Couple happy to be big fish in small pond

You have to wonder if Dimitri Bogatirev gazes across the Strip toward the "O" marquee and remembers the worry-free days of not fretting about ticket sales.

But Bogatirev and his wife, Iryna Ivanytska, seem cautiously happy about their life as bigger fish in a much smaller pond since they left "O" to create "Aga-Boom."

The Ukranian couple and their Russian friend Val Slemzin are the entire cast of the comic clown show that runs through Aug. 12 in magician Steve Wyrick's theater at the Miracle Mile mall.

Bogatirev says he and his wife left "O" to create "Aga-Boom" in 2002 because "I lost the reason why I go onstage; lost the idea of why I do this." In such a huge show, their comic relief characters had "become very small. It could be me, it could be someone else. It would be the same."

"Aga-Boom" had a brief run at the Suncoast in 2005, but this afternoon run is the first real attempt to draw tourists in Las Vegas, where the couple live, instead of traveling the world. The major hurdle is explaining a different kind of clowning to people who grew up on Ronald McDonald and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

"We separated the Happy Meal from the clowns," Bogatirev jokes of the mall location surrounded by food outlets. The better comparison for European clowning is mime or perhaps the silent movie comedy of Charlie Chaplin.

"In Russia we call circus clowns (a Russian word for) 'carpet clown,' " he says. "When they want to take the carpet away from the arena, they put him in and roll him up."

European clowns use less makeup and "concentrate attention on characters and putting the focus on one person. ... People trust the character and they follow him. In the circus it's very difficult to do this because there are a lot of things going on at the same time."

Bogatirev studied to be an illustrator and art teacher before he realized he had a knack for explaining his ideas in mime. He and Iryna saw one another performing in different shows before striking up a relationship in 1992.

Slemzin came to the team much more recently. The couple saw him performing on the Circus-Circus midway last year and spotted the physical comedy skills they needed to round out the act. Now that Dimitri and Iryna's son is 11, too old to play "Mini-Boom," Slemzin's 3-year-old is being tested for star potential. ...

First, "Defending the Caveman." Now, "Pieces (of Ass)"?

The one-man comedy "Caveman" was bound for Wyrick's theater at Miracle Mile before ending up at the Golden Nugget, where a 7 p.m. start time is much more suitable than a late berth for a show requiring a bit of concentration.

But now there's talk that "Pieces" will end up in Wyrick's room. It's a theater show that's played in the big cities and had a test night at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2004. Aimed at humanizing "the hot chick," it offers a series of comic monologues by women in various skimpy outfits. ...

Gone are the days when Las Vegas casinos were in the hands of more corporate owners. Back before MGM Mirage swallowed the Mandalay Resort properties, Danny Gans was able to score a contract clause prohibiting rival impressionists at sister casinos. Now that there are only two big kids on the block, it would be almost impossible for either MGM Mirage or Harrah's Entertainment to enforce such a notion now.

At least it works both ways for hypnotist Anthony Cools. He may not be able to protest hypnotist Marshall Sylver's opening a planned late show at Harrah's Las Vegas in August. But neither was he barred from opening another topless show, "Ooh La La" in his Paris Las Vegas venue, even though the Flamingo has "X Burlesque." ...

Pamela Anderson can guarantee national attention for a Las Vegas show. A sweeping media tour included performances on "The Today Show" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" to promote "The Beauty of Magic."

But the Planet Hollywood show isn't selling so many tickets that locals don't get a two-for-one offer. A fancy direct-mail brochure quotes Robin Leach on the cover: "Leaves you breathless."

I didn't remember Leach as being thrilled with the show, so I called him to clarify. "She leaves you breathless," he said with a big laugh. Unless, he added, one is breathless because he is "exhausted from watching (magician Hans Klok) run around in a frenzy."

It turns out the actual context of "leaves you breathless" described the show-opening succession of illusions. Leach shrugs it all off. Misquoting critics for ad blurbs is "a time-honored art," he says, "Part of the fun of what happens with shows."

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.