Las Vegas Magazine freelance writer Matt Kelemen died tragically recently. It is in his honor that Las Vegas Magazine has put together this look back on his storied career with the publication.

Matt Kelemen’s immense contribution to Las Vegas Magazine isn’t just measured in his prolific output (more than 1,000 stories in the last 10 years); it’s measured in the stories he told, the information he imparted, and the lives he touched with his enthusiastic approach to the job.

Over the years, Matt interviewed a who’s who of people who helped shape Las Vegas’ entertainment scene over the years: Jo Koy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Bob Saget, James Taylor, Luenell, Toby Keith, Jim Gaffigan, Bret Michaels, Joe Satriani, Vince Neil, Tim Allen, Steven Wright, Ron White, Jay Leno, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Martin and Martin Short, Chrissie Hynde, Dionne Warwick, Rodney Carrington, Norm Macdonald … the list goes on and on. And while Matt carefully prepared his questions in advance, he was always careful to listen to his interviewees’ responses, often catching them off guard, as evidenced in this bit with Norm Macdonald:

(Macdonald): “When I was a kid I watched SCTV and they had a show called ‘Half Wits.’ I didn’t want to do the show without asking them, so Martin Short came on the show and I asked, ‘Can I do this sketch?’ He thought Eugene Levy would enjoy the sketch and he said it was fine. It was based on that, because on ‘Half Wits’ they weren’t celebrities. They were just really stupid.”

(Matt): “I think Richard Harris (impression by Dave Thomas) was on there one time.”

(Macdonald): “Yes, that’s right! Wow, you remember that.”

And when Matt interviewed comedian Steven Wright, he connected with Wright in a way I never saw coming:

(Matt): “Are you a visual writer? Do you see the joke?”

(Wright): “It’s more influenced from seeing. It’s not that I see … well, I see the joke, but it’s not like I’m hallucinating, and I see the joke. All of the jokes are from noticing things. They’re all from noticing the world. That’s what I meant. All art is just someone reacting to their surroundings—a painting or a book or film, or music or poems or comedy. You’re just looking out then saying something back. Don’t you think that?”

(Matt): “Yeah, pretty much. In some ways you’re a mirror, and some ways you’re a cement mixer.”

(Wright): “Yes! Yes!”

(Matt): “Did I just say that?”

(Wright): “That’s fantastic! That’s exactly it! The cement mixer part is like … that’s great!”

In his previews or descriptions of shows on the Strip, Matt always strove for insider information for the benefit of the reader. When Miranda Lambert was in the midst of her hit Velvet Rodeo residency at Planet Hollywood a few years, ago, she gave Matt some great insight as to how carefully planned everything was in her show: “When we designed and built out the Velvet Rodeo set, I wanted to have the feeling of some pit, some seats and make sure there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The way the lighting, sound and sound effects play in the room honestly came together better than I ever even dreamt.”

In interviewing country star Brett Young, Matt asked him about his initial desire to pursue a career as a pitcher in baseball, and about the parallels between the pressure of sports and the pressure of being in show business: “There are variables that you cannot control and variables very much in your control. I could go out and execute the exact pitch that was called for in that circumstance. If the hitter guesses right, he could still beat me, right?”

In one of his interviews with Donny Osmond, Matt got the lifelong performer to offer up this tidbit: “What’s interesting to the Osmonds’ trajectory as a band was more rock ‘n’ roll. I don’t know if I would go so far as heavy metal, although Metallica … James Hetfield said they used to do “Crazy Horses” (an Osmonds single) in their setlist. Metallica said this. Ozzy Osbourne told me it’s one of his favorite rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time.”

For many of his stories, Matt worked closely with the top publicists in town, either arranging interviews with their clients, setting up tickets to attend a performance or doing behind-the-scenes research. The community has recognized Matt’s professionalism many times over on social media.

“I really enjoyed getting to work with Matt on countless stories over the year,” said Thomas Judd, a publicist with Magic Mike Live at SAHARA Las Vegas. “He always had a way to find a new take on even the most tired of subjects.”

“I always enjoyed working with Matt over the past 20 years,” said Kelly Frey with KF Publicity. “He was an incredible writer but more importantly, he was always so kind.”

“Matt had exceptional character,” said Stephanie Wilson, a publicist with Wicked Creative who, most recently, had coordinated an interview with Matt and rocker Sammy Hagar. “He always made me smile. He was always kind.”

“Matt was always a pleasure to work with and we will all remember him as the kind person he was,” said Joslyn Garcia, a publicist with Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc.

Ashley Farkas, a publicist with MGM Resorts International, worked with Matt on countless projects over the years. “He recently wrote about The Vault (a speakeasy at Bellagio) and was so kind in every interaction.”

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