Penn & Teller could be a good full-time fit at Rio theater

Joe Delaney

Friday, Jan. 12, 2001 | 9:18 a.m.

Penn & Teller may have found a new 40-week-a-year home for their completely different mixture of mirth and magic in the Rio's almost-new, somewhat-secluded Samba Theatre.

If Siegfried & Roy can do 40 weeks a year at the Mirage and Lance Burton a similar Monte Carlo schedule, Penn & Teller would be a good bet to sustain in the perfect-fit Samba Theatre.

The current performance began with two inflated Penn & Teller figures that perform the trick. The Penn inflatable performed a card trick with a lady from the audience with an ending that fooled most of those present, a goodly crowd. As with David Copperfield in his recent MGM Grand Hollywood Theatre performance, there was more audience participation, a plus in both instances.

"Liftoff for Love" had the duo -- in the flesh this time -- performing a disappearing trick then revealing how it was done. Teller took the stage to swallow a string of 100 size-6 needles. Penn returned to demonstrate his agility as a juggler then, using a lady from the audience, demonstrated his knife-throwing ability after which she threw the knives at Penn -- or did she?

It was Teller's turn, this time with a chipping machine, destroying various objects, including a "live" rabbit. "The Unicorn" had Penn in a straight jacket, standing on a platform with a noose around his neck behind a screen while Teller made shadow figures on the screen. After Penn's escape, the duo joined in a complicated card trick using four decks of cards and four audience members.

After some more shadow effects, Penn performed another card trick while Teller was immersed in a water tank, a Houdini escape original that had to be performed in five minutes and wasn't, a potential show closer. "Fire for Two" had Penn on a couch with a beautiful assistant, a warm, nonverbal, fire-eating sequence.

Next to closing was a sequence with an American flag and a copy of the Bill of Rights, a tasteful preachment showing the difference between people's rights in this country and people's rights under a dictatorship -- impressive, different. They closed with "The Bullet Catch" where they apparently shoot each other with marked bullets, catching the bullets in their mouths.

The audience had a great time and so did I.