Rick Thomas cites Liberace and Freddy Mercury of Queen as a couple of influences when putting together his act. You would expect a magician to name someone like David Copperfield in that role. But what Thomas saw in the pianist and singer was magic of a different kind. It was the magic of entertaining and mesmerizing a crowd through style and technique. It was beyond pulling a rabbit out of a hat or making something disappear. Well, actually something did disappear. He learned that inhibitions and fears could disappear through the artistry of a skilled entertainer. So that is what he set out to become….an artist who just happens to be a magician.

You think you don’t have the time to get things done? Oh, believe us, you have time. How do we know? If Reba McEntire has time to finish what’s on her plate and still smile, then most everyone else is capable of doing more than they can imagine. Reba imagined and then went out and did it. Try this on. She is the reigning queen of country music selling more than 72 million records worldwide with 64 Top 10 hits to her credit; she is a successful actress with the No. 1 TV sitcom for six consecutive years; she’s a successful businesswoman with clothing, footwear and home collections; she has completed stints on Broadway that garnered a Drama Critics Award; and she has written two books, Comfort from a Country Quilt and Reba: My Story. And, oh yeah, she still tours the country delivering live shows like the one she brings to Laughlin, March 15.

With St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Monday this year and the appearance of Reba McEntire on Saturday, March 15 (see page 6), there is a bit of cross pollinating of country theme parties with traditional Irish parties on a weekend normally reserved for strictly corned beef and cabbage to dos. But there are still quite a few ways to get your Irish fix this weekend. Here is a quick look at what we are aware of for Monday, March 17, and in some cases, the days before St. Patty’s Day.

There are many comics with Latin American roots making a living in comedy today. But only a few years ago, there weren’t all that many. You’d probably have to go back to Cantinflas to find the first true comedy “star” to come out of Mexico (he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) but for American Latino comics you’d probably settle on Freddie Prinz, Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez to be among the first to make inroads on the mainstream American comedy scene. They were there before George Lopez and others even thought about comedy as a career.

The inaugural event scheduled for the brand new Laughlin Event Center will be a “baptism by fire” when the “Colorado River Chute Out Bull Riding” event takes place on Saturday, March 8.

While the new Laughlin Event Center belongs to the owners of the Edgewater and Colorado Belle (see previous article), the “Chute Out” is sponsored by the Laughlin Tourism Commission (LTC), an organization representing several of the Laughlin casinos. Thus, the new center serves not only as a venue for Edgewater/Belle events but for certain town-wide vents as well.

A couple of years ago, the Laughlin Tourism Commission (LTC) pooled the resources of the Laughlin casinos who were under its collective umbrella and booked a big name act that would not have otherwise played Laughlin. They booked John Fogerty and crossed their fingers on a concert staged in a temporary outdoor arena up the hill from Casino Drive.