of you to bring your group here. That's what we want to do. We want to partner really closely with everyone so that everyone knows the great things that everyone's doing. That's how you'd make it happen. And since then, we got to see you at the mixer at Cornish Pasty… Cornish Pasty. Right. That was the next one. Thank you. I say it wrong every time. It's okay. Right. It's a little bit of a tongue twister. Everybody's eyes get real wide when I said, "I went to Las Vegas Pasties." Oh my God. Right? I mean… that could be a place. I'm not really sure where it is. It might be in the alley. Yeah. But about the mixer that we had here. Sure. Really cool. I didn't really know so many of my neighbors. Of course. And it's that first shot, that first boost that we need is to open to the public and get some feedback. Right. It happened to be a very special night. That day there were two buildings that burnt down because of an electrical fire, looked like. Yeah. On my way to the mixer, the streets were just flooded with water because the fire department had been there to put whatever remained of the buildings out. Sure. Then there's the construction, so my hopes were a little bit dashed. Well, as tragic as those types of occurrences are, I think that number one, you all hosting us and I know that, Bobbie the business- one of the business owners was here and had a very kind of emotional moment to really thank everyone for bringing everyone together and the support. And it's been really fantastic just over the last few weeks in raising money for them. We actually just finished, yesterday, our auction that we started for them, and we've been able to raise just shy of $5,000. Yes! Which is it is on top of everything else, and we're always just wanting to continue to be there in the little ways, the big ways that businesses and artists need. So it's hard, but it's rewarding. Yeah. Well, we want to be there too. Of course. And what I've learned about partnerships already from just being in this town- Mm-hmm… is that they're not superficial. No. Very real… and we want to provide that also. And that's why we turned… I mean, we were just there. Bobbie showing up was amazing. After the day that she had- Of course… and her cat at the time- Yes… is also missing. I know. And you want to show up to a social mixer? Right. Like these are genuine friends. What turned from like a business card swap- Right… in my mind, turned into like Yeah. It was moving. It was. And it was at a place where we get to practice what we preach- Right… because here's the deal, what resonates is the perseverance of our subject. Evel Knievel had crazy impressive achievements, but we don't gloss over the spills along the way. Early in his career, he wrecked at Montana. What did he do? He made a deal to jump on national TV for the very first time. I'd like to introduce to you a most unusual young man. This is Evel Knievel, and his specialty in sports is to take a motorcycle up over a ramp and leap through the air. That's what he's going to try to do today, over 15 automobiles. Now, have you ever done 15 before, Evel? Bill, I never have. I missed a jump up in the northwestern part of the United States over 13, and I was hospitalized and laid up for nearly five months, and I sure hope that doesn't happen today. Wow. How many cars were you attempting at that time? 13. 13, and you missed it? That's right. You're trying 15 today? Well, the parachute's ready, the motorcycle's ready, and I'm ready, and I'm not going to miss today. Then during a practice jump at Ontario, he broke his hand. The next day was a public performance, so what did he do?"Well, let's tape my hand to the handlebar," he says. Wrecked at the canyon. What did he do? Booked 13 more dates in Europe. Broke his back in London. What did he do? He said 13 buses was an unlucky number, so he's going to jump 14 when he gets out of the hospital, and he did. He got knocked down a lot, but he always got back up. And people get that because we all face serious challenges in our lives, but we have a higher power on our side. Listen, I can't promise that you won't get knocked down. In fact, I can promise that you will. Life is tough, and chances are you're going to take a hit sooner or later. But you can make the holy grit decision that with God's help, you're going to get back up.

I love Proverbs 24: 27:57

16. It says,"For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Listen, it doesn't say that a godly person never fails. Fact is, calamity strikes without notice, and in that moment, it is devastating. It could be an automobile wreck, a burnt down building, a broken relationship at work or at home. And in the immediate aftermath, you're looking at broken bones or the charred remains of a life's dream or the irreparable loss of a cherished friendship. But good people, they don't stay down. Look, I know what the enemy wants from you today. He wants you to quit. He wants you to doubt. He wants you to give up on your dream, on your ideas, on your relationships. But I also know what God wants from you. He wants you to get back up, dust yourself off, put some duct tape on it, and be a man or be the bigger person. Be a woman of God. Be the first to say you're sorry, to rebuild, to offer forgiveness, to send a text, to make a call, but don't give up. Instead, get up Yeah. what a start. It was like a shotgun start. It was like lightning hit. It was amazing. That's great. Sorry, I don't mean to overplay it. Not at all. But I just want to express how grateful we are that you included us in that social mixer. Well, we have seen already is your engagement in the community. I mean, whether it was the opening, it was the mixer, it was going to other events that other businesses, other artists and everyone are attending. Just that involvement is how we stay connected and how we support each other, because it's really easy to get busy and it's really easy to not always be available, but if you can carve out the important times, then it matters here, and that's what you all are doing. So we appreciate it. Great. My pleasure. We're new to town. We live on the Strip. Sure. And then we have the business in the Arts District. what are we going to do during F1? Well, for F1, for Neon City, the plan is to really activate the Arts District during the day, so we're working on having entertainment at different locations, plus some really great type of promotional activities that we could be doing at the different boutiques and antique shops, restaurants and bars. We want people from out of town and local to come and hang out in the Arts District and then go to the Neon City Festival, which is free.

It starts at 5: 30:50

00. It's an easy transition, and just enjoy the weekend and hang out in the Arts District. Is this the first year for Neon Festival? Nope, this will be the third year. Oh, where have I been? No. Not here, I guess. It's all good. It started the first year of F1 when it started here in '23. So yeah, third year. What's the reaction been? Fantastic. Huge crowds? Yeah, big crowds, great entertainment. This is another moment for us in really being very proactive and again, helping to support the businesses and the artists that are here during the day as people then go to the festival at night. We're also going to be-- We have-- We're going to have probably, fifteen booths of different businesses and artists at the festival as well. You all are going to be there as well. It is going to be this extravaganza. So it's going to be fantastic. It's crazy where everyone comes from to go to an F1 event in Vegas. I mean, I think all of that is just super unique. So it'll be fun. What's your day job? Do you have one? I do have one. I have my own consultancy, Voicebox. We're a strategist. We work with a lot of different businesses in helping them go from where they're at currently and kind of get to that next level. So really we've taken all of our experience over the decades to help businesses in a lot of different ways. That gives me the support and stability to be able to really focus a lot of energy on the Arts District. Thank you so much for coming over today. Thank you. Really appreciate y'all. And for everything you've done in the past. And just so you know, we were working alongside in tandem, but separately- Yeah… for the last five years. I know. And I'm so glad that we're together now. I know, me too. Really appreciate it, buddy. Happy landings. Thank you. 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. I just think the Evel Knievel way. 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 If you like to ride by the seat of your pants, this is where you belong