Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 730: Russell Gardner from Dark Arts
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Kevin Godbee - Sep 8, 2026
- 1 min read
Tonight on The Pipes Magazine Radio Show, our featured guest is Russell Gardner, owner of Dark Arts, a unique smoking lounge and retail tobacconist in Las Vegas. A longtime veteran of the restaurant and bar business, Russell owns several themed cocktail lounges, but his latest venture took an unexpected turn when he transformed a small back room at Grey Witch into a hidden, speakeasy-style smoking lounge and tobacconist.
Dark Arts accommodates about 25 people, and getting inside is part of the experience – you actually enter through a fireplace. Russell is also a rare Las Vegas native, and his connection to pipe smoking goes back to high school, when he picked up a pipe at age 15 after starting out with cigars. Brian and Russell will talk about Dark Arts, the inspiration behind the unusual space, and the Las Vegas pipe scene.
At the top of the show, in Pipe Parts, we’ll have the fifth installment of our coffee pairing series with Bo Parker of Methodical Coffee.
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Dark Arts Website
Grey Witch Website
The Pipes Magazine Radio Show features interviews with pipe makers, tobacco blenders, pipe and tobacco aficionados, collectors, and more. Episodes air every Tuesday.
Our show is sponsored by SmokingPipes.com, Cornell & Diehl, Missouri Meerschaum, Savinelli Pipesand Tobaccos, Peterson Pipes and TinBids. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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I found the discussion of the “Play Nice” coffee blend and matching it with a not too complex pipe mixture very interesting and intriguing. It sounds like a blend worth seeking out.
Russell Gardner’s description of the creation of the Dark Arts lounge was absolute fun. His backstory is so varied that it seems to perfectly inform all the aspects of Grey Witch and Dark Arts. Good on Russell for stepping up to work with the Vegas show and providing a smoke venue and special programs.
The Dead Kennedys’ cover of “Viva Las Vegas” was not my cup of “Play Nice.” (I feel your pain, Elvis.)
“The Bottom of the Bowl” segment, blaming the new wife for Amazon’s problems, exhibits some of your wonderfully twisted genius.
Thanks for a very entertaining show!
Dino