Las Vegas- DressMonkey co-owner Jeff Horowitz, in town over the weekend to discuss his company’s December launch with angel investors, survives the scare of his life involving a giraffes, two double-jointed Puerto Rican trapeze artist and a tribe of Finnish midgets with feathers in their heads.

Details remain unclear, but according to hotel security personnel, at approximately 3:25pm, while rehearsing for that night’s Australian Thunder From Down Under performance, the giraffe, Puerto Ricans and midgets (being used as props for the show) fell through the ceiling of the conference rooms that Mr. Horowitz and his associates were in. Luckily, no one was injured or killed.

A spokesman for Mr. Horowitz commented, “Obviously, we’re not used to business meetings of this nature. On the one hand, Mr. Horowitz can appreciate the men of Thunder From Down Under who work tirelessly in their underwear; Jeff and Coley take great pleasure in their respective offices in Shanghai and San Diego being productive in nothing more than their boxers. On the other hand however, the spectacle we witnessed this afternoon in there I’m afraid was a bit much, even for executives with years of experience dealing with atypical "Chinese businessmen." Furthermore, the theatrics we witnessed today have all of us wondering what the exact role giraffes, small Latino men and midgets play in a men’s strip show.”

Mr. Horowitz on the phone with his partner Coley Dale in Shanghai shortly after the near-fatal encounter with midgets forced DressMonkey meetings outside to a nearby hotel pool

Distractions for on-the-go business owners are becoming commonplace in Sin City. While events like this add to the entertainment value of Vegas for out-of-towners, they also underscore a serious growing problem for the city and its officials. Adam Williams, Las Vegas Business Council Chairman, noted that “this kind of stuff happens all the time and is getting worse by the day. The long-term economic impact it has for Vegas cannot be good.”

Business owners who come here to work instead of party are quick to find out that their Blackberries and laptops are useless and might just as well be put away in exchange for a cocktail or a brew. Mr. Horowitz, still visibly shaken up, was quick to voice his displeasure, “I was sandwiched between a midget and a giraffe today. I’d say that’s cause enough for a drink, wouldn’t you? It’s total mayhem here, someone take me back to China, please!”

Distractions like this one are making Vegas a bitch for unsuspecting small business owners like Mr. Horowitz and creating headaches for city planners who fear such poolside spread eagles may in effect be siphoning execs' travel dollars away from the city's coffers

Mr. Horowitz’s visit was his first as DressMonkey CEO, and marks the inaugural visit for a DressMonkey executive to the state in which the company received its business license back in January of this year. “It feels good,” Mr. Horowitz said over dinner at Tao, a chic new club inside the Venetian. “I tell you what, even the fiasco earlier is beginning to feel good. Pulling out from my wallet a piece of plastic that has my company’s name on it and having a waitress look at it, it just feels good to give back to the people of the wonderful state of Nevada. For so long I wondered what a false sense of importance really feels like. Now I know that feeling, and share that special bond with all the important-looking people that frequent Las Vegas.”

Such choice words come from a guy that many locals believe to be nothing more than the archetypal out-of-town fool. “I don’t care if he has a Nevada business or not. The guy's an idiot; I bet he couldn't even be able to spot a transvestite on the Strip from one of Siegfried's white tigers," said a transvestite named Barry. His friend Willy, a very big 25 year-old with big muscles, added, "I mean, yeah he gives us the opportunity to own a cool custom blazer, and sure I’m going to buy one when I can, but honestly if I ever see him on the streets of Vegas I’ll kick his ass real good.”

A pennyless Mr. Horowitz - sporting a sharp DressMonkey suit and looking like a drunk fool - waits for friends outside a casino during the early morning hours