There’s a particularly hilarious bit in Penn & Teller’s return to the Las Vegas Strip. Penn Jillette, the taller member of the duo who’s as talkative as the diminutive Teller is not, indicates that the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020 led to the longest hiatus of their career—more than 400 days. Jillette explains that Piff the Magic Dragon, who performs at Flamingo, suggested that they do a “greatest hits” compilation of illusions they were well familiar with, since the long layover may have left them a bit rusty.

After a brief pause, Jillette announces, “So tonight we’re doing eight new illusions!” comically suggesting that it’s because the duo can’t remember the older illusions anyway. Returning to the Rio after more than year with so much brand-new material? Many would suggest it’s brave, insane … or both. But that descriptor is almost a perfect encapsulation of the duo’s career. Never ones to rest on laurels or play it safe, Penn & Teller are the true renegades of magic, reveling in always zigging when the audience expects a zag.

And the new material is fantastic! Expect plenty of laughs, always mixed with “How did they do that?” Here are a few highlights (always subject to change, given the duo’s penchant for adjusting things):

• A game called “Whack a Teller,” based on the classic Whack-A-Mole” game which involves five “Tellers,” a very heavy mallet, a very, very nervous audience volunteer and plenty of talk from Jillette about “culpability” if anything were to go wrong, a discussion that eventually includes the audience. (Penn & Teller are a very meta act, as if you didn’t already know that.)

• Jillette’s “Memory Palace” segment, which genuinely appears to be a feat of memorization on a grand scale, spanning four decades. This bit utilizes a huge map of the U.S., a whole lot of decks of cards, and a bewildered audience volunteer. Odds are you’ll feel exactly the same.

• An examination of the Bible passage, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Penn & Teller not only want to suggest that both are equally hard, they want to show how both are possible—at the same time!

• In a direct nod to how things changed during the shutdown, Jillette performs a Zoom trick with a social media fan—the whole thing is live, with Teller providing off-screen assistance that makes the illusions “work.” This bit is particularly hilarious because things don’t go exactly as planned, and both illusionists embrace it, rather than ignore it and move on.

But fans of some of the duo’s best bits can rest easy—Teller still performs the illusion involving a large tank of water and his ability to withdraw objects from it, both inanimate and alive; and Jillette’s fire-eating prowess takes a bow as well, complete with his lengthy introduction, which drew a standing ovation from many in attendance.

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