TEARS OF THE CLOWNS

Dr. Kairo makes a good living predicting the future, for entertainment purposes only, of course.

But when the economy began to sour, his alter ego, Kristjan Kairo, didn't need any psychic ability to see what was in the cards for him and his fellow performers who work local festivals, city events, private birthdays and conventions.

Basically, the party's over.

"It was bad after September 11, but that period didn't last as long as it has now," says Kairo, who has worked as a local clown and fortuneteller since 1999.

Oh, there's still some business, he says. But fewer gigs for his Fantasy Entertainment Productions means a lot less work for the freelance performers he often hired.

Convention business, which made up 75 percent of his clients, is down. Residential business is down, too, thanks to rising unemployment. Company picnic gigs are down by 50 percent compared to last year, Kairo says.

It's enough to make a clown cry.

"I have a lot of performers that typically relied on us because we gave them so much work," Kairo says. "They find they're having to go on cruise ships, travel more and go a lot farther just to find work."

Kairo has branched out into Los Angeles, Arizona and other surrounding areas, too. He says he will go as far as he has to in order to keep the business going.

County and city parks and recreation departments have provided a steady source of work for many local entertainers. The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District uses DJs, storytellers and other performers to administer reading programs. Parks and rec departments hire fortunetellers, clowns, face painters, stiltwalkers and others to work at festivals and other events. That income stream is drying up, thanks to budget woes.

"I do a magic show for free. It's not part of my job, but because of the budget crisis we had to cut out some field trips and some entertainers," says Walter "Skip" Bothwick, aka Dr. Retlaw, an amateur magician and a recreation leader for the Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services. "So I give them a magic show."

Bothwick has been entertaining kids at city summer camps for free. Occasionally, he gets a paying magic gig, he says, but he mostly donates his time and efforts to save the city money. And when it comes to finding other entertainers, he looks for people who will do the same.

"Some of them work for the city or other organizations," Bothwick says of his recruits. "Hopefully we can get them for free. If not, we get them as cheap as we can."

DJ Tony, whose real name is Anthony Johns, has been doing children's gigs for the library district for several years. He says the demand for his services hasn't dropped, despite the recession.

"I'm just as busy as I've ever been," he says.

Johns often gets other jobs when he is working a gig. People come up to him and hire him for weddings, birthday parties and other events. He does think people are cutting back on the money they spend to entertain. While they're not hiring a clown or psychic, they will get a DJ because he can provide music and entertainment.

It can be discouraging, Kairo says, especially considering how lucrative the local entertainment circuit was. When shopping centers were opening and residential communities breaking ground practically every week, there was a constant demand for jugglers, clowns and other performers, he says.

Now, instead of two birthday parties a day on Saturdays, he works one birthday every two weeks. Still, Kairo sees a better future.

"It'll come back. This is Vegas, it always reinvents itself," Kairo says. "It's always been the comeback kid, it never drops off the map. We, and Vegas as a whole, just really need to think more outside the box."

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.