Columnist Joe Delaney: Penn & Teller settle in for longer run at Rio

Joe Delaney

Friday, July 20, 2001 | 9:06 a.m.

Joe Delaney's column appears on Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or joe@lasvegassun.com

Penn & Teller are settling into the Rio's Samba Theatre for longer and longer periods ... This engagement continues through Aug. 19 ... Just as Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton and David Copperfield differ in presentation from each other as practitioners of magic and the illusionary arts, a Penn & Teller performance is another entertainment experience entirely.

Penn Jillette, the tall talker, comes off as comedic carnival pitchman, while the diminutive Teller, mute, a master of mime, does most of the work and appears to take quite a beating ... Competitors have referred to the duo as mavericks of magic because of their irreverent approach to the subject.

Comedy usually predominates but, in the middle of a good laugh, they might do some stunt, perhaps with out-sized steel playing cards or one with Teller endangered, and blow the audience away ... Magic was the duo's starting point but, in time, it has become their basic subject as comedians.

An improbable combination: Penn was into rock 'n' roll, comedy, pop stuff and esoteric subjects such as Zen and existentialism, usually unemployed, while Teller was a school teacher steeped in Latin, Greek, classical music and theater ... They first met in the mid-1970s ... Achieving togetherness, that essential oneness as a performing duo, was a slow process.

Teller, in an earlier interview, said, "All we've ever tried to do is stuff we really like, then come as close as we can to make it look like Penn & Teller stuff. For most of the first 20 years together, this didn't mean very much. Now as we approach the quarter-century mark, it does.

"We've been around long enough that people are beginning to discover us. We believe completely in what we do. I think that people can feel this. Penn is concerned with plot; my area is themes and ideas. Our differences are really one of our strengths." The duo are now in its second-quarter century.

Early favorites of late-night talk show hosts Jay Leno, David letterman and Conan O'Brien, which led to PBS and cable specials, theaters, showrooms and concert halls, Penn & Teller have proven their consistency as a year-round Las Vegas attraction and deserve a showroom such as the Rio Samba Theatre where they, too, can perform 40 weeks a year.

Weekend wrap-up

In Thursday's column I discussed the bottom-line situation as it applies to Las Vegas showrooms, particularly at the Venetian where the Showroom is operated by a group that leased the room from the hotel, then sublets the room to shows ... Insertion of this third party which has to recompense the hotel has made it difficult for a production to show a profit on a four-wall basis if it is absorbing all the other costs as well.

We're told that impressionist-comedian Andre-Philippe Gagnon, who has been appearing there (but is dark through September), has been backed by Celine Dion and her husband ... Melinda, First Lady of Magic shows are barely in a profit mode, thanks to very expensive marketing methods, leaving a net profit figure that is depleted considerably by the rental fee and extra payments to ticket brokers.

This makes the Robert Goulet engagement even more inexplicable ... Goulet did less than capacity at the Orleans, a similar-sized room, and has already cut ticket prices at the Venetian to the $50-$75 range ... We understand the Goulets do have backers.

This looks like a lose-lose proposition, except, of course, for the hotel, the group leasing the showroom and the ticket brokers, all of whom have contributed nothing to what is really excellent entertainment ... This is what causes such high prices for entertainment today.

Happy first anniversary Sunday to Ronnie Di Fillips and George "Moose" Mosse, the World's Smallest Jazz Band, celebrating this Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. at Swede's Corner ... Please give what you can to the Sun Summer Camp Fund ... See you next Thursday.