LAS VEGAS with Richard and Kate

7 February 2005

A couple of weeks ago, Kate and I went to Las Vegas. What a place! It has got to be one of the most ridiculous Cities around. Forget the gambling, there are so many other opportunities to spend money. One of the best ways is to spend 19 hours non-stop in a fabulous biker-blues bar just off the strip. Mr Jack Daniels, we salute you! Another way, is to go to a Las Vegas show. As most do, I knew that as well as gambling, Sin City is famous for its large scale magic shows. Now I don't really mind what people think of Penn and Teller and I know that opinion is divided, but I adore them and was really excited to learn that they were doing shows there at the same time as we were visiting. So, off we went.

The show combined elements and segments from many of their appearances and shows from the past with material that is specific with their new Las Vegas home. Penn rambled on with an endless discourse about a variety of topics, poking fun at everyone and everything, especially the typical Las Vegas performers. Teller remained mute and cute throughout the show, getting several opportunities to showcase and astonish us on his own. The audience was continually amazed and entertained. As with their TV shows, occasionally the audience was "let in" on a trick, but the outcome was always the same; we were equally entertained with the knowledge as we were without it.

Yes, they did the magic bullets thing. It is a good illusion, but the pace of the trick was completely different to all of the others. It was slow and required a lot of inspection and preparation. Additionally, if you have seen Penn & Teller on stage or on television in the last few years, you have seen this trick. We know the outcome, we know the patter, and as audience members the anticipation and surprise were gone. Because of this, the trick was a bit of a let down after having seen so many other wonderful things. It is a good illusion, but it doesn't seem to be the best way to end the show. Having said that, Penn & Teller put on a great show. It was also nice to see them acknowledge and thank their staff and crew, something many performers seem to neglect.

Was it worth it? At $82 per ticket (about £55) no, not really in a financial sense. However, I did have a great evening sitting with a bunch of loud Americans and joining in with that whooping thing that they all seem to do at any opportunity - yeah, all right, whow, Jeese (which took me a while to understand that it was short for Jesus and not as I first thought, Cheese, which I just couldn't fathom at all) high fives, yoh, etc?. It was nice to be able to sit in a posh show drinking lager out of a can as well and Kate must have found her seat particularly comfortable for about an hour and ten minutes of the show (but you will have to ask her about that). The highlight had to be after the show when we managed to get to speak to the mystical duo, grab autographs and have our pictures taken with them. So in time honoured fashion and knowing damn well that you are not in the slightest bit interested. Here are the holiday snaps. Check out just how big Penn is (don't read those last two words too quickly). He is absolutely bloody enormous!

Cheers,

Richard Mark Le Saux

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