Penn & Teller return to Las Vegas this week after a triumphant sold-out tour of Australia that included 10 shows at the Sydney Opera House. Catching up with audiences who were denied access to the Penn & Teller experience during lockdowns took precedent over making sure they were in Vegas on June 23 to observe the 20th anniversary of the date they became full time headliners at the Rio. Times change but the duo’s dedication to their worldwide fanbase remains the same.
It was first time Penn Jillette and Teller toured Oz, fulfilling dates that had originally been promised before the pandemic. It was also an outreach of sorts, taking the show directly to the people that can’t make the pan-Pacific journey to Penn & Teller Theater. They took new tricks that they had developed with their time away from live performing as well, and perfected at the Rio once they returned to their 1,475-seat Vegas venue.
The honorable menschen of magic kept themselves busy with other intellectual pursuits as well. Jillette wrote a “psychedelic philosophical murder mystery” titled Random, which is set for publication in October. Patreon supporters of Penn’s Sunday School podcast can get access to early signed copies and a bonus four-story “chapbook.”
Teller is preparing to direct a production of The Tempest this fall in Washington D.C. It’s not his first time directing Shakespeare’s comedic tale of sorcerer Prospero, which he clearly feels a kinship to. Teller has also staged Macbeth, but it may have been the quote, “What fools these mortals be,” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream that inspired the title of their long-running CW series, which enters its ninth season in October.
New bits prepared for upcoming episodes of Penn & Teller: Fool Us will be making their debut at the Rio when the magicians reappear there. They somehow managed to develop a few new innovations of illusion while appearing on The Masked Singer and the season finale of CBS sitcom Young Sheldon.
Australia almost served as reset. In addition to the string of Sydney Opera House shows Penn & Teller spent time in Melbourne and Brisbane. They did not, however, take magic-fingered pianist Mike Jones on tour with them. Jillette is surely itching to get hold of the upright bass he began learning to play 22 years ago and get back to his preshow ritual of jamming with Jones. It’s worth getting to the Rio early and having a listen.
Basically Penn & Teller, together and separately, exist in their own media multiverse. Penn & Teller Theater is the base, but their reach is wide. They tour, but they always come back to the Rio, and Jillette’s weekly podcast provides fascinating conversations with guests from the world of magic and beyond. Recently, he shared his experience teaching himself the art of fire-breathing, which involved deep-inhaling fireballs, followed by coughing and screaming: “I thought if it was really hurting you were doing it right. That’s the New Englander in me.”
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