Steve MacWithey aka Stevie Mac had swam out into a lake and drowned while attending Lightning in a Bottle.
A fixture of the Las Vegas arts community and beyond has passed away. Steve MacWithey aka Stevie Mac of the EPYK Entertainment event brand and Mr. Daddy’s Cabaret drowned at the Lightning in a Bottle festival over the weekend.
According to an Instagram post by Las Vegas DJ and producer Brett Rubin, MacWithey had swam out into a lake at the Buena Vista Lake gathering and then went underwater. Medics on site were unable to resuscitate him.
“So much history with this guy right here, so many stories, so many parties, so many laughs,” wrote Rubin. “You were a special character and I’m grateful for the nearly 15 years I got to share this life with you.”
Lightning in a Bottle has issued the following statement: “We are heartbroken to share that a man went into distress on Monday afternoon while swimming in the lake and sadly passed away. We send our love to the family and friends of this individual and ask that their privacy is honored during this extremely upsetting time.“
A beloved personality in the Las Vegas underground, Stevie Mac was perhaps best known for his work as one of the founding members of EPYK Entertainment. Formed in 2012, the promotional company set out to organize raves in the classic sense of the word at a time when the EDM boom had started to steer nightlife in a more commercial direction, according to a DJ Mag feature by Deanna Rilling.
“‘EPYK’ stood for ‘every person you know,’” Rubin told EDM Identity over text message. “At its core, the group was founded by people who didn’t fit into categories or the mainstream. They included everyone and treated everyone as equals with a safe space to dance and meet new people away from the tourists and big clubs on the Strip.“
A longtime Burner, MacWithey also made appearances at events as The Man in the Mirror, donning a suit covered in irregularly shaped mirror facets. In 2021, he launched Mr. Daddy’s Cabaret, a kink-adjacent showclub that hosted Dirty Bingo nights, among other attractions. MacWithey also performed standup comedy and was known for his unrelenting wit.
Brett Rubin is working alongside the family of Steve MacWithey to plan memorials in Las Vegas and Florida, likely for sometime at the end of June and beginning of July, respectively. A GoFundMe has been launched to cover the costs.
