Thrills, spills, maybe ills

Chris Bitonti thinks "Absinthe" is "a great show," and agrees the novelty of the low-tech circus is the audience circling the small round stage. "The great part about it is how close up you are."

Still, if he were to go again, "I probably wouldn’t sit so close, personally."

That’s because the KNPR-FM, 88.9 staffer and journalist was whacked in the head by the balance pole of a high-wire artist, ending up with a head wound that required staples to close.

Bitonti says he’s fine after the accident last fall, pending good news from a follow-up CAT scan scheduled after this column’s deadline. And the high-wire act is back in the show.

But two weeks ago, a roller-skating acrobat who used to be in "Absinthe" ended up in an audience member’s lap in "V — The Ultimate Variety Show," where the husband-and-wife team now performs.

The duo of Vittorio and Jenny Aratas do a thrilling enough act for the Las Vegas Review-Journal to make a front-page feature of them last August. But on this night, a problem with a neck brace apparently caused Jenny to black out from the gravitational force near the end of the act where Vittorio spins her in circles at gasp-inducing speeds.

Producer David Saxe says Jenny broke her thumb. But the Asian women she collided with appear to be fine, based on conversations with English-speaking relatives who are guarded, perhaps because the legal aspect of the story is not over.

Both episodes raise questions about the risk of this visceral new show trend. When acrobats perform on stage, at a safe distance from us and with nets underneath them, we casually applaud.

But when they do it only a few feet from us, we’re suddenly part of the act. This trend does appeal to our inner "Jackass." But who decides if it’s safe?

After Roy Horn was bitten by one of his stage tigers in 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote new guidelines. Now, when stage animals leave a cage they have to be tethered.

Magician Dirk Arthur uses aircraft cable wrapped in black vinyl, trying not to spoil the fun for his O’Sheas audiences feeling the thrill of tiger breath up close.

"I’m really happy with the regulation," Arthur says. "It gives everyone more of a comfort level."

With only humans involved, producers so far are relying on the performers’ track record and the way the odds have worked out after countless injury-free performances.

"To them it’s no big deal," Saxe says of the Aratas. "I don’t want to endanger anybody, but it’s a dangerous act."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.