There are different levels of success in Las Vegas and its entertainment. There is Celine Dion with her apartment-sized dressing room, outfitted with group dining room and massage chamber. And there is magician Nathan Burton, saying: "I think we can beat the tow truck if they ever call. We're only there a short time."

"There" is the Sahara, one of two places where Burton does his magic act every night. Both shows -- the Sahara's "Buck Wild" and "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" at the Desert Passage mall -- are produced by David Saxe. Burton manages to perform in both nightly performances of "V" and one of "Buck Wild," even though two shows start at 9 p.m. I ride along one night to see how Burton pulls off this trick of what "V" co-star Jeff Hobson calls "tennis showbiz. Back and forth."

7:35 p.m.: Burton is the last to arrive backstage for the 7:30 p.m. "V," where the four showgirls in his act and his mother, Nancy, who sews all the Velcro on his costumes, already wait.

8 p.m.: Burton does a rapid change from jeans to black suit. The four women in his dressing room don't seem to notice.

8:08 p.m.: Burton and the four showgirls materialize in a glass box in front of the "V" audience. "My wife hates this trick," Burton tells the crowd. "My girlfriend doesn't seem to mind."

8:15 p.m.: "One down." Burton changes back to jeans and he and his stage sidekick, Leon Felix, pack up the few things they need for the Sahara. "See you guys next show," he says to the women who stay behind in the dressing room.

The two step through a door marked Casino & Team Members Entrance and emerge in the Desert Passage garage. Burton backs out his Pathfinder, while Felix leaves an orange construction cone in the spot. Most of the time, people respect the sanctity of the cone. Sometimes, such as Ricky Martin concert nights, the cone gets moved.

8:35 p.m.: After passing through Bally's to turn right onto Flamingo Road, then left onto Paradise Road, the Pathfinder pulls into its quasi-legal parking spot by the backstage door at the Sahara. "Now we go be rednecks," Burton says of the act slightly modified for the country theme of "Buck Wild": Instead of getting "cooked" in a giant microwave, it's a giant barbecue.

They get there in plenty of time to relax for a few minutes. Sometimes, they even stop at McDonalds for sundaes. Still, they don't bother with the long walk to the dressing room. Burton doesn't have to fully change because he performs this show in jeans, and it's easier to hang out backstage with wardrobe mistress Dale Karlsen.

9:17 p.m.: After doing their act plus a "Hee Haw"-type joke against a cornfield backdrop, the two whip off the cowboy accessories and head back to the Pathfinder. This is the tight part of the schedule. Instead of going back the way they came, they find it works better to make a counterclockwise loop, taking Interstate 15 back to the Aladdin.

The trip is made more interesting by construction on Sahara Avenue and the fact that the "Buck Wild" announcer added an extra minute or two by inviting audience members to move down closer in the sparsely crowded theater.

9:24 p.m.: Ticking off the seconds on the pedestrian crosswalk at Sahara and the Strip. Back at "V," Burton usually goes on about 9:45 p.m. The show schedule can vary by how many variety acts perform on a given night. "Sometimes a 13- or 14-minute act can be replaced by a 7-minute act," the magician explains. But a larger, livelier crowd can take longer to seat. If they laugh a lot, that also stretches the show.

"My showgirls will call me" if they're worried, Burton says. "They kind of know when I should be walking in," usually by 9:35 p.m. "on a good night." He typically hits the tunnel under Bally's by 9:28 p.m., "which is like, five minutes from now."

9:29 p.m.: The Pathfinder merges onto I-15. Burton flips on a radar detector "just in case."

9:36 p.m.: Back in the Desert Passage garage. The cone is still there. A dancer from the "X" show waves as they hurry in. Burton can tell by the music who is onstage, and if he is in trouble. Whew. Comedian Russ Merlin is just going onstage. There's time to go to the bathroom, get a Coke and make a handshake deal with a guy to be the propmaster for his new afternoon show

That's right. Come Thursday, Burton starts his own comedy magic show at the Desert Passage, on top of his evening schedule and an audition for NBC's "America's Got Talent."

The night schedule is starting to seem relaxing, compared to the headaches of launching his own show. As he noted backstage at the Sahara, "I actually get to relax a little bit doing these shows."

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