Las Vegas Road Trip: Day Six

Feb 20, 2005- Permalink

Our trip to Las Vegas is beginning to wind down. The timing of the trip was dictated by the fact that we are heading to Los Angeles for our annual Academy Awards coverage. Mid-February is a cool time in Vegas and we also hit one of the few times in the year when it can rain for days in a row.

Our Day 6 evening would have us heading over to the Rio to watch Penn & Teller. I love their act when I’ve seen them on TV, so seeing them live on stage was going to be a real treat. We continued to zip around the Strip for most of the day, checking out the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and Luxor. So much to see in this city. There are still many shows that we haven’t seen and fine restaurants to check out. Next time…

We took the shuttle bus from Harrah’s to Rio. We were there in no time flat. The Rio is off the Strip but they’ve packed the place with so many entertainment, shopping, and dining options that you could probably spend a few days here and never leave this one location.

When we arrived at the theatre we were greeted by the sight of a pianist being accompanied by Penn Jillette on double bass. Penn eventually left, while he pianist kept asking the audience to come up and inspect the two boxes on the stage. They’d be part of the opening trick and the pair wanted the audience to be able to know every nook and cranny of those boxes before they did the box escape challenge.

When the show started, Penn promised the audience a magic experience unlike any other in Las Vegas. He showed disdain for a few of the other magic acts in town and the pair even showed the audience how a few of the standard illusions popular in other magic shows are done. Penn is able to keep a dizzying amount of patter going; his words are his version of the beautiful assistant that distracts you from some of the magician’s actions. Teller, also known as “the shorter, quieter one”, performs his segments in silence. Penn is the guy who is able to weave socio-economic comments into a juggling routine while the diminutive Teller handles a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to physical stunts. Even Penn admits this helps create a tension for the audience as no one wants “the cute one to get hurt.” Teller’s schtick with a rabbit and a wood chipper effectively trashes the “cute one” label.

The show’s pace never seemed to lag and I could’ve stayed there for a few more hours. Your mind is effectively played with. You leave the show knowing how some illusions are performed and completely clueless about others.

Daily (Dark Tue) 9:00pm