Seven Questions

Seven Questions

Shelley Duffy

The Disneyland employee-turned-Las Vegas psychic on our city’s superior energy, channeling Liberace and why Californians should brace for the Big One

In 2010, Shelley Duffy left the Happiest Place on Earth to come, well, to a happier place. The third-generation Californian worked the attractions at Disneyland for 24 years, but was drawn to Las Vegas by its energy (and a few relatives). Duffy is a psychic, a medium and an animal communicator. She contends those sixth-sense abilities run in her family, but she's the only one who's developed them. "All of us are psychic to some degree," says Duffy, who studied at the Learning Light Foundation in Anaheim and did her first reading in 1997. "It's like any other sense—some of us have better eyesight and hearing." And, she says, some of us can communicate with spirits and read auras, "but you have to develop them. You have to learn to meditate to quiet your mind." Read more »

Seven Questions

J.T. the Brick

The sports-talk host on life as a stockbroker, his exasperation with the BCS and why Lance Armstrong should come clean now

It’s five minutes into his drive-time “Power Hour” show on KBAD 920-AM, and already J.T. the Brick is sparring with his co-host about the topic du jour: Should San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Alex Smith have lost his job to second-year backup Colin Kaepernick? It’s this kind of energy and passion that helped the New York native morph from John Tournour, the full-time Merrill Lynch stockbroker and part-time radio caller, to J.T. the Brick, the popular local and national radio host. Read more »

Seven Questions

Jacob Snow

Henderson’s city manager on why parks are important, dealing with the gridlock on South Eastern Avenue and how a high-speed train could fuel economic development

Jacob Snow is not big on small talk. In fact, everything about his top-floor office at Henderson City Hall—from the painstakingly placed décor to his well-polished cuff links—screams, “Let’s get down to business.” Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the City of Henderson hired Snow as city manager in March, plucking him from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, the organization he helmed for 13 years. Read more »

Seven Questions

Kunzer-Murphy: New Stadium Bowl's Biggest Need

The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas’ former director on resigning her post, the downside of a college football playoff system and the challenges of working in a man’s world

Few people have experienced the breadth of college athletics like Tina Kunzer-Murphy. The Las Vegas native and Valley High School alum played tennis and volleyball at UNLV, coached the university’s women’s tennis team, directed its cheerleading program and worked in administrative capacities within the athletic program, including the Rebel Football Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation. In 1999, she was hired to run ESPN’s regional office at UNLV, and the following year was named executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl, only the second woman in the nation to fill such a post. Read more »

Seven Questions

Voice of the Rebels Preaches Patience

UNLV basketball’s play-by-play voice on going from lawyer to broadcaster, calling Single-A baseball games and his one-word plea to Rebel fans

Jon Sandler’s path to the radio booth didn’t exactly follow the usual formula. While in the midst of a lucrative career as an attorney with a big Silicon Valley corporate law firm in the late 1980s—and with his 30th birthday rapidly approaching—Sandler had one of those “What am I doing with my life?” epiphanies. Read more »

Seven Questions

Charles Ressler

The First Friday advocate on the importance of giving, acting on Broadway and how the arts community can pave the way to economic diversification

Tony Hsieh associate Charles Ressler believes the burgeoning arts community at the city’s core is the main piston that will power economic redevelopment in Las Vegas. Which is why Ressler recently joined the First Friday Foundation, the charitable arm of the monthly downtown festival that aims to support and advance local artists. Read more »

Seven Questions

Danny Zelisko

The rock-promoting royal on getting an early jump on The Beatles, his new gig at the Pearl and Axl Rose’s chronic tardiness

Danny Zelisko is gearing into overdrive, especially in Vegas, where he’s now the main booking force at the Pearl in the Palms, securing such upcoming acts as Styx (Nov. 15-16), Cooper (Nov. 30) and the Moody Blues (Dec. 15). But long before he became a force locally, the protégé of legendary rock promoter Bill Graham had a hand in nurturing live music on a national scale starting in the ’70s. Read more »

Seven Questions

John Pinette

The hefty comedian on hanging with Sinatra, his role in the Seinfeld finale and why he and zip-lining don’t get along

If you were to compile a list of “that guy” stand-up comedians—as in, “Hey, isn’t he that guy from so-and-so?” and “Where I have seen that guy before?”—John Pinette’s name would be near the top. The big man has appeared on the big screen (The Punisher, Junior, Dear God) and the small screen (most famously as the carjacking victim in the Seinfeld finale, as well as several successful stand-up specials on Comedy Central). Read more »

Seven Questions

Adam Richman

The TV personality on hosting the World Food Championships, the 12-egg omelet that got away and what he’d order for his last meal

To say Adam Richman has the best job in America might be a bit of a stretch—after all, last we checked, Hugh Hefner’s still alive. But if it’s not the best, it certainly has to rank in the top 20 (at least in the eyes of carnivores). The man gets paid to eat iconic dishes served at hidden dining gems across this great land, from a lobster shack in Portland, Maine, to a hole-in-the-wall burger joint in Carmel, Ind., to an alehouse in Anchorage, Alaska. Read more »

Seven Questions

Jon Ralston

Nevada’s foremost political pundit on our Legislature’s biggest problem, why he’d make a poor candidate and the billionaire he believes would be a great public official

For most of the American electorate, Nov. 6 can’t get here soon enough. The unsolicited marketing phone calls, the junk mail, the attack ads—it’s like the 12th round of a grueling heavyweight boxing match, and we’re up against the ropes, signaling for the trainer to throw in the towel. For political columnist/commentator Jon Ralston, though, this time of year is nirvana. Read more »

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