Venue
Penn & Teller On Tour
Not exactly comedians but more than just magicians, Penn & Teller bring a quirky combination of laughs and illusions to every performance. You're ready to laugh before they even trot out their tricks, with the big, brash Penn Jillette towering over his staid, unspeaking partner Teller. And once they dip into the bag of tricks they've been perfecting since the 1970s, you're simultaneously dazzled and delighted. Whether they're working with things like magic bullets, nail guns, and straitjackets, or just employing a seemingly ordinary deck of cards to demonstrate some sleight of hand, the duo can make you doubt your own senses as they appear to make the impossible happen right before your eyes. Sometimes they toss a touch of danger into the mix, and sometimes they simply play the whole thing for laughs, but whatever illusion they're unveiling, Penn & Teller can always pull it off.
Penn & Teller Background
America's most famous magic/comedy duo actually started out as a trio in the '70s, but when third member Weir Chrisemer left in 1981, Penn Jillette and Raymond Teller (who has always gone by just his surname) continued on together, and it was then that their star began to rise. With TV appearances on such shows as Late Night With David Letterman and Saturday Night Live, a series of Broadway shows, and their own Emmy-winning special on PBS, Penn & Teller carved out a niche in show business and became household names in the process. In the years that followed, they became TV personalities in their own right, first with a Showtime series and then with Fool Us on the CW. They've earned their own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. They've appeared in music videos by Run-DMC and Katy Perry. They've established a record-breaking residency in Las Vegas. And throughout all of these accomplishments, Penn & Teller have shown that a big, loud guy and a small, silent guy can make people gasp and guffaw at the same time.
Just because they’ve been doing this act for 50 years doesn’t mean they need to keep doing it. The show desperately needs updating. This duo is doing other things on TV, etc so perhaps they should focus on those endeavors. There are way better magicians in Vegas. See any of them.
Excellent show and venue. Can't wait to see them again.
I purchased tickets to see Penn and Teller because my wife and I were going to be in Vegas while this show was available. Unfortunately, we had a conflict and were not able to attend. A good friend of ours was also in Vegas during this time so I tried transferring the tickets to him. He never received them even though I got notification that the transaction was transpiring.
Absolutely amazing experience, and definitely a must see show when visiting Vegas.
For them to have been doing this for 50 years, it was pretty disappointing. Very generic and basic. No WOW moments, no big production, nothing exciting. Don’t waste your time or money.
For a first timer, it was an interesting, eye opening experience. A reality to the walk of my truth.
Penn & Teller gave us a great performance lasting close to two hours. Clowes Hall was an excellent venue to see them since it provided outstanding acoustics and good views of the performers. Penn & Teller engaged the audience with their magic and humor and interacted with the audience.
Penn and Teller are throughly entertaining when things go right. They are amazing when things go wrong. And it feels like they leave room for anything to happen and embrace it. It feels like improv on a tightrope. I haven’t even mentioned the magic yet… my wife (who is ‘too cool’ to be a fan of magic) was asking me about tricks several days later. In the first 10 minutes she said they were funnier than the comedians we recently saw. This was a highlight of my year.
The show was amazing, as per usual. The only thing I wanted to see was the bullet catch but I understand that they didn't want to repeat their tricks.
This was a non-stop amazing entertainment experience. I so appreciated that it was dedicated to Chicagoan artist and so much more Tony Fitzpatrick who recently died. Thanks guys!
We had friends from Iowa join us for this show and it was perfect. Nearly two hours of fast paced entertainment. One of the best nights ever with our friends.
Penn and Teller are great entertainers. The magic tricks and the humor is off the charts.
I’ve been watching Penn & Teller online for years, and now, seeing them live for the first time, I can say it’s a totally different and amazing experience. The new “weirdest thing we’ve ever done” routine had me laughing so hard as I understood what was happening.
It's Penn and Teller!! That's all I gotta say. The show was fantastic and I even got brought up on stage at the end and got to participate. It was an amazing night!!! If you get the chance to go don't miss it!! My only disappointment, if I can even call it that, was that they ran out of the Penn & Teller Bobble heads 15 min before I got there and I can't find them online. So if anyone working with Penn & Teller can tell me how to get one I'd really appreciate it!
Penn & Teller's 50 Years of Magic show at the You Tube Theater was really fun (and suitable for all ages). Lots of audience engagement, new material, and both men seemed pretty energized by the crowd. "Entropy"was an amazing piece of story telling that made you realize what amazing entertainers Penn & Teller really are (even though we've seen them multiple times). Until we saw old stills of previous shows, it's hard to believe they've been together for 50 years. Fantastic evening of entertainment! The You Tube theater was very nice; really limited food selections (not sure if that's by design to get you to just drink more); I had a really strange (yet tasty) pretzel/pepperoni thing because the line for BBQ was just too long. First world problem, for sure. Would definitely see a show there again.
Penn & Teller put on a wonderful show. The only reason this review isn't five stars is that poor Penn was coughing throughout the show. Credit to him for powering through!
I love Penn and Teller. Truly love them. I have seen them at least once a decade for the last fifty years. I have watched their television specials (invisible thread), appearances (letterman), shows (Fool Us), and even read Would, Could, Should cover to cover. Therefore I was extremely excited to see them While the performance was flawless as always (even the audience volunteer who can’t add change was handled without missing a beat), it felt like it was time to take a final bow. It was evident that Teller has trouble with sleight of hand, relying on large reveals like bowling balls instead of the classic cigarette pass. And Penn’s voice was suffering throughout. I think they have earned their place as the top magicians of all time…the GOATs. And I would love to see them continue their TV show as the adoration of other magicians and their passion for promoting magic is inspiring. And I’m glad to see them this one last time for nostalgic reasons. But it wasn’t as inspiring a performance as I have seen over the past 45 years.
Man, it's really hard to sum up just how much fun this show was for my wife and I. Funny, magical, fantastical, and just incredible to watch. We were fortunate enough to catch their first show back at the Rio after engagements abroad – and it was the first show to celebrate their 50th Anniversary! The show was family-friendly (ish) and so cool!!!
The involvement of audience members was a big plus, as it was fun to see their reactions to all the goings-on. I think I figured out the "Crushed Dreams"trick, but all the others were baffling. The last bit, which was a redux of an earlier bit, was so funny it made me laugh aloud more than I think I have laughed in 25 years. And Penn's remarks (jabs?) at Cirque Du Soleil were clever and very funny. We say the Cirque show "O"the next night, and I couldn't avoid thinking about Penn's take on the form throughout that performance, to my great delight.
A lot of talking a very little magic. Also felt that they were rude/cruel to the 10-11 year old that was called up to participate. They kept mocking her and I felt uncomfortable about that. I had already seen the dream "trick"online. Why do they do the same thing that people already know about? I had high expectations from such a long-standing pair of performers and was quite disappointed.