‘Showbiz kids’ headline Westgate’s new ‘Twisted Vegas’

"Twisted Vegas," the latest show at the Westgate Las Vegas, pokes some fun at the foibles and oddities of the city. To help with that, producer Alex Goude brought in the KriStef Brothers, and if anyone has the chops and pedigree to spoof Vegas, they do.

"We were bred for this," said Stefan Liden, one half of the comedic hand-balancing duo. "We grew up backstage crawling under the makeup counters of the showgirls. My father worked with Siegfried & Roy. I hung out with elephants and tigers and things. We're showbiz kids."

The pair branched away from traditional hand balancing because they couldn't imagine themselves doing just that for 20 years. The skill, combined with their natural senses of humor and irreverence, led to creating an act that still takes a lot of physical strength but puts a unique spin on it.

"If you were to take 'South Park' and the World Wrestling Federation and a circus, that's what we are," Liden said.

The pair have been performing together since they were 10 and practicing together for more than 30 years. The act's name is a compression of each of their first names, Stefan Liden and Kristofer Saly.

"We're not brothers by blood; we're brothers by heart," Liden said.

Both of their mothers were dancers, and both of their fathers were acrobats. Liden's father was also a clown. All of the parents knew one another before the "brothers" were born.

"My parents met on a show and formed a hand-balancing act with my uncle," Saly said. "I'm a fifth-generation acrobat. I've met family I didn't know while working on a show."

Prior to being hired for "Twisted Vegas," the pair were touring, performing wherever the work took them, be that three months in Atlantic City or a month in Colombia.

"It's a gypsy lifestyle," Liden said. "Wherever the show is, that's where you go. We're like showbiz mercenaries."

Though the road has often been their home, they grew up in Las Vegas and still call it home between out-of-town gigs.

"We're east side all the way," Liden said. "We're 89121 since we were kids. We're the last of the breed of entertainment children."

Though the pair perform often in Las Vegas, including a multiyear stint at "Le Reve," Goude caught their act on "America's Got Talent" and thought they'd be perfect for the parody show he was working on. The KriStef Brothers were cast nearly a year ago, when the specifics of the show were still being worked out.

"Alex had the idea of spoofing Las Vegas, and we were already making fun of the overly serious hand-balancers of Cirque du Soleil," Liden said. "We were in the right place at the right time. Timing is everything in this city. Timing is everything in showbiz."

The show takes aim at a wide range of Las Vegas, making fun of everything from buffets and zip lines to the clubs and spas, along with a few good-natured pokes at Las Vegas entertainment. The brothers note that the show is family-friendly with a few slightly more colorful, subtle jokes aimed over kids' heads. Their goal is never to be raunchy but also to not take things too seriously.

"It's a funny show, and even if something goes wrong, that works to our advantage," Liden said. "If a light gets messed up or a screen goes out, send in the clowns. That's what we are. It's thrilling. It's a little nerve-wracking, but that's what keeps the fire hot."

Although they were hired for their comedic hand balancing, nearly everyone in the show's cast is a utility player, taking on multiple tasks. The pair do a fair amount of dancing, and they say that the time spent in dance studios with their mothers has served them well.

They are a study in contrasts with the heavily tattooed, free-spirited, motor-mouth Liden bouncing off the not-obviously-tattooed, quieter family man Saly. They revel in their differences and play off each other's strengths, and neither can imagine performing in an act like they do without the other.

"We're in sync. I already know what he's going to do before he does it," Liden said. "I can trip, and he's already there to catch me. We've shared scars together, and we've shared plenty of beers together."

"Twisted Vegas" is scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at Westgate Las Vegas, 3000 Paradise Road. Tickets are $59, $65, $75 or $108. Visit twisted.vegas or call 702-732-5111.

— To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.