Do you want to go see a juggling show tonight?

Most of you have probably lived your whole lives without ever having this question put to you on a weekend. There is a certain "night out pecking order" as it were. Usually top of the list would be a concert of some sort, then comes dancing, the theatre, a fancy dinner, a movie, then on down the list of desirable events.

Las Vegas which is supposedly the entertainment capital of the world interestingly enough seems to be populated with many of the lower-rung entertainment choices. Big in sin city these days are: magic shows, ventriloquist acts, hypnotists, impersonators, acrobats, fire-eaters, stilt-walkers, contortionists and jugglers. These type of acts only work when the performers transcend their medium and give you something truly unique. (Well ok, hypnotists shows can never be any good period)

If it weren't for Las Vegas a lot of these people would find themselves out of work. I do really enjoy a good magic show and it is what I usually find myself going to when I am in Vegas. As I have been to Vegas now five times in the past two years I have seen pretty much all of the ones I am interested in by now though. The ones I tend to skip involve tigers and Germans and things.

So in planning out my forthcoming Vegas trip I spied something that looked like a nice change of pace. The World Juggling Federation Convention! I have booked tickets for a few of the events including one featuring Penn Jillette. (More on him tomorrow) It turns out this event will be televised on ESPN2 in January, you know probably right after the hours of poker tournament coverage.

Since each show only costs $15 it will cost me less than a typical 7-out at the craps table. I am betting I will enjoy it more than the $125 Celine Dion show at Caesar's Palace.