Its like Magic, only Better

If you happen to be in Vegas, one show we here at the Casino Snob can't help but reccommend is Penn &Teller. If you have never heard of these two, you are clearly living under a rock, but no worries, as we will be the crowbar of understanding. Yes, Penn & Teller are amazing, smart, funny, sick bastards, and its just the kind of entertainment that can make a trip to Vegas that much more special.

So you are trying to decide just what show you want to see. You want comedy.. but you dont want to see Carrot Top, or The Amazing Jonathan. No you want some magic, with your comedy, but you also want something smart. You want something you've never seen, you want to see sick twisted stuff like people cutting off their own fingers! Oh wait.. maybe not that last one. But Penn & Teller might just give you it anyway.

Wikipedia has this to say about Penn & Teller:

Penn & Teller are an illusionist and comedy duo from the United States. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller (generally) does not speak while performing. They specialize in gory tricks, exposures of fakers and of some magic tricks, and clever pranks, and have become associated with Las Vegas, atheism, skepticism, and libertarianism. They call themselves “a couple of eccentric guys who have learned how to do a few cool things.”

When they are not working on their excellent and intelligent (and liberal) show Bullshit, they are perofming at the Rio in Las Vegas.

The Show Spiel:

Known for their outrageous blending of comedy and magic, that often skewers the genre of traditional magic, Penn & Teller's live show has been a hit on Broadway and around the country and now has a permanent home in Las Vegas right here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino!

Edgy, provocative and hilarious, this iconoclastic pair’s live show on any given night can involve knives, guns, a fire-eating showgirl and a duck. Known as the "Bad Boys of Magic," for supposedly revealing the secrets to their tricks, they may show you how it's done, but they still manage to leave you startled.

Our Take:
This show is hilarious, and amazing. Penn & Teller have that wonderful ability to entertain you, amaze you, and at the same time get you to stop and think abuot the world around you. And while we here at the Casino Snob consider ourselves to be fair connesuers of magic, many of the tricks P&T perform defy explanation.

Lastly, if you aren't heading to Vegas anytime soon, they do sometimes tour. You can also see them on TV occasionally, and if you're our kind of people, you can get this for your home enjoyment:

Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends -- This book is a great book of pranks and somewhat sick magic tricks you can play on your dearest chums. They are alot of fun. We are particularly partial to cutting a garter snake in half.

So the next time you're in Vegas, you should deffinitely give them a shot, and with ample showtimes you can easliy fit it in to your trip. Tickets aren't cheap at $60-$70, but hey.. thats just one good streak of slots right?!

Penn & Teller Links:
Penn & Teller.com
Wikipedia's Penn & Teller Entry
The Rio in Las Vegas

August 30, 2006

Its like Magic, only Better