Penn & Teller Show - Rio Las Vegas

New thing today, went to a Penn & Teller show at the Rio in Las Vegas. We were excited, as my husband is a fan of magic and we heard great things about the show, so we were looking forward to it. My overall feeling about it was "eh" and I don't know if we'd see another show of theirs. Here's the breakdown.

Really great stuff - there were two acts/tricks that we absolutely loved and were impressed with. One was an elaborate coin trick from an aquarium and it was really neat. The other was a video trick done with a TV projector screen at the top and the act at the bottom. Those were really fun tricks and their magic was good. My husband also got a kick of a gruesome and funny moment with the sawing in half trick. They poked fun and had jokes and a sense of playfulness in their show - not taking magic too seriously and showing people these are just fun tricks, not serious magic. They also like to show you how they did it in some of their acts, which is just neat. Also I think the pairing of Penn and Teller is good. I personally favor Teller, as he is the quiet straight guy to Penn's more chatty and showman character. Although Penn can be loquacious and tiring in my opinion, they're both a good match for each other and enhance each other on stage. Alone I believe they wouldn't be as memorable or successful.

The bad news - some parts got really long and preachy. I'm not sure how much of the chat was setup for their act, but a lot of times it felt very preachy with a lot of talk. We actually like their show Bullshit! which talks about some great issues and brings some interesting, different and thoughtful perspective into a lot of things. Some of the acts in this show felt like mini Bullshit episodes, except we came to see a magic show. We're in Vegas and here for a not so serious fun time. Although they have some very important and poignant points they make, such as freedom of speech and their discussion on the 4th Amendment and metal detectors at airports, I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of magic in those acts. We also had seats a bit far away, and we used to go to the Magic Castle in LA, so we're used to seeing magic closer up and I enjoy the theater of it all, but it just felt long and far away and at times I just got bored. Maybe there were a lot of long acts or maybe I just like things quick. It just felt really long at times. I was so glad when it was over, sad to say.

The mixed review - the bad and good. They do this really cool thing where they go outside after the show and hang out with people afterwards - photos, autographs and such. I thought that was really really great, except the way they hang out with people is they just stand in the entrance/exit area hallway and cause traffic as people are leaving. There should be a designated roped off area for people who want to meet and see them, and people who want to just leave, not have one hallway for everyone. Maybe I just want something a little more organized. I got very nervous and freaked out at the amount of people crammed into the hallway and the stampede type shoulder to shoulder crushing crowd feeling - I do not like that. There were people standing/loitering and trying to get near the magicians, mixed in with people trying to find their way out. It just felt a little claustrophobic to me. But I'm glad they do go outside and hang with the crowd afterwards - incredibly cool.

So that was that. It's just my opinion. I know a lot of people loved the show, and I'm glad they did. It just didn't really turn me on or get me that interested. Maybe it was an off night for us or them. I don't doubt their magic is very good and they totally had me looking in the wrong direction and they did dazzle with some of their tricks, but in the end I was a little tired and bored. Overall "eh" for me. I hope more people liked them then didn't though. They're a good pair, and its a good show, running 12 years (so they say but never trust a magician :)) at the Rio and counting. In the spirit of Penn & Teller - Don't just read my review, see it and judge for yourself! You may think I'm full of it.