Aga-Boom

What in the hell does “Aga-Boom” mean?

The hell if I know, but I saw it yesterday afternoon with my own two eyes.

“Aga-Boom” is the title of a new kid’s show playing at the Steve Wyrick Theater in the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Aladdinwood . The show official started on June 23rd, and I was lucky enough to be able to score some comped tickets to the production yesterday.

So I grabbed my kids (not in the Michael Jackson way), hopped in a cab, and headed over for the 2pm showing of Aga-Boom.

We had no idea what to expect. I had never even heard of this show until yesterday, and I had not seen a review for it … I just knew that clowns were involved. I’m generally not a clown person, but what the hell, this was for the kids.

We made the 10 mile trek through “Miracle Mile” (a miracle if it’s actually only a mile) and picked up our tickets at the box office.

We didn’t have VIP section seats, but they were quite good nonetheless. The above photo was taken from our seats, so you can see where we were sitting in relation to the stage. BTW, that thing the clown is pointing to says “Do not Touch”. And I don’t want to give the plot away … but he did, indeed, touch it.

Though the show started off very mellow. The set is very sparse, special effects are minimal, and the majority of the show focuses on watching the characters closely. The first half of the show is very understated as the clowns go through various scenarios, such as trying to get something off of the bottom of their shoe.

These are not the complete slapstick clown routines you find at the circus. They are subtle and a bit cerebral. But not so much that the kids don’t get it. Okay, the stupid kids don’t get some of the gags, but most of the kids were laughing throughout the first part of the show. And yes, I chuckled myself.

By the way, the clowns generally don’t talk during the show. Much of it is mimed, but sound effects are added.

You would be surprised at how something as simple as two clowns and a mop handle could make you laugh.

Next came some audience participation. They would pick some adults out of the audience, and put them in silly situations. This was even slightly more amusing to me, and even more amusing to the kids. They had a grown man nursing a mop like a baby, and one lady that was called on stage from the audience was instructed to dance … and her obvious lack of a bra made the scene more funny than was probably intended.

There was a decent amount of “improv clowning” during this segment, and again, most of the kids were very amused throughout. Lots of miming, lots of crowd interaction, very basic props. Very understated and quite simple compared to your usual Vegas production. But that seemed to be more or less the point of this show. “Master” clowns entertaining the kids … not in-your-face Bozos.

Then came the last 15 minutes of the show.

Holy Shit!

I was very not expecting the last 15 minutes of the show.

They shot toilet paper out of an air cannon into the audience, and then the clowns dragged this huge sheet of tissue paper out over the entire audience, and encouraged you to rip it apart, and begin throwing it at the stage, at others, or wherever you want. I wadded up some choice paper balls and kept beaning two specific little Ritalin-needing fuckers in the front row who had annoyed me from the start.

Where else do you actually get permission to throw shit at someone else’s little misbehaving bastards?

Now, I was having fun.

Of course the paper is light and is not able to hurt anyone, but if you use your imagination, and pretend they are bricks … it can be very satisfying.

Needless to say all the kids in the audience went nuts. They were being given cate blanche’ to tear things apart and throw it, and that is exactly what they did. The entire theater was in hysterics. Before you know it, the whole place was a complete mess, and I thought the show was over.

But just when the paper was used up, the clowns threw about 20 of these HUGE beach ball looking things covered in trash bags out into the audience, and the entire audience played a 10 minute game of volleyball with about 20 simultaneous inflated objects.
The kids were frigging ecstatic, and it was hard for the parents not to get in on it too.

Given the very understated beginning, this closing frenzy was very unexpected.

The show starts out very, very slow, and over the course of 60 minutes gradually builds into a closing crescendo of mayhem.

The kids had a complete blast, and have already asked me to take them back … which I probably will at some point.

You can watch a brief video of the show below:

While there, I also got a video of the indoor thunder storm:

Would I recommend this show for adults only? Probably not. But if you are in town with kids, or live here in town with kids, then I can tell you that they will almost certainly enjoy it. And you will undoubtedly get into the act with them.

And this brings me to another point.People frequently ask me “How in the hell can you raise your kids in Las Vegas? There is nothing for them to do there, it must be horrible!”

You would not believe how often I hear this comment. From family and strangers alike. I always get the disapproving “you suck as a parent look for not raising your kids in a better place”.

And then I stop to think … “Compared to where?”

Let’s say I did decide to raise my kid in suburban Aurora, Illinois … or Long Island, NY … or (insert town here)

What is there for them to do in those places?

Shopping malls, movie theaters, 7-11’s, and strip malls?

Well, we have those here too.

My kids also live five minutes from the world’s largest indoor theme park, and several other roller coasters and rides. They commute to things on a monorail instead of the back of an SUV. They go to see the Dolphins at the Mirage when they feel like it. They see the white tigers and tropical fish there as well. They like to watch the Lions at the MGM. They like to watch the Volcano. They go to the Mandalay Shark Reef. They really enjoy the Rio Show in the Sky … and they have the beads to prove it.

They love watching the Bellagio Fountains (they have seen every show at least once). They like watching the Sirens of TI on a whim. They like to jump on the Deuce and watch the bright lights while kicking back and playing Nintendo DS. They like using one of any number of palm tree shaded Tropical pools all summer long, from simple pools, to waterfalls, to lazy rivers, to water slides.

They are buffet freaks and have their favorite sections of every buffet in town. They like going up in the Eiffel Tower. They like going up in the Stratosphere. They like watching the Fremont Street experience. The love playing in the Flamingo courtyard, trying to interact with the birds and looking at the huge fish. They like feeding the wild burros and stomping through Red Rock Canyon. They dig watching the impromptu street concerts. They like the shows. Everything from Blue Man, to Magic Shows, to the stuff that comes to the Orleans or Thomas & Mack arenas several times per year. They like seeing bands like Collective Soul perform in Desert Breeze Park for $6 admission.

The don’t have night lights … they open their curtains, and their rooms are illuminated by the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, and that is what they see when the look out of their bedroom windows.

What stimulating thing do your kids see when the look out the window in Illinois?

A tree? A car? The backyard?

My kids lived in The Lakes for a year and despised it. They hated riding in the Minivan. “Are we there yet”? Are we where where yet? There is no “there” there.

When I think about it, it would be abuse to take them away from The Strip. Dare I opine that even for kids, there is arguably more to do in Las Vegas, then any other town in the country.

And we still have strip malls, Gymboree, Chuck-E Cheese, parks, lakes, libraries, and shitty public schools just like the rest of the country. We just don’t need them as much as you do.

Fine, so they see a porn slapper or racy billboard here and there. You know what? They get used to it and don’t pay any more attention to it than they do a telephone pole. There are lady’s asses on the back of the cab. Big deal. Do you really think this will turn them into crack fiends? “Well doctor, everything was fine until one day I looked up and saw a lady in a thong on a billboard, and I suddenly had the urge to buy an eightball and plunge into a spiral of addiction”.

Give me a break.

Seriously, I can’t think of one thing they are “missing” by not living in some suburban hellhole that somehow Joe and Jane Soccermom are so convinced is ideal.

“Shove the kids in the SUV, and we’ll grab McDonald’s drive-through on the way to the mall”. Fuck that!

You naysayers and your kids can have that anemic crap.

My kids love this town as much as I do. And yours would too if they lived near The Strip.

We’ll take New Year’s Fireworks and evening strolls down Las Vegas Boulevard any day.

My kids will be the first to tell you that you can take your white picket fence and shove it squarely up your ass.

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