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Penn & Teller Break Down Magic, Amaze
Show Like No Other
Rick Garman, Vegas4Visitors.com
LAS VEGAS -- I honestly don't know what title to assign to Penn and Teller's show, now playing for an extended run at the Rio. I suppose, yes, it's a magic show, but there's no way you can just leave it at that. That doesn't cover the comedy, the history, and most importantly the fascinating deconstruction and reconstruction of the genre that these two masters bring to the stage. They take a magic act, rip it apart, put it all back together again, and then still amaze you with stuff that can't be possible even though they pretty much just showed you how they did it. The magic of the illusion -- the creation of what amounts to, essentially, a big con game -- is what sets Penn and Teller apart from the rest of the Siegfried and Roy dominated crowd and turns this show into a Vegas "must-see." You probably know Penn and Teller even if their names aren't immediately recognizable. You hear the "big guy," Penn, on about a billion television commercials and as the official voice of Comedy Central. You've seen him and the "little guy," Teller, on a bunch of commercials as well, most recently as the pitchmen for the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Bureau. In case you're not hip to their act, Penn is the voice of not only the commercials but the show as well -- Teller doesn't speak. But Penn has enough to say for the both of them as he takes the audience on a journey through the world of magic, cluing them into the fact that it's all just a big sham. Of course we all know that the woman isn't really getting sawed in half, so to speak, but part of the art of illusion has always been trying to create the feeling that it really is happening, that the woman really is somehow split into two pieces and then magically put back together again. And it's more than just big talk. They actually show you how they do many of their tricks. In some cases they'll perform an illusion and then go back and do it again with all of the smoke and mirrors exposed. In other cases they'll do a stunt right out in the open or warn the audience not to look at a crucial moment if they don't want to know how its done. But the amazing thing about these guys and their show is that even though you've just been let in on the con, you're still suckered by it. Even on tricks they just gave a behind-the-scenes peek at, the audience still sits there in amazement as if none of that ever happened. And then, just in case the audience is feeling too full of itself, Penn and Teller will perform an illusion without explaining how its done and the amazement level goes through the roof. The brilliant aspect of their deconstruction of the magic act is that they are not asking you to be willing participants in the illusion, believing that there was no proverbial rabbit in the hat a moment ago. Instead they are daring you to try to figure out how they do it. Where are the wires? What's the diversion that is keeping you from seeing them palm that card? You know it's all a trick and yet, look... he just caught a bullet in his teeth! Penn and Teller's show is bizarre, funny, fascinating, thrilling, challenging, frustrating, and one of the most entertaining experiences in Vegas. Go see it.
Grade A+
This Week's TriviaQ. The following hotels opened in July of their respective years. Which opened first? The International (now the Las Vegas Hilton), Stardust, Bonanza (replaced by MGM Grand/Bally's), The Landmark (torn down in 1995), or the Holiday (now Harrah's). ANSWER The Weekly Trivia Question is sponsored by the Online Memorabilia Museum at Vegas4Visitors.com
The Full Story
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