Where to buy tickets, schedule, tricks
On Wednesday, Feb. 7, Penn and Teller were at Grand Central Terminal.
The legendary duo wasn’t commuting to a show; no, they were dropping in to the transit hub to entertain passersby with the ultimate wintry magic trick- making mucus disappear.
“Ladies and germs — and I do mean germs…you are about to witness history in the making,” Penn Jillette shouted to the crowd introducing their brand new “Mucus Disappearus” trick where they get rid of Mucinex’s Mr. Mucus in an effort to demonstrate the allergy medicine’s effectiveness against congestion.
Lo and behold, not only does the mascot vanish, Teller ends up in his place!
And while they didn’t give away just how they pulled the delightful stunt off, Penn generously took us behind the scenes.
“It’s a trick,” Jillette told the New York Post in an exclusive interview. “Probably done with mirrors. It went very well.”
48 years deep into their storied career, the eccentric pair — the boisterous Penn Jillette and silent Raymond Teller, who quietly stayed in character over the course of our chat — continue to leave audiences scratching their heads asking “how did they do that?!” with their ambitious, funny and awe-inspiring live shows where things typically go very well on a nightly basis.
However, rather than pull the same punches night after night, Penn and Teller get their kicks keeping things fresh onstage.
“We’re very excited about new things,” Jillette explained. “So if you came to our show a month ago, it’s a whole new show now.”
Clearly, this approach seems to be a winner; the two officially have the longest running residency in Las Vegas history, still regularly performing at The Penn and Teller Theater at Rio to this day.
“Until you cross 20 years, don’t use the word residency.” Jillette noted. “Three shows by The Chainsmokers? That’s not a residency.”
They’re not just playing Sin City and Grand Central gigs this year, though; the duo will also be headlining at Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Thursday, May 16 and Friday, May 17.
As expected, everything will be brand new.
“The thing about our show is if you’ve ever seen us, you will see a different show,” Jillette assured us.
Want to see what the tricky magicians have up their sleeves this year?
Here’s everything you need to know and more about Penn and Teller in 2024.
*The above interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
**At the time of publication, The Chainsmokers have 23 shows in Las Vegas this year.
Penn and Teller 2024 tour schedule
As of now, the tireless team has 66 shows lined up from February through late May.
61 of those spots will be at their Penn and Teller Theater at Rio; typically, they’ll play five nights a week at the venue with shows starting at 9 p.m.
For those that want to see them elsewhere, here’s a complete calendar of their shows outside the Entertainment Capital of the World this year.
Want to find the Vegas Penn and Teller show that makes the most sense for your schedule?
All upcoming Penn and Teller shows can be found here.
What is a Penn and Teller live show like?
With so much turnover, Penn and Teller still have a soft spot for tricks that have been discarded over the years.
“We did one opening for our show that started with the idea that we wanted to come out and say, ‘Everybody, please turn on your cell phones and keep them on’ and that turned into a whole thing where we vanished a cell phone, had it ring and then appear inside a fish.”
These days, Penn is jazzed about one new bit they’re working on.
“We’re really excited about doing a thing where everybody writes down their dreams. Could be anything like playing chess with Taylor Swift on the moon. And we’ll get a whole audience to write that down and manifest it.”
And if you’re worried that it sounds like you may get picked on at a show, Jillette promised us that that simply isn’t the case.
“We do audience participation differently than anyone else,” he said. “The people that come onstage are mostly there to verify and check things. In 48 years, we’ve never commented on anyone’s appearance or made them say anything personal about themselves. We are repulsed by that and won’t do it but we will bring somebody on stage and say, ‘Are these actual handcuffs? Does this block actually work?’”
Penn and Teller on “Saturday Night Live”
Over the course of the show’s tumultuous 1985-86 season, Penn and Teller appeared seven times as special guests.
Each go-round, they brought something new to the table. Yet, one bit was far and away the most memorable for the pair; it was when when they hung upside down for the entirety of the trick.
“In the rehearsal and dress rehearsal, it never worked,” Jillette smiled. “We only did that trick right once, and that was live.”
“We screwed up everything for weeks. We’d drop things, we’d ruin things. I think both of us have a little bit of a red light personality. By that, I mean, when it’s live, we tend to do our best.”
You can see the now legendary gag here:
Magicians on tour in 2024
Many of the greatest living magicians have jaw-dropping, smile-inducing stage shows lined up all year long.
Here are just five sleight of hand tricksters you won’t want to miss live these next few months.
• David Copperfield
• Criss Angel
• David Blaine
• Piff The Magic Dragon
• Shin Lim
Looking for a concert instead? Check out our list of the 50 biggest concert tours in 2024 here to find one that suits you.
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